Grand
Slam No. 11: Wimbledon 1998
Headline news and
press conference
High five!
Sampras wins at Wimbledon
The Sporting News
WIMBLEDON, England (July 5,
1998) - There goes Pete Sampras, the best
there ever was. Wearing white, slamming
winners and turning improbable shots into
effortless artistry. He is the natural of
men's tennis. Nobody beats him in a slugfest
on grass. And nobody still playing creates so
much modern tennis history.
But Sunday, Sampras gave
himself and Wimbledon something special. He
went into uncharted territory against a
ferocious rival named Goran Ivanisevic. For
the first time in a Grand Slam final, he
fought through a fifth set. And he won a
high-wire, serve-and-volley spectacular to
put himself into the record books.
Sampras beat Ivanisevic, 6-7
(2-7), 7-6 (11-9),6-4, 3-6, 6-2, to win his
fifth Wimbledon men's title, tying the modern
mark established by Bjorn Borg.
It was a nail-biting match
that pulled the best from both players. And
when it ended, with Sampras winning a battle
of volleys at the net, the players were
exhausted and the staid Centre Court crowd
was cheering.
Sampras sat for a few
moments, with his chin buried in a towel. And
Ivanisevic was utterly devastated, draping a
towel over his head, beaten in his third and
perhaps last Wimbledon final. But he was
beaten by the best.
As he walked off the court,
Sampras sounded dazed and somewhat awed by
his latest accomplishment. He has 11 Grand
Slam triumphs, tying Borg and Rod Laver, just
one behind the record of 12 held by Roy
Emerson.
And he has those five
Wimbledons, matching Borg and H.L. Doherty,
who played before World War I, and standing
two behind W.C. Renshaw, who played in the
late 19th century.
"It's just so hard to
believe, Borg's five, I thought would never
be broken," Sampras said. "I think
I've got some years left in me, that I can
hopefully do this again."
The kid who grew up idolizing
Laver has grown into a 26-year-old man and
the most dominant player of his or any other
era. But even legends get nervous.
Sampras admitted that playing
in a Wimbledon final is like nothing else in
tennis.
"You wake up in the
morning and you kind of have a pit in your
stomach," he said. "You don't want
to get to this point and come up short."
Sampras beat Ivanisevic
because he was tougher and more focused on
the big points. He beat him with second
serves in a second-set tiebreaker. And he
used all his strength and savvy to take the
fifth and take the title.
And he also broke
Ivanisevic's heart.
Ivanisevic played with fire
and guts and crowded Sampras like a
heavyweight shoving a rival into the ropes.
For 93 minutes, he bullied the champion
around the dust and grass of a rutted court.
And he had him on the run in the second-set
tie-breaker, twice getting to set point on a
pair of Sampras second serves. And the champ
was scared.
"I felt the match
slipping away in the breaker," Sampras
said. "I said, `God, this could be
Goran's year. "
But it wasn't. Ivanisevic
batted the set-point, second-serves into the
net, lost the tie-breaker and saw his chance
to win Wimbledon slip away.
"It feels bad,"
Ivanisevic said. "I cannot describe it.
It's the worst moment in my life. I know I've
had some bad moments, when you are sick or
when somebody dies, But for me, this is the
worst thing ever. Nobody died yet, but it's
tough."
Not even the roar of the
Centre Court crowd, which pulled for
Ivanisevic and saluted him in defeat, could
console him. He wanted to win this badly. He
wanted to win for himself and his country,
Croatia. And he wanted it to be the start of
a sporting double, with Croatia's national
team still alive in the World Cup. But after
the match, he couldn't even bear the thought
of going to see a soccer match.
"I cannot cheer anybody
now," he said. "I can only kill
myself. Now, I'm not good for anybody."
Sampras said he understood
how Ivanisevic felt. For all his success, he
still rues losing two Grand Slam finals.
"I feel bad for
Goran," Sampras said. "I really
do."
But in the fifth, Sampras was
simply better. He got the service break to go
up 4-2 by nailing a forehand return to
Ivanisevic's feet. And then he broke him
again to take the title.
"You don't want to make
a mistake," Sampras said.
And he didn't.
Only two weeks ago there were
whispers on the men's tour that Sampras was
unmotivated, that he was about to be toppled
as the world's No. 1 player.
