June 1, 1995 - Pete Sampras's recent
schedule may have swelled his air miles
account but it did little for his French Open
hopes which ended in disaster yesterday.
The world No. 2, resuming with a slender
overnight lead, was beaten 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4
by Austria's Gilbert Schaller, thus abruptly
ending his stop-start clay court campaign for
the season.
Sampras had originally planned to spend the
last two months in Europre to prepare for an
assault on the one major prize within the
game so far to elude him. Instead, he ended
up as a frequent flyer, going home to America
four times because of either injury or
homesickness.
He will be back on the Concorde today,
homebound again to try to regroup in time for
Wimbledon where a third straight title looks
beyond him, given an apparently confused
state of mind at present.
"I had my chances today and came up a
little short, which is the way my whole clay
season went. The injury (a strained ankle in
Monte Carlo) set me back but I've been
struggling a bit anyway,' said Sampras, who
still has to live with the concern about his
coach Tim Gullikson, undergoing treatment for
a brain tumour.
His Atlantic commuting has been indicative of
an underlying lack of purpose and against the
23rd ranked Schaller, a classic clay court
counter-puncher, that was always likely to
spell trouble.
Restarting at 3-1 up in the third set after
overnight suspension, Schaller went straight
back to work on his opponent's backhand,
hitting heavy top spin to it and exposing its
lack of penetration on the slower surface.
It was not a pretty sight, seeing a supreme
stylist broken down by a utilitarian,
although there was no doubting the latter's
efficiency which yielded 99 unforced errors
from the American. Sampras's salvation would
have lain in his serve and big forehad, but
those, like the rest of his game, are simply
not quite what they were at this time last
year.
Schaller, quick and gutsy if aesthetically
displeasing, finished off Sampras's first
opening round Grand Slam defeat in five years
two minutes after the four hour mark, having
been hauled back from 4-1 to 4-4 in the
decider. The Californian will be delighted to
forget the clay and see the green grass of
home and then London.
Roland Garros witnessed two other exceptional
men's five-setters yesterday, eighth see
Wayne Ferreira beating twice champion Mats
Wilander 8-6 at the death and unknown
Australian youngster Andrew Ilie ousting No.
15 Richard Krajicek 6-4 in the decider.
A pleasant, if occasionally irritating
feature of the French Open is when the
decibel levels rise on the first Wednesday
each year as thousands of tickets are set
aside for children. And it could not have
been more fitting that the best women's match
on Children's Day was played by 14-year-old
Martina Hingis.
The little Swiss girl emphasised her
potential with a 2-6, 6-4, 8-6 first-round
win over Austria's highly experienced Judith
Wiesner, who is more than twice her age.
Hingis saved three match points and then won
a final game that included two brave and
ingenious drop shots amid much high-pitched
tension.
Nothing could have better demonstrated that
she has got what it takes where it matters,
between the ears.
Article
and photo supplied by Gerogia Christoforou
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