He did it
with a triumph of will that played more
prominently than anything Andre Agassi might
have accomplished there.
In July,
when Sampras played one of the best matches
of his career and handled Agassi decisively
at Wimbledon, the results of the ATP Tour
World Championship -- 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 victory
-- would have been no surprise.
Yet ever
since Sampras' then-stunning withdrawal from
the U.S. Open with a sudden back injury, he
has spent more than three months trying to
heal in all ways.
When Agassi
destroyed him with a 6-2, 6-2 victory last
week in the round-robin portion of the ATP
Championship, the conclusion seemed
inevitable: This was Agassi's year.
Indeed,
Agassi was guaranteed to finish '99 at No. 1
in the rankings. It seemed likely Sampras
might not reach the ATP final.
After six
consecutive year-end finishes at No. 1,
Sampras ends this year at
No. 3 and must accept surrendering that
position. Ironically, he does so after one of
the most personally important wins of his
career.
Sampras'
resolve is part of what makes him compelling.
Those who choose to dismiss him as boring
miss the essence of why he is special.
"After
the U.S. Open, I kind of accepted the fact
that I wasn't going to be No. 1,"
Sampras said in Hannover. "But, you
know, I feel like I've done that in my
career. I've done it longer than anyone. It's
nice to be there.
"But my
goal this week was to obviously see how I was
physically. And if I could win here, that's a
bonus."
Sampras
tried returning from his back injury when he
appeared earlier this month in a Mercedes
Super 9 indoor event in Paris. After winning
his opening match, unanticipated back spasms
forced his withdrawal.
Once he
discovered that his physical condition would
not be a problem in Hannover, Sampras made
his performance in his second match with
Agassi a personal challenge.
"I've
always believed in myself, that I can rise to
the occasion. I was pretty much humiliated by
him three, four days ago," Sampras said.
"I definitely wanted to prove something.
That, you know, I could still ... I still
have it."
Although
Agassi's own play disappointed him so much
that he abandoned his traditional postmatch
interview before the fans, a part of Agassi
likes to see Sampras in top form.
"You
want to end (the year) feeling like somebody
beat your best tennis and that you felt great
about the way you played," Agassi said.
"So that part is difficult.
"But
it's also good for Pete, too, that he's back
now, feeling healthy. And I know it will be a
lot to look forward to in Australia (at the
Australian Open)."
Five months
ago, Sampras was at Wimbledon, sensing the
glow from what was arguably the best match of
his career -- and his 12th Grand Slam title.
Losing to
Agassi so badly in the round-robin group at
the ATP gave Sampras a mind-set that little
of his history mattered.
"(The
U.S. Open) definitely gave me some time to
spend at home with my family," Sampras
said. "If anything, you kind of
appreciate your health. Without my health, I
can't play.
"You
know, I went through a huge wave of emotions
after the U.S. Open. I was, you know,
'P.O.-ed' and I was upset. I felt maybe that
was going to be it for the year. (But) you
can't make decisions on emotion."
No. But when
Sampras pairs his enormous talent with the
kind of emotion he brought to the ATP
Championship final, it is hard for anyone to
stop him. Even if that player is Agassi.
At the end
of Agassi's best season, he encountered
Sampras just when Sampras was determined to
prove he has plenty of great tennis left.
BACK TO TOP
ATP TOUR: In his tenth World Championship,
Pete wins his fifth event and the last of the
millennium. First question.
QUESTION: The beginning of the week, Andre
said that if he didn't win this tournament he
wouldn't feel like he was No. 1. Do you feel
like you're No. 1?
PETE SAMPRAS: Do I feel like No. 1? Not
necessarily. ou know, if you look at the
year, his winning the French, US Open, Finals
at Wimbledon, that's pretty significant. But
after the US Open, I kind of accepted the
fact that I wasn't going to be No. 1, but,
you know, I feel like I've done that in my
career. I've done it longer than anyone. It's
nice to be there, but my goal this week was
to obviously see how I was physically and if
I could win here, that's a bonus. And, you
know, I just felt today it was a big match,
and I've always believed in myself, that I
can rise to the occasion. I was pretty much
humiliated by him three days ago. Three, four
days ago. I definitely wanted to prove
something that, you know, I could still -- I
still have it. So it was a good week.
