Bridesmaids Hoping to Catch the Bouquet : Australian Open: Agassi, Sanchez Vicario looking to steal thunder from Sampras (who’s playing) and Graf (who isn’t).

MELBOURNE, Australia —  With the opening of a new season in professional tennis, ambition, the sport’s most consistent player, again takes center stage.

The Australian Open, which begins Monday (today Pacific time), presents a chance for two of tennis’ most blatantly ambitious players--Andre Agassi and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario--to at last realize long-held dreams of being No. 1. Agassi will challenge defending champion and top-ranked Pete Sampras; Sanchez Vicario will take on the figurative ghost of 1994 champion and top-ranked Steffi Graf, who withdrew because of injury.

Agassi arrives newly shorn and newly dedicated to the goal of reaching No. 1. It is a quest that has brought him to the Australian Open for the first time. Based on the draw, the second-seeded Agassi has an excellent chance of meeting Sampras in the final. He plays a qualifier in the first round and the winner of the match between two qualifiers in the second.

As much as he’s reluctant to admit it, Agassi’s thoughts drift toward the possibility of a meeting with Sampras for the title.

“I think if we are both playing the best tennis we can, then the possibility of that showdown is pretty high, but there’s a lot of great players in between,” Agassi said.

Agassi’s rebirth came after near disaster. The 24-year-old former Wimbledon winner dropped to No. 34 during the period of his recovery from wrist surgery. He rebounded to win the U.S. Open last year as an unseeded player. He said his late-season success has caused him to rededicate himself to tennis.

It’s a pledge made by Agassi about once a year, but when Agassi focuses his formidable talent, it’s a mistake to underestimate him.

Sampras’ fortunes in 1994 were the reverse of Agassi’s. The year began well enough, with a victory in the Australian Open, and he did get his second consecutive victory at Wimbledon, but an ambitious schedule and various injuries caught up with him after that.

Sampras is hoping that a good showing in the next two weeks will erase that memory. He opens against Gianluca Pozzi of Italy and could face Magnus Larsson of Sweden in the fourth round. Larsson beat Sampras in the Grand Slam Cup last month.

Sampras lost to Michael Chang in an exhibition Saturday but nonetheless pronounced himself ready to defend both his title and ranking.

“I think I’m more or less back,” Sampras said. “For the first six months of last year, I was pretty much unbeatable. I’m not sure I can do that again this year. It will be tough, but I am looking forward to the challenge.”

If the men’s seedings go as planned, Sampras will face No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic and Agassi will meet No. 3 Boris Becker in the semifinals.

The women’s draw was not as favorable to Sanchez Vicario as the men’s was to Agassi. Her opening match is against little-known Fang Li of China, but she could meet seventh-seeded Kimiko Date of Japan in the quarterfinals, and either No. 3 Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic or No. 5 Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in the semifinals.

Graf announced more than a week ago that a strained muscle in her right calf would keep her from defending her only Grand Slam title of 1994. Graf’s absence allows Sanchez Vicario to orchestrate her own ascension; she could gain the No. 1 spot by reaching the final, depending on the number of seeded players she beats to get there.

“I know I am close to being No. 1, but I am not putting pressure on myself,” she said. “If I make it, that’s great. If not, I’ll keep working.”

The Spaniard yearns to overtake Graf, but it’s nothing personal--despite winning nearly $3 million in prize money last season, far more than Graf, and the French and U.S. Opens, Sanchez Vicario has nowhere near the crowd/sponsor appeal or respect that is accorded to Graf.

Now, Graf is powerless to stop Sanchez Vicario, whom she trounced in last year’s final. Things are different now.

“With Steffi out, a lot of players think they have a chance to win,” Sanchez Vicario said. “Everybody is dangerous, you just never know what can happen, so you have to be concentrating very hard in every match.”

Conchita Martinez of Spain, seeded second, will face Barbara Rittner of Germany in the first round and Novotna will face Patricia Hy-Boulais of Canada.

Lindsay Davenport, the top-seeded American at No. 6, will play fellow American Debbie Graham in the first round.

Martina Hingis, 14, of Switzerland will play American Jolene Watanabe in the first round.

In addition to the absence of Graf, the women’s field was purged of its crowd appeal when Jennifer Capriati withdrew because of a lingering bout with flu.