Grand
Slam No. 6: Wimbledon 1995
Headline news and
press conference
Sampras
Three peat at Wimbledon
Pete Sampras blazed his way into the
record books at Wimbledon yesterday as he
became the first American to win three
consecutive men's singles titles at the All
England Club.
It was scarcely the most compelling
spectacle of a hot, dry fortnight, but
Sampras 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 final victory over
a muted Boris Becker is likely to rank high
on the 23-year-old champion's personal roll
of achievements.
Apart from becoming only the second man in
the modern era after Bjorn Borg to register a
bat-trick of Wimbledon successes, it allowed
Sampras to draw a line under a painful 12
months.
"To make this a three peat is
something I'm pretty proud of," Sampras
said. "Right now it's kind of a blur to
be honest. I'll just go back home tomorrow,
put the racket up for a bit and reflect on
what I just did."
His coach Tim Gullikson is still battling
a brain tumour, his world number one ranking
has been hijacked by Andre Agassi and, since
last year's Wimbledon, he had failed to win
any of the three other major titles.
Sampras revealed afterwards he had
dedicated his win to Gullikson and spoke to
him by phone soon after coming off court.
"We were all pretty pumped. I really
dedicated this win to Tim. He's a true
champion. The way he has handled his
treatment has been an inspiration. He's in
great spirits and is hoping to do some
travelling by the end of the year."
But Sampras, whose main priority once he
gets home will be to go in search of "a
good greasy burger, some fries and a
Coke", remained untroubled by the
comparative lack of acclaim he received from
the Centre Court crowd.
"Boris is a great champion, he has
played here a number of times, I knew the
crowd were going to be on his side a little
bit." he said. "I just go out with
the attitude that I let my racket do the
talking. I just hope they can appreciate my
tennis. I'm not going to act like a jerk out
there and that's the way I'll continue to
be."
Smiling despite the comprehensive nature
of his defeat, Becker said: "That was
probably the best feeling in all the four
finals I have lost. It's the first time I've
ever been asked to do a lap of honour after
losing!"
Becker, the oldest Wimbledon finalist
since the 31-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1984,
described Sampras' hat-trick as " an
amazing feat" and said: "I think he
has a very good chance of breaking Bjorn
Borg's record of five [successive] wins
here."
"When he's on the court he doesn't
let anything disturb him. That's probably
what you have to do to serve about 45 times
on the lines."
"Unfortunately, he owns the Centre
Court now. It belonged to me a few years ago,
but now he owns it."
"Especially when he is leading he is
an unbelievably good front-runner. Once he is
up a break early in the set he hits those
bombs and you just hope for rain."
"The [Cedric] Pioline and Agassi
matches were very tough. I lost my power
after the first set and I think Pete sensed
that. He's the most difficult opponent I've
faced in a Wimbledon final."
"I can't blame myself - I didn't have
any chances at all."
"After the first set he just bombed
me. My coach told me that I only won 20
points on his serve and sever of those were
double faults."
The match barely flickered as a contest,
except when Becker won the first set
tie-break 7-5 to encourage visions of a
fourth Wimbledon title 10 years after his
first as a 17-year-old in 1985.
Sadly for Becker, the accuracy of his
serve never matched his desire to win and 15
double faults badly undermined his cause.
Sampras, in contrast, unleashed 23 aces in
a display notable for its power and precision
if not its passion, and never allowed his
opponent a single break point in the contest
which lasted two hours 28 minutes.
With few rallies of more than seven
strokes it made certain that, for the third
successive year, the women's singles final
turned out to be an infinitely more thrilling
showpiece than the male version.
But with Sampras, who has now won six of
his eight Grand Slam finals, the end result
is far more important than showboating for
the crowd and he has now gone 21 matches at
Wimbledon without being defeated.
Becker was clearly the popular favourite,
winning the biggest ovation even in defeat as
he did an impromptu lap of honour with his
consolation salver, but cold, hard statistics
showed he won just 17 points on Sampras'
serve in open play.
