TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Loses No. 1 Ranking After Losing to Australian

Australian Patrick Rafter fought off 10 match points in the third set Friday and upset top-ranked Pete Sampras, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Hardcourts at Indianapolis.

Rafter, ranked 139th in the world, took slightly less than three hours to oust the two-time defending champion.

The stunning upset by Rafter, who brought a career match record of only 3-10 into his 11th tour event, cost Sampras the No. 1 ranking and the top seeding in the upcoming U.S. Open.

Second-seeded Jim Courier will reclaim the No. 1 position Monday by virtue of a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Cedric Pioline of France in the evening’s featured match.

Rafter, 20, saved eight break points in the seventh game of the final set after losing the first three points of the game. He saved two more break points in the ninth game en route to forcing the third tiebreaker of the match.

“He let me off the hook,” said Rafter, who got into the main draw when Anders Jarryd withdrew before the start of Saturday’s qualifying.

Sampras struggled with his serve, committing nine double faults.

“I have been playing pretty well, but I am just not getting the breaks,” Sampras said.

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Jennifer Capriati advanced to the semifinals of the Canadian Open at Toronto when Julie Halard of France withdrew because of back spasms.

In other third-round matches: top-seeded Steffi Graf beat Nathalie Tauziat, 6-2, 7-5; Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere beat Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-4, 6-4; and defending champion and second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario defeated Anke Huber, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

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Petr Korda beat Stefano Pescosolido, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Volvo International at New Haven, Conn.

Rain resulted in suspension of the Ivan Lendl-Andre Agassi match until today, with Agassi leading, 5-3, and serving for the first set.