"You don't play well for
four months and people think you're
done," Sampras said. "It's
flattering to be at that standard, that high
level. And it's not easy to do that month
after month. So, it wasn't surprising to hear
the talk. I guess I'm out of my slump."
BACK
TO TOP
Ivanisevic
finishes second again at Wimbledon
By STEVEN WINE (AP)
WIMBLEDON, England - For
Goran Ivanisevic, second-best never felt
worse. The talented, temperamental Croatian
is 0-for-3 in Wimbledon finals. He lost
Sunday to Pete Sampras in a three-hour
slugfest, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 3-6,
6-2.
``I've had some bad moments,
you know, when you are sick or when somebody
dies,'' Ivanisevic said. ``But for me, this
is the worst thing ever. Nobody died yet, but
it's tough.''
Ivanisevic and Jana Novotna
entered the finals trying to shake labels as
the most talented active players without a
Grand Slam title. Each had been a runner-up
at Wimbledon twice previously.
The parallel ended there.
Novotna won; Ivanisevic lost.
"At this level, with
Goran and me playing the way we do on grass,
it's not really much that separates us,''
Sampras said. ``I got a little bit lucky, I
must admit.''
Luck has rarely been part of
Ivanisevic's game, at least not in Wimbledon
finals. He lost a five-setter to Andre Agassi
in 1992. He lost in straight sets to Sampras
in 1994.
Now, the 26-year-old
left-hander with the booming serve can't be
sure whether he'll get another shot at a
Wimbledon title - or whether he'll even try
again.
"This doesn't motivate
me at all to come back,'' he said. ``I don't
know how long it's going to take, but I have
to try.''
Others have suffered repeated
frustrations on the Centre Court grass. Ken
Rosewall went 0-for-4 in Wimbledon finals,
while Fred Stolle finished second three
consecutive years and never won the title.
That was of no consolation to
the 1998 runner-up.
Ivanisevic's shaky psyche
held up well for most of the final. He broke
a racket in anger, complained about calls and
chastised himself in a voice audible 30 rows
up. But he didn't unravel under pressure the
way he's done in the past.
``I don't think it's
mental,'' Sampras said. ``I think Goran was
pretty strong mentally today. He didn't get
upset. In fact, he's going to win this event,
I feel. His game is too big, and his serve is
too big. He has come close three times now.''
But Ivanisevic again came up
short at the most important moments,
squandering seven of nine break-point
chances. His 32 aces weren't enough; his 20
double faults were too many.
Ivanisevic fretted about
failing to convert two set points in the
second-set tiebreaker, which allowed Sampras
to even the match at one set each.
``I knew these two set points
are going to my backhand, and I missed them
both, which is ridiculous,'' he said.
Instead, Ivanisevic fell
behind, then tired after playing a 15-13
fifth set against Richard Krajicek in
Friday's semifinals. He won only three points
in the final four games.
``I gave everything in that
fourth set, and then it was like somebody hit
me,'' he said.
He sailed a backhand long on
match point, then met a jubilant Sampras at
the net. The conversation was brief.
``What can you say? `Bad
luck?' He doesn't want to hear that,''
Sampras said. ``He just probably wants to be
left alone. I'm sure this match will replay
in his mind for many months.''
The replays began
immediately. While waiting to accept the
consolation trophy, Ivanisevic sat for a long
time in his courtside chair with a towel
draped over his head, talking to himself.
What did he say?
``That's between me and me,''
he answered.
Later, even the mention of
Croatia's World Cup victory Saturday over
Germany failed to brighten his mood.
``I cannot cheer anybody
now,'' he said. ``I can only kill myself.''
Copyright 1996 Associated
Press.
BACK TO TOP
Big
High Five for Sampras Wimbledon title ties Borg,
leaves Ivanisevic jilted
Bruce Jenkins, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Wimbledon, England (July 6,
1998)-- There were pleasant memories of Bjorn
Borg in the Centre Court stands yesterday,
particularly up in the Royal Box, where so
many tennis greats had arrived to witness
history. There was a bit of Ivan Lendl in the
air, too. Seldom has Wimbledon's postmatch
ceremony brought such feelings of doom.
For the moment, and for all
time, there was Pete Sampras, a 6-7 (7-2),
7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Goran
Ivanisevic and a five-time Wimbledon
champion. That ties him with Borg for the
modern-day record, and with 11 Grand Slam
titles, Sampras is just one short of Roy
Emerson's record.
