Rafter, seeded no. 2 behind Pete Sampras for the upcoming Wimbledon tournament, survived a tense second-set tiebreaker, then converted an early service break in the third set into victory yesterday.

Richard Krajicek of The Netherlands also moved into the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

Other results: Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Raemon Sluiter (Nether) 6-7 (7-1), 6-3, 6-2; Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Markus Menzler (Ger) 6-0, 6-3; Nicklas Kulti (Swe) bt Ulihrach (Cze) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4

Women's:

Miriam Oremans (Ned) bt Silvia Farina (Ita) 6-2, 6-3; Anke Huber (Ger) bt Joanette Kruger (RSA) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2; Cara Black (Zim) bt Fang Li (Chi) 6-2, 6-2; Barbara Rittner (Ger) bt Catalina Cristea (Rom) 7-5, 6-4.

Rafter heads Cup

SYDNEY: Two-time US Open champion and no. 2-rankedplayer Pat Rafter heads a seven-man Australian squad named today for next month's Davis Cup tennis tie against the United States.

Mark Philippoussis, the no. 11 who lost last year's US Open final to Rafter, is expected to play the other singles rubbers while doubles specialists Mark Woodforde are also in the squad.

Captain John Newcombe said Sandon Stolle, Lleyton Hewitt and Andrew Ilie would also travel for the tie at Brookline, Mass.

Newcombe said Rafter and Philippoussis were likely to play the singles, although he was impressed with Hewitt's recent form.

Anna captivates Eastbourne

EASTBOURNE: Fifth-seeded Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova captivated the crowd yesterday at the $ 520,000 WTA Tour tournament here with a stirring three-set first-round win over American Chanda Rubin.

Pin-up teen Kournikova shrugged off a second-set lapse to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 for a successful start to her Wimbledon warm-up. She will now face Australia's Lisa Raymond after negotiating her first grass courtmatch of the season.