WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Back in the stadium he calls the ``cathedral'' of tennis, Pete Sampras opened his bid for a seventh Wimbledon title Monday with a straight-sets win over Jiri Vanek.

Showing little sign of the back trouble that bothered him in practice last week, Sampras cruised to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory -- a performance that underlined his dominance in the grass-court tournament in which he has lost only once the last seven years.

``Pistol Pete -- Playing for History'' read a big yellow sign held by fans on Centre Court, referring to Sampras' chase for a record 13th Grand Slam singles title.

Vanek, a Czech ranked No. 84 in the points race and playing his first match at Wimbledon, put up a strong effort but was no match for the man considered perhaps the greatest grass-court player.

Sampras' only scare came early in the second set when he jumped high for one of his patented slam overheads. He seemed to mistime his leap, sending the shot into the net and landing awkwardly. Sampras reached for his lower back, suggesting he might have aggravated the ailment that forced him to cut short practice last week.

But Sampras seemed fine as he settled back into his game and cruised the rest of the way, closing the match with a 117 mph service winner.

Martina Hingis, top-seeded among the women, also opened with an easy victory on opening day. But she needed eight match points in the final game before putting away Spain's Angeles Montolio 6-1, 6-2.

Hingis, who won Wimbledon in 1997 as a 16-year-old, overwhelmed her 42nd-ranked opponent on opening day of the two-week tournament.

But with Hingis serving for the match at 5-2, Montolio came to life. She began moving the Swiss star from side to side and knocking off winners.

Hingis smiled in admiration after the first few match points, but then grimaced and bounced her racket in frustration as each successive chance slipped by.

When Montolio sailed a backhand long on the eighth, Hingis threw up her arms as if to say, ``Finally.''

Also advancing was Serena Williams, who was playing her first match in more than 2 1/2 months. She scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sweden's Asa Carlsson.

The eighth-seeded American, who has been sidelined since April 11 with tendinitis in her left knee, showed signs of rustiness early on.

But once Williams began hitting freely on her groundstrokes, she was too powerful for the 38th-ranked Carlsson, who has won only one match in eight appearances at Wimbledon.

After Williams hit her fifth ace to close the match, she broke into a wide smile and waved and blew kisses to the fans. Williams, last year's U.S. Open champion, reached the third round of Wimbledon in 1998 but pulled out last year with the flu.

Williams' sister, fifth-seeded Venus, was to play later Monday against Kveta Hrdlickova.

``It was good to be out there and get the feel of the court, to get the feel of some matches again,'' Serena said. ``I feel tournament tough. I feel confident. ... This is really my surface. I play a fast game. I should be dominating here.''

In other matches, No. 11 Richard Krajicek, the 1996 champion and only man to beat Sampras at Wimbledon in seven years, rallied from a first-set setback to down Germany's Michael Kohlmann 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

No. 6 Cedric Pioline, the runner-up in 1997, dropped a set but downed Norway's Christian Ruud 7-6 (4), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Among the women, No. 11 Anke Huber was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Britain's Jo Ward. Anna Kournikova faced No. 10 Sandrine Testud.

On the eve of the tournament, Spaniards Alex Corretja and Albert Costa pulled out in protest at not being among the 16 seeded men's players.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event that doesn't follow the ATP rankings in determining seedings.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, another Spaniard in top 16 who was not seeded, withdrew earlier with a reported back injury.

The three Spaniards were bumped in favor of players with stronger grass-court records, including Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski -- both from Britain -- and Krajicek, of the Netherlands.

All England Club chairman Tim Phillips, sympathetic with the Spaniards, said Sunday the club would waive any fines.