But for an agonizing few
minutes, on the fringe of pomp and
circumstance, there was a devastated and
inconsolable Ivanisevic. ``I can only kill
myself,'' he said later, not altogether
jokingly. ``This is the worst moment of my
life.''
Generally the ceremony is a
festive affair, with dukes and duchesses and
tut-tuts and tally-hos. It's hard to feel
terrible on such an important stage; even
Jana Novotna cheered up in '93 after she had
had a good cry. The typical photo shows a
beaming victor and a gracious loser,
fashioning a wooden grin.
Ivanisevic was not smiling.
He was holding a thin silver plate, somewhat
paltry-looking against the golden winner's
trophy, and he looked like he wanted to
Frisbee that thing into the
strawberries-and-cream concession.
Like Lendl, who spent his
career in a futile Wimbledon obsession,
Ivanisevic can't win to save his life here.
This was his third final -- the only three
he's reached among the Grand Slams -- and his
third defeat. It was also the most
disappointing, by far.
These are heady times in
Croatian sports -- their World Cup team is
through to the semifinals against France --
and when Ivanisevic glanced toward the Royal
Box yesterday, he saw both the prime minister
and ambassador of his country, right along
with their wives.
Not only that, this was
Ivanisevic's best chance. Blown away by
Sampras in '94, powerless against Andre
Agassi's emotional wave in '92, Ivanisevic
was the better player through much of
yesterday's match. He won the first set and
had two set points in the second. To lose --
it was just too much for him.
``Yes, this one hurts the
most,'' he said. ``I cannot describe it. You
know, I've had some bad moments, when you are
sick or when somebody dies, but for me this
is the worst thing ever.''
If it's any consolation to
Ivanisevic -- and of course, it won't be --
this was the best tennis of Wimbledon '98.
There were no great matches (for the first
time in memory) but this had the ebb and flow
of high intrigue.
True, it was another grim
display of the men's power game, and for long
stretches, you wanted to put some tiny wooden
rackets in their hands and enjoy the show.
``Can't they do anything to fix this?'' cried
a London-based American journalist, destitute
in his quest for rallies.
Well, they did something.
They invented the tiebreaker. Otherwise, it's
78-77 in the first set and dawn is upon us.
But you could hardly blame the players. They
are merely taking advantage of today's Big
Bertha-style equipment. When at war, you do
not use tanks when nuclear warheads are at
your disposal.
Ivanisevic dominated the
first tiebreaker, breaking through Sampras'
serve with a couple of tremendous passing
shots, and on each of those nerve-racking
occasions in the second-set tiebreaker -- set
point for Ivanisevic on both -- Sampras faced
a second serve. But like every other shot in
the book, that's one of his strengths.
``Pete's second serve is
phenomenal,'' said John McEnroe. ``Maybe the
best ever.'' And he got through that set,
closing it out with a first-service winner to
Ivanisevic's backhand.
The whole scene was a glimpse
of the game's great history: McEnroe in the
broadcast booth; PanchoSegura and Stan Smith
in the stands; Boris Becker, Neale Fraser,
Ashley Cooper and Don Budge in the Royal Box.
They are the ones who truly appreciate the
difficulty of Wimbledon and Sampras' ascent
to the heights. What they did not expect,
perhaps, was the first five-set match Sampras
has ever played in a Grand Slam final.
``That is sort of amazing,
when you think about it,'' said Sampras. ``It
felt different, too. I felt like there wasn't
much separating myself and Goran today. He
was just playing huge.''
He was also playing tired.
That is not a good excuse for anyone at
Wimbledon, but Ivanisevic had played an
interminable semifinal against Richard
Krajicek (15-13 in the fifth) on Friday,
``and that cost me today,'' he said. ``My
legs were not there.''
``I didn't sense that one
bit,'' retorted Sampras. ``I thought his
serve was still coming in real big. I guess
he's played a lot of tennis the last few
days, but in the fifth set at Wimbledon, you
have to suck it up.''
The task was just too great
-- for anyone who ever played Sampras in a
Wimbledon final. Borg won five straight
(1976-80) to Sampras' five out of six, but
Pete is 5- for-5 on the final Sunday. As he
said later, ``Wimbledon is our Super Bowl. To
me, it's what the game's all about. You get
that feeling of history, more than anywhere
else.''
The fifth set ended abruptly,
Sampras breaking Ivanisevic's serve at love.
