A Digger's hat
sufficed for a crown as Pete Sampras was
again hailed the modern king of tennis.
Never one of
the game's madcaps, there were no victory
pranks as Sampras celebrated his third
consecutive Grand Slam triumph in the
Australian Open.
Not for
Sampras a celebratory Jim Courier-type dive
into the Yarra River. Nor a bizarre Boris
Becker dance around a gum tree while the
Flinders Park crowd waited for the
presentation.
But the 7-6,
6-4, 6-4 win over Todd Martin put Sampras
into regal company with tennis legends he has
revered since childhood.
No man since
Rod Laver 24 years ago has won three Grand
Slam championships in a row. No man since Roy
Emerson four years earlier has taken the
Wimbledon, United States and Australian
titles in that order.
Yet within
minutes of victory Sampras was thinking about
going one better and becoming only the third
man in history after Laver and Don Budge, to
hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same
time.
"Winning
the French Open and completing the set is
definitely going to be hard to achieve. But I
feel that win on clay will be the biggest
challenge of my career," said Sampras
before he had even banked his £200,000
winnings. "I still feel I am a bit
behind the Couriers and the Sergi Bruguera's
on clay. I need a little more time to mature
but one time I'll just get lucky."
Luck had
nothing to do with the two hours 33 minutes
defeat of big final rookie Martin.
Sampras did
not produce the level of play that completely
eclipsed defending champion Courier in the
semi-final, but even the world No.1 can only
achieve that level of on-court brilliance
once or twice during his career.
Apart from a
close first set that saw Sampras's self
assurance pull him through in the tie-break,
he was largely superior to 6ft 6in Martin who
dwarfed him by 5 inches.
In only his
second service game Sampras unleashed a
125mph ace, the second fastest of the
tournament, but ninth seed Martin refused to
accept second best until he hit a crucial
volley into the net to trail in the
tie-break. From that point Martin seemed
deflated and it appeared only matter of time
before Sampras added another title.
In last
September's US Open final, Cedric Pioline
fell away in three sets and it became
increasingly apparent Martin was going to do
the same.
But as coach
Tim Gullikson pointed out afterwards:
"Pete has more options to his game than
players like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe or
Jim Courier."
"Nowadays
he does not let negative things build up
inside and he has the ability to make great
players look ordinary."
Martin is not
a great player yet but beaten semi-finalist
Stefan Edberg can vouch he is more than
useful. Try as he might, he could not halt
the Sampras victory charge.
Whereas the
first set took 63 minutes, the second was a
45-minute sprint and the third looked to be
going even quicker when, Sampras admitted, he
let his thoughts wonder.
"I knew
what was at stake, three consecutive Grand
Slams. I knew only six players had done it in
the past and that was on my mind," said
Sampras. "Instead of taking things point
by point, I was looking ahead and taking
things for granted." Officials were
beginning to busy themselves for the
presentation and the victory cheques had even
been written when Martin raced to three break
points.
Sampras saved
two but a forehand flew long to introduce a
brief air of tension. But he simply
re-gathered his concentration, let Martin
hold his serve and then delivered another
couple of aces to set up two championship
points. In the end he only needed one,
sweeping a forehand across court before
raising both hands in that increasingly
familiar victory gesture.
Martin said:
"He is just too good I guess, but he
deserves everything he is getting because he
is working his butt off." Few in tennis
could be more succinct.
Article
supplied by Georgia Christoforou
BACK TO TOP
MELBOURNE, Australia - Pete
Sampras, the ultimate power tennis player of
the 1990s, evoked images of the sport's past
while winning his first Australian Open
title. Sampras, who defeated Todd Martin 7-6
(7-4), 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's all- American
final, became the first man in nearly three
decades to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and
the Australian Open consecutively. He
reasserted his dominance of men's tennis,
drawing comparisons with boyhood idols such
as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, by
overpowering Martin with 126 mph aces and
unreturnable groundstrokes. His match with
golf buddy Martin was a throwback in other
ways to the yesteryears of tennis, when
gentlemen wearing crisp white outfits were
more concerned about performance than
personality. Sampras and Martin, both of whom
have been ridiculed at times as boring and
too polite, praised each other after the
match. ``It makes it more fun for me when
people appreciate two guys who just go and
play tennis,'' Sampras said. ``I think that
is the way tennis should be played, with
class and someone who doesn't lose his temper
and embarrass himself.'' Martin, wearing a
cowboy hat given to both finalists afterward,
said he appreciated ``all the support a
little American kid can get.'' Martin looked
up with a bemused smile when a woman in the
crowd yelled, ``C'mon Todd, play hard,''
during the second set. He was playing hard,
but was unable to pose much of a threat to
Sampras after the first set. Martin, seeded
ninth, had his best chance at 3-3 in the
first set when he had four break points, but
Sampras saved them all and eventually forced
the tiebreaker. After that, the top-seeded
Sampras was in control, finishing with 13
aces. ``When I did lose the breaker, I think
it motivated Pete, it loosened him up,''
Martin said. ``Like most of the top players,
he plays a lot better when he's ahead.''
Sampras was so consistent that when he had
two aces in a three-point span in the final
set, each of the serves went past Martin at
exactly 119 mph. Martin and Sampras put their
arms around each other's shoulders at the
end, and Martin needled Sampras about leading
5-1 in the third set and dropping three
straight games including a service gamebefore
finally ending the match. ``He said, `Way to
serve it out,''' Sampras said. ``He was
giving me a hard time.'' It was the first
all-American final at the Australian Open
since 1982, when Johan Kriek defeated Steve
Denton. Sampras received $322,000, Martin
$161,000.
