It’s Sampras Over Courier, by Express

When Pete Sampras and Jim Courier are asked to catalog their greatest matches, it says something about their enduring rivalry that each has to pause before answering. It seems that all the matches between these big hitters take on epic proportions.

In the future, when they are asked the question again, Tuesday’s quarterfinal match at the French Open might leap to mind. The 3-hour 31-minute, five-set battle featured long, punishing rallies and 57 aces--an unheard of amount for a clay-court match.

As he has 15 of the 18 times the two have met, Sampras won, 6-7 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

The win puts the top-seeded Sampras in the semifinals of the French Open for the first time. He will have two days off before he plays Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia. Kafelnikov defeated Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2. The other two men’s quarterfinals are today.

Sampras and Courier both served well--Courier had 29 aces and Sampras 28. The first service break did not come until the sixth game of the second set. There were only six breaks of serve in 53 games, which speaks to the quality and closeness of the match.

Courier took the first two sets by doing what he always does: working hard from the baseline, moving the ball and his opponent with deep shots. Sampras inexplicably abandoned the attacking, serve-and-volley game that has taken him through a tough draw and played a wobbly two sets.

Sampras began to reclaim the initiative in the fourth set in a remarkable eighth game. Sampras was facing two break points and served an ace to deal with the first. On the next point his first serve went out as he broke a string. Sampras then selected another racket and before he had a chance to test the new implement, he was at the service line and fired a second-serve ace.

Courier sent an easy forehand to the net two points later and Sampras held, but it seemed he had subtly gained. He broke Courier in the next game and served out the set.

Courier grew more intense as the fifth set drew on, and Sampras huffed and puffed between points. If not for the fact that his serving kept some points short, Sampras looked as if he might not make it.

As Sampras was serving for the match, he doubled over while standing at the service line, presumably fending off cramps or fatigue. Then he fired an ace on match point, causing Courier to mumble to no one in particular on court, “The guy’s in his grave and he’s serving 190 mile-an-hour bullets.”

Courier later suggested that Sampras is a good actor, with his hangdog expression.

“Some people put up a front that they are tough,” Courier said. “Pete tends to put up a front that he’s hurting, but he still seems to fire those aces. I don’t pay much attention to him when he’s looking tired, it really doesn’t matter because he’s got a great heart. He’s got a strong heart and he’s going to leave it on the court.”