One of Best Coaching Jobs Around : Tennis: Gullikson is proud of Sampras, who keeps his success in perspective.

Pete Sampras has already all but received the coronation.

Even before the semifinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup, no less than Pancho Gonzalez was saying he had never seen a player with all the weapons Sampras has.

Charlie Pasarell called Sampras the most complete tennis player he had ever seen.

A loss in the final Sunday at Hyatt Grand Champions wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind. A come-from-behind 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory merely added to the reputation.

But Sampras is on a rare ride these days, scaling a ladder that has everything to do with Grand Slam tournament results and very little to do with an Indian Wells final--regardless of how sweet this title was.

So forgive Sampras’ coach, Tim Gullikson, if he was honest before the final, when asked what a loss would have meant.

“Nothing,” Gullikson said. “He’d be disappointed for a while, but he gets over it really quickly.

“He wants to win this tournament, but if he doesn’t win it--and this is a point that I’d like to make about Pete, it’s one of the reasons why I think he’s so good--he’s very even-keeled emotionally.”

He’s very good, period.

So is it really work to coach Pete Sampras?

Gullikson’s friends don’t think so.

“They’re always kidding me that I don’t have a job yet,” he said.

Whatever he’s doing, it’s working.

Since Gullikson joined him on Jan. 1, 1992, Sampras has moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the world, winning the last three Grand Slam events.

But Gullikson would be the first to say that Sampras’ success is the 23-year-old’s own doing. In fact, Gullikson, who has coached Martina Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernandez and Aaron Krickstein, says he has never had it better.

“Pete is by far the easiest person I’ve ever coached,” Gullikson said Sunday. “When I coached Martina, she wanted me to really direct everything that she was doing. It’s good for a coach to have input, but I don’t want my players to be like that. I don’t know where the other player is going to hit every ball.

“I can help them in certain ways, but I want them to know what they’re doing and to have it come from them, not from me. That’s the way I like to operate. And that’s the way Pete is, he’s very independent. But he still is coachable.”

As coaches do, Gullikson still sees some room for improvement.

Sampras’ return, especially against the second serve, is one area. So are staying aggressive and being consistent on the service toss. But those are minor, Gullikson said, and the step up Sampras has taken is undeniable.

“A lot of players have a comfort zone. When the pressure is on, they play one way,” Gullikson said. “Pete has the ability to go way outside of that because he has faith in himself and he has the ability to carry that off.”

The next major hurdle is winning the French Open, the Grand Slam tournament on clay.

“I believe strongly that he’s going to win it at some point,” Gullikson said. “It may not be this year, but he will win it for sure--because he really wants to win it.”