Double faults cost him crucial breaks
early in the second, third and fourth sets
and while Sampras regularly raised puffs of
chalk, Becker's efforts invariably fell the
wrong side of the lines..
At one stage in the final set he wandered
along the baseline mimicking a blind man with
no idea where the ball was going, an accurate
summary of his ability to pick the Sampras
serve.
The tiebreak was only the second he had
ever won against his opponent in eight
attempts spread over years, but the final
outcome meant he has yet to beat Sampras
anywhere outdoors.
Sampras received a record cheque of
365,000pound, while Becker collected
182,500pound.
Article
supplied by Ida Tang
BACK TO TOP
Sampras
romps to Wimbledon hat-trick
By Paul Hayward (The
Electronic Telegraph)
July 10, 1995 - PETE SAMPRAS became the
first player since Bjorn Borg in 1978 to
complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon men's
singles titles by beating Boris Becker on a
roasting Centre Court yesterday.
He wore his broadest smile as he lifted up
the gold Challenge Cup trophy and waved to
his girlfriend Delaina.
As Becker held aloft his salver for
runner-up during a lap of honour made at the
insistence of the crowd his wife Barbara and
mother Heidi were in tears.
Sampras, 23, from Tampa in Florida,
collected £365,000 for beating Becker 6-7,
6-2, 6-4, 6-2, but did not plan a champagne
and caviar celebration.
"I've been eating so well that I'm
going to have a greasy burger, some French
fries and Coke," he said.
The final, watched by the Princess of
Wales, failed to achieve the same heights of
excitement as Steffi Graf's victory over
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario on Saturday, but was
the climax of an emotional last day.
It lasted 2hr 28min and confirmed the
defending champion as one of the elite of
tennis.
Becker, who won the first of his three
Wimbledon singles titles a decade ago, was
relaxed as he chatted to the Duke and Duchess
of Kent after the presentations.
He made a playful grab for Sampras's
trophy, to applause and laughter from the
crowd. Becker said he thought that Sampras
could go on to surpass Borg's record of five
consecutive wins. "He's young, he's
fresh. Very few people have played against me
the way he did today.
"I used to own the Centre Court a
couple of years ago. Now he owns it."
Referring to press reports, he said:
"I see that some of you guys call me the
old lion. I may have a beard like one, but at
27 I don't feel that old yet."
BACK TO TOP
Becker
hands 'back garden' over to new era's champion
By Paul
Hayward (uk telegraph)
THERE was no escape from the rifle-crack
of Pete Sampras's serve, no hiding place for
Boris Becker as he sought to commemorate the
10th anniversary of his first Wimbledon win
with a fourth. He was taken apart by an
opponent who was too young, too sharp, too
good. Becker said: "He owns the Centre
Court now."
Perhaps the only spectator who got real
value for money from this one-sided encounter
was the woman who grabbed not one but two of
the shirts Sampras threw into the crowd. It
was a match which juddered on the point of
take-off for nearly 21/2 hours but confirmed
Sampras as one of the very finest players to
have performed on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
It takes granite in the heart as well as
graphite in the racket to reach such peaks of
excellence. As the usual hum of anticipation
spread through the courts yesterday morning,
Sampras knew that he was within sight of
becoming the first since Bjorn Borg in 1978
to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles.
Even after losing the first set in a
tie-break he closed on that target with
withering force and made Becker seem a
humbled and leaden-legged veteran whose time
had long-since passed.
For many the absence of Andre Agassi was a
fatal flaw in this final line-up
IN the post-match interviews Becker was
extravagant with his praise for the man who
has deposed him as the foremost Wimbledon
specialist. Becker thinks Sampras "has a
chance" of surpassing Borg's record of
five Wimbledon victories and said: "If
there's a role model in tennis it's Pete
Sampras. Of all the players he's one of my
best friends. Off the court he's a real nice
fellah."
