COMBINED REPORTS


ADELAIDE, Australia -- Andre Agassi is ready to make an impact at the Australian Open -- at last.


The flamboyant American tennis star will play in the Australian Open for the first time after missing the event in past years because of injuries or scheduling conflicts.


"It's my first time so I'm excited as anything to be here and sometimes that energy can take you a long way," Agassi said Tuesday.


"These are the moments you most remember in your career, and it would be nice to go home with a win the first time down here," said Agassi, whose only previous visit was to play in the Australian Indoor championship in Sydney three years ago.


Victory in the Australian Open would take Agassi a step closer to his ambition of toppling compatriot Pete Sampras from the No. 1 spot on the world rankings.


"People talk about being No. 1, but the reality is you've got to want to be No. 1 every time you step on the court and you've got to be No. 1 every time you step on the court for over a year," he said.


The 24-year-old, who has cut off his trademark long locks and adopted a short-cropped hairstyle, arrived by private plane from Sydney on Tuesday morning. His girlfriend, actress Brooke Shields, remained in New York for the Broadway production of Grease.


"I think there are great conditions for me down here," he said. "I feel like the court suits me, the weather and so on."


Agassi soared up the world rankings last year and won the U.S. Open title after hiring veteran American player Brad Gilbert as his new coach.


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Jennifer Capriati has been unable to shake off an attack of flu and has withdrawn from next week's Australian Open, tournament director Paul McNamee announced Wednesday.


McNamee said the 19-year-old American had been advised by her doctor not to travel by air and Capriati's manager Barbara Perry confirmed the 1992 Olympic champion had not recovered from the symptoms which forced her out of this week's New South Wales Open.


Capriati's withdrawal follows last week's announcement that defending champion Steffi Graf had pulled out with a calf injury.


The American, arrested at a Florida motel last year for marijuana possession, has not played a grand slam event since the 1993 U.S. Open.


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Pete Sampras, the world's top-ranked tennis player, has called for sweeping changes to the sport.


The American said there should be a designated off-season, a refined computer rankings system and said the 25-second rule between points should be reinstated.


Sampras, who is in Melbourne preparing for the Australian Open, said Monday that the tennis season should be shortened, with fewer events, to allow players time to rest and recuperate.


The 23-year-old American said he would play fewer tournaments this year after over-committing himself in 1994. He said the Davis Cup would be his lowest priority.


"There really is no off-season in tennis like there is in other sports," Sampras said. "Tennis is perpetual -- it doesn't really end. Maybe a lot of injuries I've had are a result of this."


Sampras said it was with regret that he would not play for the United States in the early rounds of the Davis Cup. The United States play France in its opener from Feb. 3-5 -- right after the Australian Open.


"There are too many events on the tour right now," he said. "I'm scheduled to play 20 events and that's why I'm not playing Davis Cup in the first tie and the second is still in the air. It's because I need that rest after a major event."


Sampras said the current ranking system compels players to play week after week to protect their points. "With the ranking system that the men have, you have to play a lot to stay on top," he said.


In a bid to speed up the game, the ATP Tour has this season reduced by five seconds the time allowed between points to 20 seconds.


Sampras said there was no need for a reduction in time, but a need for a more stringent policing of the rule.


"They should keep the 25 seconds but enforce it. The 20-second rule in this heat and long matches isn't really a lot of time."


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Boris Becker is undecided about whether he will return to Davis Cup action for Germany in 1995.


The three-time Wimbledon champion is at the center of an ongoing feud with his compatriot Michael Stich, who has already declared his intention to play in Germany's first-round match against Croatia from Feb. 3-5.


Stich, the 1992 Wimbledon champion, is unhappy that Becker has voiced an interest in playing for his country when it suits him, and has threatened to withdraw if Becker is allowed to pick and choose when he competes.


Becker, who has lost only twice in 35 Davis Cup singles matches and steered Germany to consecutive triumphs in 1988 and 1989, has been absent from the team competition in recent years.


Negotiations for his return have been taking place between his management group and German Tennis Federation officials.


Becker and Anke Huber led Germany's victory Saturday over the Ukraine family duo of Andrei Medvedev and Natalia Medvedeva for the country's second Hopman Cup win in three years.


The second-seeded Germans took an unbeatable 2-0 lead after Becker and Huber each negotiated tense singles matches.