FRENCH OPEN NOTES : German Joins McEnroe in Exclusive, Abusive Club

PARIS —  Carsten Arriens, a qualifier from Germany, became only the second player in the Open Era to be disqualified from a Grand Slam tournament Tuesday, when he was ejected after hitting a linesman with his racket.

John McEnroe was ejected from the fourth round of the 1990 Australian Open after repeated verbal abuse of umpires.

Arriens, ranked No. 131, received a warning for racket abuse after throwing his racket in a match against Brett Steven of New Zealand. Arriens lost the second set, then threw his racket again. This time the racket slid and hit a line judge in the ankle.

It was the fourth time since October that Arriens, 26, has been disqualified from a tournament for bad behavior.

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Second-seeded Pete Sampras, playing on the busy center court, had his match pushed back because of rain delays and didn’t begin play until after 7 p.m. The first-round match against Gilbert Schaller of Austria was suspended at 9 p.m. because of darkness.

Sampras looked shaky in the first set, losing the tiebreaker when he slammed an overhead into the net. Schaller won the set, 7-6 (7-3).

Sampras came back in the second set and won, 6-4. He led, 3-1, in the third, up a service break, before play was stopped.

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French fans eagerly awaited the first match of Mary Pierce, winner of this year’s Australian Open and the best hope any French player has of winning here.

Pierce lost to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in last year’s final here, and the pressure and expectations of the French public have risen.

“It’s normal,” she said. “Last year, they didn’t really know what to expect. You know, after seeing me go to the finals and play well--probably the best tennis in my career--and after winning Australia, I guess they expect me to play well and win all my matches. It doesn’t really make me nervous. Just the fact of being here and playing in Paris in front of the crowd, that is great. It just makes me want to play that much better.”

She was almost flawless Tuesday. Pierce, seeded third, defeated Nicole Bradtke of Australia, 6-1, 6-3.