It took Becker 47 minutes to grind out a
win in the first set and Sampras just 69 to
win the next two. By the fourth game of the
fourth set, with a Sampras victory seemingly
assured, Becker slipped into a desperate
pantomime routine, covering his face and
flicking his racket to trace the direction of
Sampras's aces. His growing facial
resemblance to that tortured genius, Van
Gogh, seemed apt.
A decade ago Becker was a precocious and
gangly 17-year-old who cut the ribbon on the
age of power tennis by thundering to an
astonishing victory. In establishing his own
Wimbledon hegemony at the end of the 1980s he
also planted the seeds for his downfall.
Becker is two inches taller than Sampras and
17lbs heavier but now cannot match the muscle
and zest of the younger brigade. He has not
won a Grand Slam event since the 1991
Australian Open.
For many the absence of Andre Agassi was a
fatal flaw in this final line-up. But the
plot-lines were still strong. With Sampras
skirting the fringes of greatness and Becker
endeavouring to recapture past glories it was
a confrontation to savour. This was a clash
of two eras, as Becker acknowledged later,
and his ginger bristle and pale skin provided
a striking physical contrast with Sampras's
burnished Floridian countenance.
The lap of honour which Becker allowed
himself was entirely deserved
Two sets of statistics tell the story of
Sampras's hat-trick. He accumulated 23 aces
to Becker's 16 and double-faulted seven times
against 15. By the start of the second set
Becker was still moving sweetly and hanging
on to his chunk of history. But then Sampras
pulled away, breaking Becker's serve twice in
the second set to win it 6-2 and then
steaming through the next two to win 6-7,
6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
The lap of honour which Becker allowed
himself was entirely deserved. He once
referred to Wimbledon as "his back
garden" but is besieged by squatters now
that a younger generation has found his
patch. "I used to own it [Centre Court]
a couple of years ago," Becker said.
"Now he owns it. Very few people have
played against me the way he did today."
The sense that a new hierarchy is in place
has been growing for a couple of seasons.
"There was a big change when Sampras and
Agassi came through, and McEnroe and Connors
went out," Becker said. "I started
with Lendl and now I'm playing with Agassi
and Sampras. It's a completely different game
now. I'm glad I managed to play in
both."
Sampras's progression into the Wimbledon
elite has not been smooth. He has a habit of
trouncing British players (like Greg
Rusedski) and usually declines to indulge in
the traditional Wimbledon banter between
players and crowd. As he said last night:
"I just let my racket do the talking.
I'm not going to throw any tantrums and I'm
not going to behave like a jerk. That's just
the way I was brought up."
Yesterday Becker might as well have tried
to charge down a gale
THE more discerning observers will
recognise that here is a truly gifted player.
The subtlety and daring of his finer strokes
are often concealed by the overall pace and
power of his game. Watching him is only dull
when there is nobody to match him. Yesterday
Becker might as well have tried to charge
down a gale.
In fairness to Becker, he had endured two
of the most gruelling matches of his career -
against Cedric Pioline in the quarter-final
and in beating Agassi a round later. This was
a Wimbledon which rose to a stirring climax
with the Becker- Pioline epic, two cracking
men's semis and one of the classic women's
finals on Saturday. "After the first set
I lost power in my whole game," Becker
said. "I think he sensed that."
Sampras-Becker may have failed to match
those earlier heights of passion but it did
sweep away any lingering prejudice
surrounding Sampras. The £365,000 first
prize was the least of his acquistions here.
As Becker said: "I watched him last year
and it seemed to be a really easy win. This
year he had to struggle."
The emotion may not show on court, but it
is there, crackling through the fibres of
Sampras's superbly athletic frame. He said
that his sleep would be disrupted for a good
few days as he digested the magnitude of his
victory, and he would be "pretty
wired" as he lay by his pool in Tampa,
trying to relax.
The Centre Court is his, and he deserves
it.