QUESTION: In that case, updating the
question I asked after the first match - is
this more than you could have dreamed of?
PETE SAMPRAS: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I
didn't know what to expect this week. The way
I was feeling after Paris and to be having
played the way I did today and having such a
great week, I really didn't expect it. But,
you know, I've always -- I've never
questioned my ability in big matches or when
I play against the best players in the world.
And once I got through a couple tough matches
this week, I felt like once I got to the
weekend that I was going to be match shape,
and, you know, played well against Kiefer
which gave me some confidence going into
today, and, you know, Andre played so well
against me on Wednesday that if he was going
to continue that, you know, it was too good.
But I played at a level that reminded me a
little bit of Wimbledon, kind of got in the
zone, served well, did pretty much what I
wanted to do.
QUESTION: Pete, you appeared to position
yourself rather gingerly into the chair
there. Is the back a bit of a problem?
PETE SAMPRAS: I have ice on my back. You
want to see it?
QUESTION: Not really. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Three months' injury time - do
you feel that it's a great achievement to
finish No. 3 at the end of the year?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, all things considered,
only completing eight events, you know,
that's with the ranking system, it's -- won
five tournaments out of eight I guess. So
it's a pretty good percentage. I'm more
pleased with the victory today than the
ranking. The ranking isn't quite as
significant. It's nice, but beating Andre,
who's had a phenomenal year, is what I'm most
pleased about.
QUESTION: Can you compare the two
feelings, last year you were exhausted at the
end of the season, but for six times No. 1,
and this season you couldn't play because of
physical problems but still make a good end
of the season.
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, I feel, compared to
last year, it's night and day how I was
stressing out with rankings and doing
whatever I could do. This year I came in
relaxed; didn't expect too much from the
week. So I felt that I certainly can rise to
the occasion playing the best players in the
world. This week I just got better and better
and really saved the best for last. Last year
this point, I was, you know, I lost a tough
match to Corretja, I got the ranking but I
was certainly very depleted and very tired.
This year, obviously not playing much, I felt
very fresh going into today's match and
looking at Andre's body language in the third
set, I mean, he played a lot of matches,
maybe mentally he felt it a little bit. He's
played so well and today he, you know, ran
into someone that was playing about as well
as he could.
QUESTION: How crucial was it to stop him
from 4-1 in the second? You seemed to lose
your service rhythm at the start of the
second.
PETE SAMPRAS: I did. For about ten minutes
there,. I pretty much gave him a break and
double-faulted twice, you know, kind of let
him back into the match. When you let Andre
into a match and give him some confidence, he
can kind of steamroll you. But I still felt I
was hitting the ball well; needed to slow
down a little bit, play at my pace. Once I
broke him back, he kind of changed the
momentum within a minute. Just the second --
after the second I felt he was going to have
to fight real hard to break me and maybe win
the match. So I felt good in the third.
QUESTION: Anything at all surprise you
about how well you played today?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, nothing -- it didn't
-- it didn't -- well, I'm pleased. But I'm
not surprised. I mean, I've been doing this
for quite a while and have been in big Finals
against the best, and, you know, with the
crowd and walking out there with him, I was
very pumped up and ready to go. So I was, you
know, yesterday helped. I mean, yesterday
playing against Kiefer and getting my timing
back, compared to how I played against
Lapentti, I went into this match with a
little bit more confidence. He always brings
out the best in me. When I'm not -- you know,
Wednesday, that's what happened. But today,
everything just clicked.
QUESTION: After all, do you think it's
been an advantage to have lost the first leg
against him?
PETE SAMPRAS: I don't think that it's an
advantage. If anything, it was a disadvantage
since he destroyed me 2 and 2. That didn't
sit too well with me. But it, you know, it's
tough to beat five guys in the top eight in
six days. I think every player that's won
here has lost a match. And this just goes to
show - it's hard to play at that level for
five or six straight days, but, you know, I
had to save the best for last.
QUESTION: Pete, in view of what Andre said
on Wednesday about your recovery, that he
knew from the past that he wouldn't be
surprised to see you in the final, especially
with the way you came back from injury and
played so few matches, does the name on the
cap say "Lakers" or
"Lazarus?"
