TENNIS / WIMBLEDON ROUNDUP : Rostagno Magic Claims Sampras

That old giant-killer, Derrick Rostagno, got another one focused in the sights of his slingshot at Wimbledon Saturday, and U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras came tumbling down.

Rostagno, a former Stanford player, lives in Pacific Palisades and is known on the pro tennis circuit as a free spirit and a player who, on any given day, can play with anybody.

In 1989 at the U.S. Open, Rostagano had one of those given days against eventual champion Boris Becker in the second round, holding two match points in the fourth set before falling. Same kind of thing last year at Wimbledon, where Rostagno’s given day came in the first round against John McEnroe, then seeded fourth. Rostagno eliminated McEnroe, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Saturday, it was Sampras’ turn to suffer the slings and arrows of Rostagno’s outrageous fortune, losing, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Sampras, who became the youngest U.S. Open champion ever at 19 years 28 days last September, has since struggled with inconsistency and injury. And Rostagno, serving and volleying sharply and crisply, added to Sampras’ hurt.

“Derrick’s a good player, and I know him well and know what he is capable of,” Sampras said. “If he plays hot, then you can’t beat him. But he is also capable of being off. Just not today.”

Sampras sealed his fate while down two sets to one and serving at 2-2 of the fourth set. He served and volleyed, got a weak return about shoulder high on his forehand side, and pushed the volley 10 feet beyond the baseline. Then, when he scooped a low volley into the net off a good return from Rostagno, he was broken, both on the scoreboard and in spirit.

“It was kind of hard to get up after that,” Sampras said.

The other upsets on the men’s side Saturday included a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory by Nick Brown over 10th-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia.

Ivanisevic may have won this year’s Wimbledon Foot-in-the-Mouth Award by saying, in front of lots of British reporters, that he didn’t think much of British tennis. Brown lives in Ealing, England, perhaps five miles from Wimbledon. Adding to the delight of the British press was the fact that Brown’s victory was the most lopsided ever in terms of computer-ranking differential. Brown was ranked No. 591 in the world, Ivanisevic No. 10.

Afterward, Ivanisevic was asked what he thought of British tennis now. Undaunted, he replied, “Not much.”

Also losing was Pat Cash, 1987 Wimbledon champion, but unseeded here this year, to Frenchman Thierry Champion, 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1 (12-10).

And the defending men’s doubles champs, Rick Leach and Jim Pugh, the current U.S. Davis Cup team, were ousted in the first round by Ivanisevic and John McEnroe, 6-3, 6-4.

Among the other men’s winners were top-seeded Stefan Edberg, who beat 1987 Volvo L.A. titlist David Pate, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 (Pate had beaten Edberg in that ’87 final in Los Angeles); No. 2 Boris Becker, who beat Peter Lundgren, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-5; No. 4 Jim Courier, the French Open champion, who overcame triple break point when serving the opening game of the fifth set and beat Jim Grabb, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, and No. 5 Andre Agassi, who beat Goran Prpic, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Among easy winners on a fairly routine day for the top women were Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, Gabriela Sabatini, Zina Garrison, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Pam Shriver.