Raoux Puts Sampras Out of Paris Open : Tennis: French qualifier ranked 134th in world comes from behind to beat Californian 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Guillaume Raoux, a French qualifier ranked 134th in the world, knocked U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras out of the Paris Open indoor tournament today, beating him 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Raoux, who had to survive three rounds of a preliminary tournament to make the main draw, came from a breakdown in the third set to win.

Raoux served nine aces. In the deciding eighth game of the third set, Sampras committed a double fault to go down 0-30.

The 19-year-old American from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., came back to deuce, but a backhand volley long and another wide gave Raoux the service break.

Raoux then had three service winners and an ace to seal the victory.

“This is a real down,” Sampras said. “He was going from broke on every shot.

“He was playing in front of his home crowd and he had nothing to lose.”

Sampras followed John McEnroe out of the tournament.

“I guess you can say I choked,” McEnroe said after he double-faulted on match point Wednesday and lost to Jakob Hlasek, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

After coming back from a break down in the final set, McEnroe watched his second serve at 5-6 in the tiebreak go long. A whistle went up from the Cyclops machine signifying a fault.

That was just the start of the whistling as the French crowd started their own form of booing--whistling--as McEnroe stomped off the court without shaking Hlasek’s hand.

“I know John. So sometimes it is just that he is so upset that I am not taking it bad,” Hlasek said.

McEnroe won the first set handily but then slammed a ball into the net in the second game. Then, after the seventh game, he hurled his racket across the court that earned him a penalty point on his serve.

He still won his game but lost the set, forcing a third set that eventually went to the deciding tiebreak.

“I stayed with him,” said the Swiss player. “You have to stay with him and stay cool.”