PETE SAMPRAS: It says "Lakers."
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: That very emotional press
conference at the US Open after you hurt your
back, you were very philosophical. You said
this happened because there is a reason and
I'll try to figure it out later. Did you
figure it out?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, yeah. It definitely
gave me some time to spend at home with my
family, which was nice, and if anything, you
kind of appreciate your health. Without my
health, I can't play. You know I went through
a huge wave of emotions after the US Open. I
was, you know, P.O.'d, I was upset, I felt
maybe that was going to be it for the year.
You can't make decisions on emotion. You
know, going to treatment every day for two
months, I just had to do it. And, you know,
thinking about my career over the next two,
three years, what I want to be a part of,
playing some more Davis Cup, which is
something I want to do - it gave me some time
to maybe reflect a little bit, which is
something I haven't done. I've played a lot,
there's not much of an off-season to do that.
And I had some fun. I had some fun with my
time off. I did some things I haven't done.
My focus wasn't just tennis and training, I
did some other things that I haven't done in
many years.
QUESTION: Winning the last final of the
season in straight sets against Andre, does
it mean that you kind of sent him a message
saying, "Maybe, okay, you're No. 1 for
the season, but I'm still the best player in
the world?"
PETE SAMPRAS: We can argue about that all
day. You look at the way he's performed over
the Slams, he's been more consistent. He's
played more. So with the ranking, he's, you
know, he, you know, I guess kind of -- he
deserves it. To win two Slams and the Finals
of another, that doesn't happen very often.
But, you know, maybe it sent him a message
today. I don't look at it like that. I don't
look at it like it's a personal thing with
Andre, it's a message. We're going to take
some time off and get ready for Australia and
just go and play. It's never been about
messages. But, you know, I played as about as
well as I could.
QUESTION: How much of this is a boost to
you for Australia?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, it's night and day
with the conditions. It's a long way away,
but it helps the confidence physically with
my back that I can go the distance and that I
can do it. I can still play this game. Which
I never questioned it, but you just -- you
don't really expect to play at the level that
I did today. So it helps, but there's enough
time off to kind of refocus my energy to
Australia and get myself in good shape and --
but it certainly is going to give my
Christmas shopping a little more extra money
to spend. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: The other day you talked about
your physical needs now, what you have to do
for your back. Are you going to do anything
different as far as training goes?
PETE SAMPRAS: No. I'm going to pretty much
do the same that I've always done. It's just
I have to put in some more back exercises,
keep it strong, and do that pretty much
three, four times a week. But it's still
pretty much the same conditioning, weight
lifting and running and doing pretty much
what I've been doing over the years.
QUESTION: What do you think of the new
ranking system? What kind of impact will it
have on the professional tennis Tour?
PETE SAMPRAS: I think it's good that we're
going to simplify it and everyone starts with
zero and you just play the year. Whoever has
the most is No. 1 player in the world. It's
up to this point, it has been a little bit
confusing, with the different No. 1s. Now
it's more of a race. And it will give
everyone a chance to understand how it works,
because up to this point, it can be
confusing. So I like it. You know, it's... Go
ahead.
QUESTION: The season is finished, Pete.
But there is a Davis Cup final. Do you have a
bet for that?
PETE SAMPRAS: I don't have a bet. You want
to have one? (Laughter.) With your accent,
you're probably routing for France.
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: Give me your opinion on it.
PETE SAMPRAS: Who's playing? I mean who's
playing in the tie?
QUESTION: Philippoussis, Hewitt, Pioline
--
PETE SAMPRAS: I'm going to be laying on a
beach, so... The other guys can fight it out.
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: Are you going straight to
Melbourne? Are you going to play Kooyong?
PETE SAMPRAS: Yeah, most likely Kooyong.
QUESTION: What do you think about Andre's
level of game today?
PETE SAMPRAS: Well, you know, I really
felt I didn't -- I was on top of him early. I
didn't give him a chance to get into his
rhythm. You saw what happened on Wednesday
when you give him a lead and you give him
confidence, he didn't serve quite as well. He
was just a little bit off. Just a combination
that he's been playing so well and maybe hit
the wall a little bit, and me playing, you
know, the best I played all week, it happened
and straight sets it was.