BACK TO TOP
Sampras
Wins 3rd Title in a Row
He joins historic Wimbledon champs
by: BRUCE JENKINS
Wimbledon, England (July 10, 1995)-- THEY
WERE meant for each other, Pete Sampras and
the Wimbledon champion's cup, but they are
uneasy companions. Sampras never looks quite
comfortable with it. He struck the appearance
yesterday of a man who was merely borrowing
it for a while.
Boris Becker had a silver plate in his
hands, signifying defeat, but he played the
role of affable host. He did a little victory
lap, chatted amiably with the dukes and
lords, maybe even received a larger ovation
from the Centre Court crowd.
There was nothing particularly special
about the tennis, at least from a competitive
standpoint. If there was a defining moment
from Sampras' 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
victory, it came in the aftermath. Sampras
moved self-consciously through the pomp and
circumstance while Becker, the fallen victim,
acted as if he owned the place.
He does, too. They both own Wimbledon.
Seldom has the postmatch ceremony been such a
heartfelt tribute to both competitors.
``In all my years in tennis,'' said
Becker, ``I can't remember feeling quite so
good after a loss.''
Above all, there is history to be
addressed. In winning his third consecutive
Wimbledon title, Sampras joins Fred Perry
(1934-36) and Bjorn Borg (1976-80) as the
only men to win at least three straight since
World War I. Jimmy Connors couldn't manage
three Wimbledons in his entire career. Nor
could Lew Hoad, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall or
Don Budge. For Sampras, it's three and
counting -- and he's only 23 years old.
Andre Agassi is still the world's No.
1-ranked player, with Sampras No. 2. Even
yesterday's outcome couldn't change that.
It's safe to say who feels No. 1 right now,
though. Agassi left Wimbledon with his
confidence in ruins, but Sampras has made
everyone forget his emotional crisis, his
terrible European season, or any other hint
of vulnerability.
``There is something supernatural,'' said
Bud Collins, ``about Pete Sampras on the
Centre Court.''
One can argue endlessly about the greatest
player of all time. Some of the crustier
observers believe Sampras hasn't even cracked
the top 10. But the feeling is nearly
unanimous that Sampras owns the most
devastating right-handed serve in history;
only the late Pancho Gonzalez, a genius with
the wooden racket, is mentioned in Pete's
company.
And like all the great ones, such as
Montana and Koufax and Magic Johnson, Sampras
picked the highest stage for his signature
performance. Sampras never faced a break
point against his serve in the Wimbledon
final. Even the formidable Becker couldn't
find a single chance to break through. Nobody
could recall that happening in a men's match
of this significance.
At one point in the final set, Becker put
his hands over his eyes and staggered around,
mockingly using his racket as a cane. ``It
wasn't going to make any difference if my
eyes were open or not,'' Becker said later.
``He would have put that serve right on the
line anyway. My coach (Nick Bollettieri) told
me I won 20 points off Sampras' serve, and
seven of those were double- faults. So you
can imagine how often I had a chance to
actually hit a few tennis balls.''
That's what Sampras did yesterday. He took
away the tennis. There can be no rallies if
the ball is unhittable. Sampras delivered 23
aces and countless service winners, and as
Becker said, ``he even aced me five or six
times with his second serve. He just keeps
hitting those bombs and you just . . . hope
for rain.''
There were many interesting faces in the
crowd: Lady Di, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman,
Juan Antonio Samaranch, Pancho Segura, Tony
Roche, Jack Kramer. The one who counted most
for Sampras was Tom Gullikson, whose twin
brother Tim -- Sampras' longtime coach -- is
hospitalized with brain cancer.
Sampras wasn't sure where Tom was sitting
yesterday, but at one point, he heard someone
yell ``Pistol!''
``That could only be Tom,'' said Sampras.
``Tim calls me that a lot, and they sound
exactly like each other. Tom is a great
friend, and obviously we've both dealt with
Tim's situation in a very public way. Just to
have him here felt really good.''
