First Davis Cup Then Grand Slam Cup for Larsson : Tennis: Swede defeats No. 1 Sampras to win sport’s richest tournament.

One week after helping Sweden win the Davis Cup, Magnus Larsson upset top-ranked Pete Sampras to win the richest prize in tennis--$1.5 million.

Larsson won, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, in the final of the Grand Slam Cup on Sunday, at $6 million the most lucrative tennis tournament in the world.

“This is the best Christmas present I could get,” Larsson said.

Larsson nearly equaled his career prize money of $1,690,317, and more than doubled his 1994 earnings, which had stood at $639,105 before the final.

The economic news wasn’t bad for Sampras, either.

The American, who won the inaugural Grand Slam Cup in 1990, earned $750,000, plus a bonus of $500,000 for the two Grand Slam titles he won in 1994--the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

By adding $1.25 million to his 1994 earnings, Sampras reached the record sum of $4,857,812 for a year. Sunday’s prize money also boosted the career earnings for the two-time Wimbledon champion to more than $16 million.

The tournament invites 16 players with the best records in the four Grand Slam events, which also include the French and U.S. Opens.

Larsson, who had never beaten Sampras in five previous matches, made the tournament by virtue of reaching the semifinals at the French Open, his best finish at a Grand Slam event. He is ranked 19th in the world.

Sampras won 10 titles this year, the last at the ATP Tour World Championship in Frankfurt in November.

But he could not match the raw power of Larsson, who hit 31 aces.

A winner of two titles this year, Larsson broke Sampras twice in the final set to take a 5-1 lead. He wasted a match point and was broken in the eighth game, allowing Sampras to cut the lead to 5-4.

But Larsson went up, 40-0, on his serve, and a service winner gave him the match after 2 hours 37 minutes.

“At the start of the fourth set I had a few good games, but at the end I felt a bit tired--the pressure was on me,” Larsson said. “But I saw that Pete was also tired and I thought that the longer the match lasts, the better my chances.

“To win the Davis Cup is something very big, I felt I could go here and play with no pressure.”

In reaching the final, Larsson upset three higher-ranked players--Davis Cup teammate Stefan Edberg, world No. 2 Andre Agassi, and Todd Martin in the semifinals.

Sampras had to battle through five tough sets Saturday against Goran Ivanisevic. He didn’t look as fresh Sunday as Larsson.

“I felt a bit tired, but you’ve got to give Magnus credit,” Sampras said. “He played too good, he served too big, and he’s coming off the Davis Cup victory.”