There were sensational returns, a
double-fault (Goran's 20th) and finally an
Ivanisevic volley into the net. The clock
showed 17.00 exactly -- the stroke of 5 p.m.
A time for history. And time for Ivanisevic
to slump in a chair, cover his head with a
towel and tune out the world.
All around him, the scene was
vintage Wimbledon. The Duke and Duchess of
Kent made their customary entrance between
two rows of ballboys, occasionally stopping
to chat. One imagined it going this way:
Duchess: ``Splendid, then.''
Boy: ``Captivating.''
``Shame about Beckham.''
``Tragic.''
``Carry on, then.''
``Then, then.''
And all the while, Ivanisevic
slowly went mad. The towel never left his
head. Finally there were awards to present,
and it took the kindly hand of Alan Mills,
the tournament chairman, to snap Goran out of
his misery.
He went through the motions,
tossing back his head to clear the stringy,
damp hair out of his face. Sampras broke into
a canter, parading around the perimeter in a
victory lap, and Ivanisevic sagged back in
the chair -- a veritable electric chair in
his mind -- to await further sentencing.
``They asked me to do one lap
with the plate,'' Ivanisevic said later. ``I
just couldn't.''
Like the ill-fated Lendl,
Ivanisevic will fade from the memory, just
another athlete who could not quite get it
done. For Sampras and his followers, there
are questions of gravity: Is he a player for
the ages? Is he the greatest of all time?
Well, he did not have McEnroe
and Jimmy Connors to contend with, like Borg,
but there are infinitely more dangerous
players in today's game. Emerson won half of
his 12 Grand Slams at the Australian,
managing just two each in the other three
majors.
But Sampras has never won the
French. Emerson, strangely, is seldom
mentioned among the Lavers, Tildens, Borgs
and Kramers. Sampras is, with a formidable
11-2 record in Grand Slam finals.
``All of this is too much for
me to talk about right now,'' said Sampras.
``It's hard to believe that I've actually won
five. It's a little overwhelming to me.''
Not quite so overwhelming,
however, as it is to the mere mortals of
tennis.
BACK
TO TOP
Sampras
gets by Ivanisevic for 5th crown
By: LISA DILLMAN, Los Angeles Times
WIMBLEDON, England - The
obstacle on the path to join Bjorn Borg in
modern tennis history was familiar, but this
time Pete Sampras felt like he was a
passenger on a wild roller-coaster ride,
hanging on until the brooding, long-haired
Croatian relinquished control.
That moment did not come
until the fifth set on Sunday.
Fourteenth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia
wobbled on the grass, and top-seeded Sampras
quickly assumed the upper hand, winning his
fifth Wimbledon singles title, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6
(11-9), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
``Compared to all the finals,
this by far was the toughest,'' Sampras said.
``I didn't think I was quite in control of
the match.''
He matched Borg's modern
record of five Wimbledon championships, and
is now tied with Rod Laver and Borg with 11
Grand Slam singles titles, one behind
all-time leader Roy Emerson.
It was the first time in 13
career Grand Slam finals Sampras was extended
to five sets. He is 11-2, a winning
percentage of .846. Emerson was 12-3 and Borg
11-5 in Grand Slam finals.
And to think the 26-year-old
Sampras had been in something of a Grand Slam
slump, or what amounted to one for him. This
was his first Grand Slam title since winning
Wimbledon last year.
``It's overwhelming to think
of myself in those terms,'' said Sampras, who
also won in 1993, '94, '95 and '97.
``I've always tried to stay
humble through all my accomplishments. It's
just hard to believe. Borg's five
(Wimbledons), I thought would never be
broken. I think I've got some years left in
me, that I can hopefully do this again.''
There is evidence supporting
that contention. A year ago, he was so
dominating, holding serve 116 of 118 times,
that losing finalist Cedric Pioline said that
Sampras does not allow you to ``breathe
against him.'' This time, Sampras won
although he did not play his very best
tennis, a fact that left Ivanisevic a weary
and wounded finalist. Ivanisevic now has lost
three Wimbledon finals, twice to Sampras.
``It feels bad, I cannot
describe it,'' said Ivanisevic, who had 32
aces but double-faulted 20 times. ``It is the
worst moment in my life. I know I've had some
bad moments when you are sick or somebody
dies. Nobody died yet, but it's tough.''