From the moment Sampras seized a service
break in the second set -- taking a 2-1 lead
with a brilliant forehand reaction shot off
Becker's overhead -- he was unbeatable.
Becker, admitting some fatigue in the wake of
his long matches against Cedric Pioline and
Agassi, wound up with an embarrassing 15
double-faults and a marked shortage of
answers.
This was the 10-year anniversary of
Becker's first Wimbledon title, achieved at
the tender age of 17. What would the old
Becker have done?
``I probably would have jumped the net and
tried to beat him up (laughter),'' said
Becker. ``No, I don't think it would have
mattered if I was 17 or 21 or feeling totally
rested today. Pete was on another planet.''
Finally, after two long weeks, the tennis
came to a merciful close. Brown and tattered,
with chunks of loose grass lying all around,
the storied Centre Court looked like some
long-forgotten lawn during a Texas heat wave.
It would be time now for the Duchess of Kent,
the lineup of ballboys and girls, and the
trophy presentations.
In the swirl of earnest nodding and hearty
smiles, Sampras looked as he always does:
endearingly shy. He moved uneasily with the
cup, not quite certain where he was supposed
to go. Becker had a tremendously hands-on
chat with the Duchess, applauded at all the
right times, and at one point was seen waving
giddily to certain members of the Royal Box
(they waved right back, flushed with the joy
of recognition).
Eventually a bunch of spectators began
clamoring for Becker. He couldn't believe it
at first, then made a gesture that said,
``Me?'' When they roared their approval,
Becker began trotting around the court as if
he'd won the Olympic 400 meters.
``I would not have done that except for my
friendship with Pete,'' said Becker. ``We are
very close. I admire him probably than any
other player. Those fans made me feel like a
part of Wimbledon today. It's one of the
nicest feelings I've ever had,
and I'll never forget it.''
So, Pete, would you trade that cup for the
ovation Becker received?
``No,'' he said, smiling. That was perfect
Sampras, on his perfect day.
BACK TO TOP
The
shy champions
Have there ever been two Grand Slam
singles champions so inherently shy? Graf
wanted badly to join her coach and parents
after Saturday's match, but she didn't
leapfrog into the stands like Martina or Pat
Cash. She ran under the stands, then up a
flight of stairs, and when she finally
appeared in the Friends Box, only a few dozen
people even realized she was there.
On the court she was the ultimate
survivor, simply refusing to miss as the epic
32-point, 20-minute game progressed. Later
came her eternally mysterious side. She was
smiling, yes, and looked positively radiant.
But nobody really knew about her feelings,
her fears, her back, her future . . .
anything. These are things she would rather
not share.
Similarly, Sampras was at a loss to
explain his arrival in history, becoming only
the third man to win three straight
Wimbledons in the modern era. What did it
mean to him? Couldn't say. How about Borg's
record of five straight? Hasn't thought about
it. Were his emotions burning inside? Not
really. How will he celebrate? Maybe a burger
and some fries. ``I'm craving for some
grease,'' he said.
One hopes that Sampras realizes how he is
viewed by others. As Boris Becker said after
Sunday's final, ``What he's done here is
something really special. This is a guy who
doesn't say anything, never shows his
emotions on the court, and maybe that's why
he's so good. Over time, perhaps, people will
truly appreciate him. Right now everyone
talks about Andre Agassi and all the
attention he gets. But if there's one role
model in tennis, it's Pete Sampras.''
If the '95 Wimbledon will be remembered
for anything, it will be pure greatness. In
these times, with these players, we should
ask no more.
BACK TO TOP
Sampras
too much for Becker
By: ROBIN
FINN (New
York Times)
Originally Published on: 7/10/95
WIMBLEDON, England - He was unusually
animated: soon after losing the first set of
this final to the initially marauding Boris
Becker, Pete Sampras incited the Center Court
crowd to riot right along with him as he
attempted to break Becker's serve in the
third game of the second set.
