Sampras, Agassi Vanish in Desert

Playing as if they wished they were elsewhere, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi lost Friday in the quarterfinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup, thus freeing their schedules for alternate travel plans.

The top-seeded Sampras was listless against Paul Haarhuis, who won 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1. Third-seeded Agassi was helpless against Michael Chang, who won, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-1. Sampras appeared interested in getting off the court and onto a golf course, and Agassi might have had thoughts of returning to Las Vegas for tonight’s Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno boxing match.

Haarhuis will play Goran Ivanisevic in today’s semifinal. The sixth-seeded Ivanisevic defeated Carlos Costa, 6-4, 6-4. Chang will play Marcelo Rios, who defeated Wayne Ferreira, 7-5, 7-5.

In a semifinal match in the State Farm Evert Cup, second-seeded Conchita Martinez defeated fourth-seeded Kimiko Date, 6-0, 6-4. Martinez will play top-seeded Steffi Graf in today’s women’s final.

The fifth-seeded Chang was once again cast in the role of stubborn obstacle for Agassi, as he had been in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Chang’s victory over Agassi in Melbourne revealed opposing tendencies from the players--Chang, the indomitable fighter, and Agassi whose ambivalence indicated he had little interest in the match.

Chang’s placement was apparently overwhelming for Agassi, who ended many points while watching a Chang backhand skip past him down the line. For his part, Agassi sprayed 44 unforced errors around the court. Agassi’s much respected ability as the tour’s most proficient service returner was also absent: Chang served 13 aces and 17 service winners.

Service was the key for Haarhuis, who took strategic advantage of Sampras’ error-riddled performance. Such bad days happen even to players of Sampras’ stature.

What was unexpected was the top-seeded player’s nonchalance in the loss, which will prevent Sampras from regaining the No. 1 ranking next week.

Agassi had a chance to become No. 1, but his loss now means Thomas Muster will remain No. 1 for at least the next two weeks.

Sampras was remarkably accepting about losing to the No. 68 player in the world. His lethargic performance here comes in sharp contrast to the level of play he sustained in winning at San Jose last month. Sampras called that his best tennis in years but apparently he has found a new philosophy to deal with days such as Friday.

“Unfortunately you have days like today where you wake up and it just wasn’t there,” he said. “So, c’est la vie.”

Sampras is usually a keen match analyst, but his postmatch explanations were short on specifics and long on shoulder shrugs.

“I don’t know what happened, to tell you the truth,” Sampras said. “Seemed like my shots, especially from the backcourt, were just flying on me. I really didn’t feel comfortable. I really didn’t feel like I could swing out and swing hard. I have never missed so many forehands. If you are not playing well, you are not going to win, I don’t care who you play. I just didn’t play well, plain and simple. The only person to blame is myself.”

Sampras’ loss ends a 13-match win streak and ensures he will not defend the title he has won two years in a row.

Seldom does any player best Sampras in any serving category, but Haarhuis had the superior serve. He had 11 aces to Sampras’ 10 but also got in a higher percent of his first serves. Sampras also committed an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors, 38 to Haarhuis’ 24.

Sampras’ frustration gave Haarhuis openings that few players can hope to find against a player who is expert at dictating a match.

Haarhuis, 30, broke Sampras at 5-5, then held his serve to win the first set. The Dutchman said he knew early on that Sampras was not on his finest form.

Sampras was marginally more active in the second set, although he squandered three break points in the sixth game. He rallied in the tiebreaker with emphatic serves, culminating with an ace on set point.

Haarhuis broke Sampras early in the third set and again in the sixth game. Sampras moved slowly around the court and was never a significant factor in the set.