His despair showed. As
Sampras celebrated, holding the trophy high
in the air for the crowd and his supporters,
among them, his girlfriend, actress Kimberly
Williams, a distraught Ivanisevic sat in his
chair, head buried in a towel.
He posed halfheartedly for
the usual pictures and retreated.
``They told me to go one lap
with the plate and I couldn't,'' Ivanisevic
said. `` ... It hurt the most because this
time I had the chance, he didn't play well.''
This was his best opportunity
to win Wimbledon. He took the first-set
tiebreaker, 7-2, clinching it with a service
winner. The two played a tense second set,
knowing the slightest miscue on grass would
be costly. Sampras was seeing a different,
determined Ivanisevic, as they exchanged
early service breaks in the second.
Sampras broke first, but
Ivanisevic broke back in the next game. They
stayed on serve until the tiebreaker, which
essentially decided the match. Ivanisevic had
two set points, one at 6-5, and another at
8-7, with Sampras serving. Sampras missed his
first serve on both, and Ivanisevic netted
backhand returns. ``I knew those two set
points are going to my backhand,'' Ivanisevic
said. ``I missed them both, which is
ridiculous.''
Sampras won the tiebreaker,
11-9, when Ivanisevic knocked a forehand
volley long and Sampras hit a service winner
on his third set point. ``A huge weight
(lifted),'' Sampras said. ``I felt the match
slipping away in the breaker, `I thought,
`God, this could be Goran's year.' I managed
to break him in the third, but I knew the
match was far from being over. It's a roller
coaster out there.
``Playing Goran, you get no
rhythm, you don't know what's coming.''
Ivanisevic found enough for one last stirring
charge in the fourth set, breaking Sampras in
the sixth game at 15, firing a cross-court
passing shot on the run. He took the set,
6-3, and found himself running on empty in
the fifth.
He said the 15-13 fifth set
against Richard Krajicek in the semifinals
cost him the match against Sampras, leaving
him exhausted and spent. In the sixth game of
the fifth, Sampras broke him at 15 when
Ivanisevic knocked a forehand half volley in
the net. And that was the match. Instead of
making history for Croatia, he became part of
Sampras' history. And Sampras wasn't quite so
sure how to sum it all up on Sunday, saying
he needed time for it to sink in. Even more
difficult was when Sampras was asked about a
report in a British paper saying he would get
engaged to Williams.
``No,'' said Sampras, shaking
his head. Then he took a sip of water and
started choking.
He may choke on water, but
not on Centre Court.
BACK
TO TOP
Sampras
is a player for the ages
By: James Beck
Pete Sampras wasn't perfect
Sunday. He wasn't even brilliant. He was
outplayed by Goran Ivanisevic for much of
their Wimbledon final. Yet, Sampras owns five
Wimbledon titles today. Ivanisevic may never
win even one. Sampras is still the No. 1
player in the world. Wimbledon hater Marcelo
Rios didn't take the top position by default.
That's a real plus for tennis, because
Wimbledon and tennis are one and the same.
Ivanisevic gave his all. That
wasn't enough to topple Sampras from his
throne. Ivanisevic did everything but win. He
passed Sampras down the line and cross court.
He served ace after ace. He delivered
brilliant volleys. He ran down what looked
like sure winners.
Through all of this, Sampras
managed to stay in the match. Twice, he was
within one point of trailing two sets to
none.
When it came down to a fifth
set and the time to win or lose the match,
Sampras pulled all of his enormous skills
together into one package that was too good
for Ivanisevic.
Terrible Goran didn't hand it
over to Sampras this time. Sampras had to win
this one, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Ivanisevic played well enough
to win. If anyone other than Sampras had been
across the net, Ivanisevic probably would own
a Wimbledon title today. Unlike Jana
Novotna's third try, it wasn't to be for
Ivanisevic.
Sampras will be 27 years old
on Aug. 12. That's not old by any standards,
even for a player who owns five Wimbledon
singles titles. If he remains healthy and
motivated, he could win two or three more.
That would stake Sampras to the claim of
immortality.
He needs just one more Grand
Slam title to tie Roy Emerson's total of 12.
On paper, that looks easy. But there was
nothing easy about No. 11. Ivanisevic wanted
this title as badly as Sampras.
The future is unpredictable.
Just over a year ago, it appeared almost
certain that Steffi Graf would surpass
Margaret Court Smith's Grand Slam record for
singles titles.
