FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Four-time champion Pete Sampras and women's top seed Martina Hingis registered impressive straight-sets victories today in the opening round of the $15 million U.S. Open tennis championships.

Sampras, seeded fourth, had an early test from veteran Martin Damm of the Czech Republic and advanced with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Playing in the U.S. Open for the first time in two years after missing last year's event with an injury, Sampras had 22 aces and just four double faults and produced 60 winners against just 23 unforced errors.

Hingis needed only 57 minutes to dispatch Alina Jidkova of Russia, 6-3, 6-1. The "Swiss Miss" has not won a Grand Slam title this year.

Men's fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia got a huge scare and women's tour veterans Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain and Nathalie Tauziat of France were extended to three sets today before avoiding embarrassing opening-round losses.

Sampras became the all-time leader in Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, where he claimed his record 13th major and record-tying seventh men's crown. He also won the Ericsson Open, a hardcourt event, in April.

The 28-year-old Sampras won his first career Grand Slam title at Flushing in 1990 -- the first of four U.S. Open crowns -- but has not won here since 1996. He did not play at this event last season after injuring his back in practice. He improved to 53-7 lifetime at the U.S. Open.

Although without a Grand Slam, Hingis has won five titles in 2000, compiling a 53-8 record. She was runner-up at the Australian Open and advanced to the French Open semifinals and Wimbledon quarterfinals.

The 1997 winner went 8-2 in the summer hardcourt season, winning the du Maurier Open two weeks ago.

Kafelnikov dropped the first two sets to Orlin Stanoytchev of Bulgaria -- ranked 104th in the world -- before pulling his game together and winning, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. It marked the first time in Kafelnikov's career that he has rallied to win a match after losing the first two sets.

Sanchez-Vicario, a former U.S. Open champion seeded ninth, had to battle from the brink of defeat to hold off Joannette Kruger of South Africa, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Kruger is ranked 63rd in the world.

The eighth-seeded Tauziat, who has announced her retirement and is competing in her final Grand Slam event, fought back to beat Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Cervanova is ranked 160th.

Kruger, who had won only four of 27 previous matches against top-10 opponents, was on the verge of the biggest victory of her career as she served for the match at 5-4 in the third. But Sanchez Vicario, one of the most feisty players on the women's tour, broke back and they went to the tiebreaker.

Sanchez Vicario swept the last five points against the tiring Kruger to put away the match in two hours, 18 minutes, not including a 90-minute rain delay.

Tauziat recorded the key break of her match to go up, 5-4, in the final set and served it out for the victory.

Opening day's featured matches are scheduled for tonight when third-seeded Venus Williams goes against Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France and top seed and defending champion Andre Agassi faces fellow American Alex Kim, the NCAA champion from Stanford who was given a wild card berth.

Sixth seed Monica Seles, who captured the crown here in 1991 and 1992, meets fellow American Tracy Almeda-Singian. Seles reached the finals of her last two tournaments, losing to Williams each time.

In other first-round women's matches, 11th-seeded Sandrine Testud of France takes on Nicole Pratt of Australia and No. 13 Amanda Coetzer faces American Sandra Cacic.

No. 15 Jennifer Capriati of the United States raced past Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-0. The former teenage sensation, who is seeded at the U.S. Open for the first time since 1993, made an emotional exit last year.

After losing to Seles in the fourth round when she was asked repeated questions about her troubled past, Capriati read a statement and broke down in tears. She advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals at age 15 in 1991.

On the men's side, ninth seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who is tied for the ATP Tour lead with four titles this season, has split the first two sets with Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden; No. 11 Tim Henman of Britain defeated Fernando Vicente of Spain, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; No. 13 Franco Squillari of Argentina squares off against Juan Antonio Marin of Costa Rica; and No. 16 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador goes against American Bob Bryan.

All the attention at this year's Open appears to be on Williams.

Williams must be considered the heavy favorite for the year's final Grand Slam as she rides a four-tournament winning streak into New York. Her incredible run started at Wimbledon, where she defeated Hingis, younger sister Serena and Lindsay Davenport in consecutive matches to capture her first career Grand Slam singles title.

The 20-year-old Williams dominated the summer hardcourt season, winning titles at the Bank of West Classic, Acura Classic and Pilot Pen Tennis events.

A finalist here in 1997, Williams is 24-3 in seven tournaments since returning from a four-month layoff due to tendinitis in both wrists. She takes a 19-match winning streak into tonight's meeting with Sidot.

Agassi, the two-time champion, has not won since capturing his sixth Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open in January.

Agassi reached the semifinals at Wimbledon but was in a minor car accident shortly upon returning to Las Vegas, injuring his back. He is 19-6 on hardcourts this season, advancing to the final at last week's Legg Mason Tennis Classic and the semifinals of the Ericsson Open.