TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN : Becker: Sampras Ahead of Field, Calendar

Boris Becker, for one, is impressed by how Pete Sampras is handling clay this year.

This, from the man Sampras routed, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, in the Italian Open final on the slow surface last week.

“He is playing like they will play the game in the 21st Century,” Becker said. “He’s doing things I’ve never seen on the tennis court.”

Sampras, 22, has the chance to do something no one has done in 25 years--win four consecutive Grand Slam tennis tournaments--when the French Open begins today at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.

The women’s favorite, Steffi Graf, is trying for her fifth consecutive Grand Slam event title, and anyone remotely connected to the game believes she will get it.

During the next two weeks, we will see if the world’s top-ranked male and female can continue their remarkable streaks in the one tournament where seedings mean less than clay-court ability.

Sampras might be No. 1, but he must share the favorite’s role with No. 4 Andrei Medvedev of Russia, No. 6 Sergi Bruguera of Spain and No. 7 Jim Courier, a two-time winner in Paris. Only one can reach the final because they are all seeded in the top-half of the draw. Also in the difficult mix are No. 11 Thomas Muster of Austria, No. 16 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands and No. 19 Andre Agassi.

“(The winner) is going to be someone who is aggressive and net-oriented,” said No. 9 Todd Martin, whose biggest break was drawing the lower bracket.

Since returning from knee surgery, Medvedev seems to have found a way to win. He has been exceptional in major clay-court tournaments, winning at Monte Carlo and Hamburg, Germany, and reaching the final in Estoril, Portugal. Medvedev, 19, gained fame two years ago by reaching the fourth round in Paris, and advanced to the semifinals last year.

Although Roland Garros’ red clay is not suited to Sampras’ serve-and-volley game, opponents are finding him increasingly difficult on the slow surface.

“He thinks he’s invincible now,” Becker said.

Sampras didn’t start the year that way. In January at Doha, Qatar, he lost in the first round to No. 205-ranked Karim Alami of Morocco.

Since then, he has lost only twice and added the Australian Open to his titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last summer. Although a victory in Paris will not be an official Grand Slam because the four tournaments must be won in the same calendar year, it is significant in that only two men--Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and ‘69--have won four in a row.

Sampras could be the first to do it on three surfaces: grass (Wimbledon), hard courts (U.S. and Australian Opens) and clay.

When Sampras won in Rome last week, it was his first clay tournament in 11 months. He has won only two of his 27 titles on clay, and that has not given him much confidence.

“When I walk out on clay, I feel a bit vulnerable,” he said earlier this month. “I wish I didn’t feel that way, but that’s the way I feel.”

That does little to foster confidence, yet he insists: “I don’t think it’s self-defeating. It’s reality.”

This also is reality: Sampras had won seven tournament titles and 29 consecutive matches until Saturday, when he lost to Michael Stich, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, at the World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany.

“I’m trying not to be too consumed with everything,” Sampras said last week in Rome. “I’m trying to stay relaxed and play my tennis, and not talk too much and worry about (the streak).”

Graf, who never seems to worry much, is seeking her second Grand Slam. Her first came in 1988. Maureen Connolly (1953) and Margaret Court (1970) are the other women who have done it.

Graf is expected to win her third French Open title and 16th Grand Slam tournament crown overall. She is 37-1 this year, her only loss coming in the Hamburg final last month to No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain.

The women’s game is suffering from the absence of Monica Seles, still sidelined a year after being stabbed; and Jennifer Capriati, who left the tour last August and was arrested in Florida last week for marijuana possession.

Perhaps the return of Martina Navratilova to the French Open for the first time since 1988 might help. She is making a farewell appearance here, and that alone makes it an historical event.