He was unusually motivated: Sampras dearly
wanted to use this championship as a get-well
gift for his ailing coach, Tim Gullikson, who
is back home in Chicago undergoing
chemotherapy in an attempt to battle brain
cancer.
And he was unusually accurate from the
service line: Sampras was, in fact, so deadly
perfect with his delivery that Becker never
managed to sneak in a break point against the
defending champion's serve, much less convert
one.
All of this led to an unusual
accomplishment Sunday for the 23-year-old
Californian with the classic strokes and
classy temperament. He not only won Wimbledon
again, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, he
thoroughly outclassed Becker, the 27-year-old
German who made history here exactly 10 years
ago when he rose from the unsung ranks of the
unseeded and captured the first of his three
Wimbledon titles.
``Unfortunately, he owns the Center Court
now,'' Becker said after being rendered a
runner-up for the fourth time in seven
Wimbledon finals. ``I used to own it a few
years back.''
Already Wimbledon's two-time defending
champion, Sampras transformed himself into
this Grand Slam tournament's first three-time
defending champion in 15 years.
``To make this a three-peat is something
I'm pretty proud of,'' said Sampras, who
raced off to a telephone to celebrate long
distance with Gullikson after receiving the
silver chalice from the Duke and Duchess of
Kent and sending a brief bow in the direction
of Princess Diana.
``People don't really care who comes in
second, and to be able to be the first
American to win three in a row, I mean, this
was a big, big moment for me,'' Sampras said.
Not since Bjorn Borg reigned on these
lawns from 1976-80 has any player so
dominated at Wimbledon, the crown jewel of
the four Grand Slams and the event for which
this unassuming high school dropout was
groomed since he was 9 years old.
``If there's one role model in tennis,
it's Pete Sampras; he's behaving perfectly on
the court, he's a real nice fellow off the
court, and he doesn't have a bad shot in his
game,'' said Becker, who discovered that
firsthand. ``You have to somehow scramble to
get into a tie breaker, or basically convert
your first break point you have in the set
because you don't get any more.''
Or, in this case, any at all.
As Sampras tossed his shirt, a glass of
water, and then, to help dry the fans he had
drenched, a towel into the stands, Becker was
urged to take a non-victory lap by his fans
and, since the princess was prominent among
them, acquiesced.
``Of all the four finals I lost, this was
probably the best feeling I ever had here
after a loss,'' said Becker, who insisted
that he will be around, and remain a threat,
at least until he's 30.
During the match, Becker stopped feeling
good as soon as Sampras tightened up his
swing on his return games and beefed up his
serves, which reached 129 mph.
``Once I broke him in the second set, my
game kind of elevated to a new level,''
Sampras said of the inspired performance that
earned him a sixth career Grand Slam title.
The second-seeded Sampras smoked 23 aces
past Becker, who later repeated the
disparaging statistics he heard from his
coach, Nick Bollettieri, regarding his
inability to put a dent in the winner's
serve.
"I think I won just 20 points against
his serve, and seven of them came from double
faults, so you can imagine how many chances I
had to actually hit a few tennis balls out
there,'' said the bearded Becker, who called
Sampras a fearsome front-runner. ``Once he's
up in the second set, he hits those bombs and
you hope for rain.''
Becker added, ``After the first set I kind
of lost power in my whole game.'' Becker
wound up with 15 double faults, most of them
because he was overhitting his second serve
in an attempt to undermine Sampras'
ever-improving returns.
Flushed from the heat, which reached 110
degrees on the court, Becker plopped a white
cap on his head after falling behind by 4- in
the second set. But the extra touch of shade
failed to rejuvenate his playmaking. A
bulldog when the match began, he was clearly
the underdog the longer it wore on.
Meanwhile, a shade of a Mona Lisa grin began
to brighten the normally impassive features
of Sampras.
``I just started to connect on my
returns,'' Sampras said, ``and my serve
didn't let me down, and I could tell he was
more tired, and put it all together and I
felt pretty great about my game out there.''