The odds of that happening
now are rather remote, at best. Unlike Graf,
Sampras has remained relatively injury free
throughout his career. He's a great athlete,
and an even better ambassador for the game.
He's no Andre Agassi or Jimmy Connors in
showmanship, but just a great champion., a
player to truly emulate.
BACK
TO TOP
Sampras
puts his stamp on history
by Bill Glauber, The Baltimore Sun
WIMBLEDON, England - There
goes Pete Sampras, the best there ever was.
Turning improbable shots into
effortless artistry, he is the natural of
men's tennis.
Nobody beats him in a slugfest on grass. And
nobody still playing creates so much tennis
history.
Yesterday, Sampras gave
himself and Wimbledon something special. He
went into uncharted territory against Goran
Ivanisevic. For the first time in a Grand
Slam final, he fought through a fifth set.
And he won a high-wire, serve-and-volley
spectacular to put himself into the record
books.
Sampras beat Ivanisevic 6-7
(2-7), 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, to win his
fifth Wimbledon men's title, tying Bjorn
Borg's open-era record.
It was a nail-biting match
that pulled the best from both players. And
when it ended, with Sampras winning a battle
of volleys at the net, the players were
exhausted and the staid Centre Court crowd
was cheering.
Sampras sat for a few
moments, with his chin buried in a towel.
Ivanisevic was devastated, draping a towel
over his head, beaten in a Wimbledon final
for the third time.
But he was beaten by the
best.
Sampras sounded dazed and
somewhat awed by his latest accomplishment.
He has 11 Grand Slam triumphs, tying Borg and
Rod Laver and one behind Roy Emerson's
record.
And he has those five
Wimbledons, matching Borg and H.L. Doherty,
who played before World War I, and two behind
W.C. Renshaw, who played in the late 19th
century.
"It's just so hard to
believe," Sampras said. "Borg's
five I thought would never be broken. I think
I've got some years left in me, that I can
hopefully do this again."
The kid who grew up idolizing
Laver has grown into a 26-year-old man and
the most dominant player of his or any other
era.
But even legends get nervous.
Sampras said playing in a Wimbledon final is
like nothing else in tennis.
"You wake up in the
morning, and you kind of have a pit in your
stomach," he said. "You don't want
to get to this point and come up short."
Sampras beat Ivanisevic
because he was tougher and more focused on
the big points. He beat him with second
serves in the second-set tiebreaker. And he
used all his strength and savvy to take the
fifth and take the title.
He also broke Ivanisevic's
heart.
For 93 minutes, Ivanisevic
bullied Sampras around the dust and grass of
the rutted court. And he had him on the run
in the second-set tiebreaker, twice getting
to set point on Sampras second serves.
"I felt the match
slipping away in the breaker," Sampras
said. "I said, `God, this could be
Goran's year.' "
But Ivanisevic batted the
set-point second serves into the net, lost
the tiebreaker and saw his chance to win
Wimbledon slip away.
"It feels bad,"
Ivanisevic said. "I cannot describe it.
It's the worst moment in my life. I know I've
had some bad moments, when you are sick or
when somebody dies. But for me, this is the
worst thing ever. Nobody died yet, but it's
tough."
Not even the roar of the
crowd, which pulled for Ivanisevic and
saluted him in defeat, consoled him. He
wanted to win this badly, for himself and his
country, Croatia. He wanted it to be the
start of a sporting double, with Croatia's
soccer team still alive in the World Cup.
But after the match, he
couldn't even bear the thought of going to
see a soccer match.
"I cannot cheer anybody
now," he said. "I can only kill
myself. Now I'm not good for anybody."
Sampras said he understood
how Ivanisevic felt. He still rues losing two
Grand Slam finals.
"I feel bad for
Goran," Sampras said. "I really
do."
But in the fifth, Sampras was
simply better. He got the service break to go
up 4-2 by nailing a forehand return to
Ivanisevic's feet. He broke him again to take
the title.
Only two weeks ago there were
whispers on the ATP Tour that Sampras was
unmotivated, that he was about to be toppled
as the world's No. 1 player. Had he lost
yesterday, Marcelo Rios would have moved atop
the rankings.
"You don't play well for
four months, and people think you're
done," Sampras said. "It's
flattering to be at that standard, that high
level. And it's not easy to do that month
after month. So it wasn't surprising to hear
the talk. I guess I'm out of my slump."
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