Motivated by History, Sampras Faces Tough Wimbledon Draw

It’s a good thing for Pete Sampras that he has among the best skills in tennis, because he sure doesn’t have any luck.

For the second Grand Slam tournament in a row, Sampras has been handed a tough draw at the Wimbledon Championships, which begin today at the All England Club.

All Sampras has to do is beat Richey Reneberg, an excellent grass-court player, in the first round today. Sampras is then likely to face Mark Philippoussis, a huge server who beat him at the Australian Open in January.

Seeded No. 1, the defending champion has the same tough draw that bedeviled him at the French Open--where he met three former champions.

Sampras reached the semifinals in Paris, but lost to eventual champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and left exhausted. He went home, put away his tennis rackets and picked up his beloved golf clubs. Sampras arrived here refreshed and energized by the tradition and pageantry of the All England Club.

Sampras is motivated, as always, by history. He has won three titles in a row and wants more.

“I have a chance of emulating Bjorn Borg’s five in a row and [that chance] won’t come again.”

Contrasting Sampras’ rough road is Andre Agassi’s smooth one. The No. 3-seeded Agassi will play Doug Flach, a qualifier, in the first round. In the second round he’ll meet the winner of a match between two qualifiers.

Agassi appeared out of shape and unmotivated at the French Open, but enjoys the drama of the tactical second-guessing and fashion critiques he invariably draws here.

Quietly lurking in the easier bottom half of the draw is Boris Becker, who knocked out Agassi in the semifinals last year. Becker skipped the French Open so that various injuries might heal. Although Becker is ranked No. 4 he’s seeded No. 2, his highest seeding in five years. The seeding is no doubt in deference to his three Wimbledon titles. Becker has been in the finals seven of the last 11 years.

Becker, whose thigh injury appears to have healed, won the warmup tournament at Queens last week. Becker, 28, opened the season by winning the Australian Open.

“I love this game,” he said last week. “I’m a fan. I watch it [on TV] when I’m off the tour. I love it even more when I play on the Centre Court.”

Stefan Edberg is another example of Wimbledon’s iconoclastic seedings. The two-time champion has been seeded No. 12 although he’s ranked No. 45. That’s it for the favors for Edberg. Playing in his final Wimbledon, he has been given the most difficult opening match of any seeded player: he’ll play Guy Forget of France, who has been a quarterfinalist here three times.

The women’s side features the return of Monica Seles to Wimbledon. Despite a nagging injury in her left shoulder, Seles won the warmup tournament at Eastbourne, beating Mary Joe Fernandez in the final in 45 minutes. It was her first grass-court event since losing to Steffi Graf four years ago in the Wimbledon final.

Fernandez said Seles looks like the player she used to be.

“I like her chances at Wimbledon,” Fernandez said. “She has a great lefty serve and is timing the ball well. Apart from Steffi Graf, she can pretty much handle anybody. When Monica hits the ball cleanly, she hits it as hard and as penetrating as anybody.”

Seles opens against Ann Grossman, whom she has never played.

Defending champion Graf, who also won the French Open, has been hampered by a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from Eastbourne. The good news for Graf is that she had no grass preparation before last year’s Wimbledon and won her sixth title, anyway.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Facts & Figures

* Dates: Today through July 7.

* Surface: Grass.

* Purse: $9.76 million.

* Men’s first prize: $592,675.

* Women’s first prize: $533,030.

* TV: Weekends on NBC. First-week weekdays on HBO. Second-week weekdays on NBC and HBO.

* Defending champions: Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf.