INDIAN
WELLS, March 6, 1994-- For most of the last
two sets of a tense SF Saturday in the
Newsweek Champions Cup, the world's No. 1
player, PeteSampras, looked almost helpless
against Stefan Edberg's serve."That was
probably the best he's served agaisnt
me," Sampras said. "He was hitting
a lot of aces, mixing it up. After the first
set, I really didn't have any rhythm on my
return."
Sampras
had won only seven points in the Swede's
previous nine sevice games when Edberg
stepped up to serve at 4-5 in the third set.
"I was feeling better and better the
longer the match went on," said Edberg,
a former No. 1 player who will move from
fourth to third when this week's ATP Tour
Rankings are released Monday
But
at the most critical point in the match,
Edberg faltered and Sampras responded,
emerging with a 6-3,3-6,6-4 victory and
moving into today's final against Petr
Korda... Sampras had won only two points
against Edberg's serve in the third set
before Edberg punched a backhand volley long
and hit a forehand volley into the net to
fall behind, 0-30, in the 10th game.
After
the forehand, Edberg KICKED the ball into the
net. Sampras won the next point with a reflex
forehand volley after a brilliant exchange at
the net and, after Edberg saved one match
point, Sampras ripped a cross-court forehand
return for the match winner. "When you
have love-30 on Stefan, you just have to make
him play," Sampras said. "I just
kind of reacted to that match point. He hit a
great serve, but I just kind of flicked it
back."
Edberg,
28, said he won't soon forget the last game.
"I missed the first two volleys to give
him the opportunity," he said. "The
first one, I definitely should have made, but
I was a little bit late. And once he got to
love-30, he played a great point to get to
love-40. And I hit a great serve at 15-40,
but he hit the winner. That's just too good.
"I'll
be thinking about it a little bit. It's not
the end of the world, but it's disappointing
-- making a few mistakes at an important
stage. But that's why he's No.1. He makes you
play those points."
Sampras
converted only two of 10 break points.
"But the two is obviously the big
part," he said. Edberg said that
Sampras, 22, is "on a confidence roll at
the moment," after winning the last
three Grand Slam events. "He knows he
can do it," edberg said. "It's a
matter of standing up, serving at 30-40, and
deciding, `This is what I'm going to do,' and
then you do it. That's what he's doing very
well."
Sampras
agreed that his self-esteem is growing.
"I kind of believe in myself much more
than say, when I was 19 or 20," he said.
"I think maturity has a lot to do with
that and just playing more matches and
getting more experience under my belt."
His
shot-making ability, of course, is also a
factor. "Agasint Pete, it almost takes a
set to get used to the pace," Edberg
said. "he hits the ball so hard, so it's
really [difficult]. It takes some time to get
used to it, for your eyes to get focused on
the ball."
Edberg
lost four break points in the third game and
was broken in the fourth, "but I got
into a rhythm in the second set," he
said. "He didn't have many chances to
break me until the last game." That's
all he needed.
"The
return of serve was a big part of the match,
and I managed to get those shots when I
needed them," Sampras said. "I got
a bit lucky today and I'm aware of that. I've
got to be pretty thankful." .