WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon opens today with new questions in the struggle for old tennis glory.
Can Pete Sampras, who is nursing a rib injury, find his form?
Can Tim Henman end Britain's long title drought?
And can anyone push reigning women's champion Venus Williams, other than her younger sister Serena?
The questions form the backdrop to one of the more open and captivating Wimbledons in years, where just showing up may count for a lot.
The beauty of Wimbledon is that no matter the state of tennis, the tournament manages to create its own drama, such as last year when Goran Ivanisevic gained a wild-card entry and won the men's title in a scorching final against Pat Rafter.
Ivanisevic, sidelined with shoulder problems, isn't back to defend his title, and Rafter is on a sabbatical.
With no reigning champion to play the traditional opening match on Centre Court, the match falls to 1992 winner Andre Agassi. The No. 3 seed will meet Harel Levy of Israel.
No. 6 Sampras is scheduled for the third match on Centre Court against Briton Martin Lee. After sustaining an acute strain in his lower right ribs, Sampras withdrew from a tennis exhibition Saturday and didn't practice yesterday.
"I think he'll play," Sampras' coach, Jose Higueras, told reporters. "Hopefully, he will be fit. We'll see."
Sampras' request to push his opening match back a day was denied by Wimbledon officials because they already set his half of the draw. The best they could do was give him the late match on opening day.
The rib injury is just one more bit of woe piled on Sampras, who won his seventh Wimbledon title two years ago and hasn't won a tournament since. His aura of invincibility on Centre Court was cracked last year when he was defeated by Roger Federer.
The game seems to be moving to the new generation, with the likes of No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 2 Marat Safin, No. 7 Federer and No. 11 Andy Roddick garnering much of the pre-tournament attention.
But Hewitt has never advanced beyond Wimbledon's fourth round, and Safin, for all his talent, is often streaky. Federer and Roddick have styles suited to performing well on grass.
The other major contender is No. 4 Henman, the local hope. In many ways, he's Wimbledon's version of the Brooklyn Dodgers, usually finishing second best amid cries of wait 'til next year.
But at 27, next year is now for Henman, who is the bookies' favorite to claim the crown and become the first British men's champion since 1936.
Henman has a favorable draw, meeting two qualifiers in the first two rounds with a projected semifinal against Hewitt.
Hewitt's path is strewn with obstacles that begin in the opening round against Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and pick up in a projected quarterfinal against Federer.
Safin, Agassi and Sampras are tucked in the same half of the draw. One dangerous outsider is Mark Phillippoussis, the big serving Australian who is nicknamed Scud. He was given a wild-card entry and yearns to follow Ivanisevic's path to the final. He could meet Agassi in the third round.
While the men's tournament appears open and unpredictable, the women's tournament has the look of a Williams family rout, with injuries sidelining Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport.
No. 1 Venus Williams, bidding for her third straight Wimbledon crown, and No. 2 Serena Williams, aiming for her first, have dominated the women's tour this year. Serena Williams meets Evie Dominikovic of Australia today, while Venus Williams plays Jane O'Donoghue of Britain tomorrow.
Whether the Williams sisters can translate their dominance into a meaningful final against one another is shaping up as a major theme of the tournament. In the French Open final that Serena Williams won, they never lit into the match and the crowd couldn't decide which player to cheer.
No. 3 Jennifer Capriati, who has won three of the past six Grand Slam tournaments and reached last year's Wimbledon semifinals, is the player given the best chance to stop an all-Williams final. She opens her Wimbledon campaign against Janette Husarova and is projected to meet Serena Williams in the semifinals.
Other threats in Serena Williams' half of the draw include No. 7 Jelena Dokic and No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova.
Venus Williams' half of the draw includes No. 4 Monica Seles. Two other players to watch are Belgians Kim Clijsters, No. 5, and Justine Henin, No. 6.
Henin, whose backhand is the best in the women's game, reached last year's final and took a set from Venus Williams.
And the way the women's game has been for the past few months, taking a set off a Williams sister is about as good as it gets.
Wimbledon facts
When: Today through July 7
TV: TNT, NBC (chs. 11, 4)
Top men's seeds: 1. Lleyton Hewitt, 2. Marat Safin, 3. Andre Agassi, 4. Tim Henman
Top women's seeds: 1. Venus Williams, 2. Serena Williams, 3. Jennifer Capriati, 4. Monica Seles
Featured matches
(Seeding in parentheses)
Centre Court
Harel Levy vs. Andre Agassi (3), Evie Dominikovic vs. Serena Williams (2), Pete Sampras (6) vs. Martin Lee
Court 1 Janette Husarova vs. Jennifer Capriati (3), Cedric Pioline vs. Marat Safin (2), Greg Rusedski (23) vs. Jurgen Melzer
Court 2 Jelena Dokic (7) vs. Elena Tatarkova
Court 3 Sandrine Testud (8) vs. Anca Barna, Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5) vs. Dominik Hrbaty, Iveta Benesova vs. Amelie Mauresmo (9)