Chang Seeded No. 1 in L.A. Event

Michael Chang is seeded No. 1 in the $425,000 Volvo/Los Angeles tournament, which begins today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in Westwood.

Chang, ranked No. 6 in the world, will play wild-card entry Pete Sampras in a first-round match Tuesday night.

The other top seeded players are No. 2 Brad Gilbert, No. 3 Tim Mayotte, No. 4 Mats Wilander and No. 5 Aaron Krickstein. Defending champion Mikael Pernfors is seeded No. 8.

The only seeded player to play today is No. 7 Christo van Rensburg, who meets Darren Cahill.

Wilander dropped from No. 5 to No. 12 in the last rankings and might fall further when the new computer list is released today. His first-round opponent is Derrick Rostagno, who came within one unlucky net cord of beating eventual U.S. Open champion Boris Becker.

In addition to Sampras, other wild-card entries are Slobodan Zivojinovic, who plays Jim Pugh today, and former winner David Pate, who plays Gilbert in the first round.

Four qualifying spots were filled Sunday: Kenny Thorne, Jimmy Arias, Matt Anger and Glenn Michibata.

The 32-player field is competing for the winner’s share of $59,500.