The American's three previous Grand Slams
events had been a disappointment to him. A
foot injury had prevented him from making an
adequate defense of his 1993 U.S. Open title,
he fell to Andre Agassi in the Australian
Open final, and last month at the French
Open, he folded in the first round.
``This was a year that already had enough
disappointment in it, and I really didn't
want to be flying home on that plane tomorrow
thinking about another lost opportunity,''
Sampras said.
He ended the second set with an ace, and
in the third set embarked on a four-game
service tear in which he didn't yield a
single point against his serve. The third set
ended just as the second had, with an ace;
the only difference was that this time he
used a second-serve ace to reach set point.
Once Becker double-faulted at break point in
the fourth set's opening game, Sampras had
his opening; ahead, 5-2, after breaking
Becker again in the seventh game, Sampras
used an ace to set the stage for his match
point, which Becker converted for him with a
floppy return that veered wide. In keeping
with his image, there were no additional
theatrics from the champion: he raised his
arms, sprinted across the frazzled lawn to
console Becker, and then slumped into his
chair.
``It just felt good to get the job done,''
said Sampras, who has beaten Jim Courier,
Goran Ivanisevic, and now, in Becker, the
three-time champion who ruled this regal
roost before he arrived.
``Winning here is what it's all about,''
Sampras said. ``It's the biggest thing we've
got in our sport. It's all a blur right now,
but I know I'm feeling pretty relieved about
everything.''
BACK TO TOP
Sampras
the Centre Court Heartbreaker
By:
Shekhar Bhatia
The women in the lives of
Pete Sampras and Boris Becker suffered two
and a half hours of agony and ecstasy at
Wimbledon yesterday.
Boris's wife Barbara,
sister Sabine and mother Heidi were in tears
as Pete trounced the German star 6-7, 6-2,
6-4, 6-2.
But there was also
disappointment for Pete's girlfriend Delaina
Mulcahay, who hoped he would propose marriage
on the Centre Court to celebrate his third
successive victory.
Even so, she was all smiles
as she linked arms with Barbara Becker
afterwards.
In the Royal Box the
players got a standing ovation from the
Princess of Wales, who was enjoying a very
different sort of afternoon from Prince
Charles.
While she was being
thrilled by the tennis, he was being spilled
from the saddle in a crashing polo fall at
Cirencester, Glos. The Prince landed heavily
on his hip and in obvious pain, took two
minutes to compose himself before remounting.
Back at Wimbledon, Dealaina
cheered up visibly as Pete collected his
trophy.
Asked why her 23-year-old
lover had not proposed, she smiled and said,
"You'll still have to ask Pete."
When challenged, he joked,
"I ask her the question every day -
'What's for dinner?'"
Becker, the people's
favorite, did a lap of honor around the court
- at the insistence of the crowd. He said it
was "one of the nicer feelings I have
ever had".
He added, "it made me
feel like a part of Wimbledon, part of the
whole tournament. I am veyr proud of
that."
Relaxed and gracious in
defeat, he even made a playful grab for
Sampras's trophy.
But Boris, who won the
first of his three titles 10 years ago, aged
17 said, "Unfortunately, Pete owns the
Centre Court. I used to own it, but it is his
now."
Referring to his family's
tears, he said, "They get very nervous,
they get very emotional and they don't come
to all my matches because they would have
heart attacks. They get more emotional than
me."
Barbara said, "I just
can't hear this. The loss is going to hurt
very bad later."
Sampras ended the occasion
on a meaty note. He said he was planning to
"get some grease" in the form of a
burger and fries - forbidden food during the
tournament.
Princess Diana, looking
elegant in a lemon suit, was joined by her
American friend Marguerite Littman, who has
written a book about David Hockney's
paintings in benefit of an AIDS charity.
Princess Michael of Kent
saw Hollywood husband and wife Tom Cruise and
Nicole Kidman sitting near the Royal Box. She
excitedly pointed them out to her neighbors,
including Diana.
Article
supplied by Georgia Christoforou
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