TENNIS ROUNDUP : Stich Knocks Off Sampras in Final

Michael Stich saved his best tennis of the year for the last event and upset Pete Sampras in four sets Sunday to win the ATP Championship at Frankfurt, Germany.

Stich blasted 27 aces in a 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 victory that lifted the German to No. 2 in world rankings.

“It’s a great finish to a great year,” Stich said.

Sampras still finishes the year as the No. 1 player despite his loss in the event matching the top eight players in a round-robin format.

Sampras had rolled through the tournament and came into the match as the favorite, having won his last nine finals. But the American never came close to the overwhelming performance he had shown in earlier matches.

“It’s disappointing,” Sampras said. “I obviously had a great year and I can hold my head up high.”

Stich collected $1.24 million for his sixth title of the year and became the second German in a row to win the tour-ending event. Boris Becker won last year.

Sampras, the Wimbledon and U.S. Open winner, won $610,000, bringing his earnings to a record $3,648,075 for the year.

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Steffi Graf completed her best season in four years by winning the Virginia Slims Championships at New York.

“I’m incredibly happy to end the year like this,” the world’s No. 1 female player said after a 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. “It couldn’t be any better.”

The title, her first at Madison Square Garden since 1989, was worth $250,000, raising her women’s season-record total to $2,753,837 and boosting her career total to more than $13 million. It was her 79th career singles title, tying her with Hall of Famer Margaret Court.

Graf was simply overpowering. Her big serve set up easy points. Her forehand went deep into the corners. She repeatedly left Sanchez Vicario standing flat-footed on the baseline as the ball went whizzing by.

“From the beginning, I was able to take control of the points,” Graf said. “I tried to be as aggressive as I could, and it worked well.”