Bruguera Copies Sampras’ Style to Reach Lipton Final

The hardcourt surface favored Pete Sampras, but Sergi Bruguera was determined to win, even if it required swinging at a shot three times--which it did.

Bruguera scrambled to save a key point in the pivotal tiebreaker, then went on to upset Sampras, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, in Friday’s semifinals of the Lipton championships.

The top-ranked Sampras, off to the fastest start of his career, lost for only the second time in 22 matches this year. Thirty minutes after the defeat, he slumped in a chair and stared at the ceiling.

“On hardcourt, it’s a match I should win nine times out of 10,” he said.

Bruguera became the first Spaniard to reach a men’s final in the Lipton. His opponent Sunday will be second-ranked Austrian Thomas Muster, who made it an all-European final by beating Jim Courier, 6-3, 6-4.

Bruguera, a two-time French Open champion ranked 35th, has not won a title before April, when the clay-court season begins. He has not won a tournament in the United States.

But persistence pays on clay, and it helped against the hottest player in men’s tennis.

Trailing, 2-1, in the tiebreaker, Sampras hit a shot that popped up off the net cord. Bruguera started to hit a forehand volley, but when the deflection forced him to pivot 180 degrees, he tried to hit a backhand and missed. As the ball bounced, Bruguera retreated, lunged and swung again, this time lofting a backhand over the net.

When Sampras returned that shot, Bruguera hit a backhand down the line for a winner. The Spaniard closed out the tiebreaker with an ace five points later.

“He played pretty aggressive,” Sampras said. “I’m the one that should be setting the tone. I’m the one that should be dictating play.”

Said Bruguera: “I think that’s maybe the key why I’m doing so well now on this surface. Now I realize that you have to attack.”

Sampras and Bruguera saved their best tennis for the final set, even though the temperature on the sunbaked court reached 103 degrees. Bruguera went up a break at 4-3 by capitalizing on two shallow Sampras volleys, and lost only three points in his final two service games.

Former No. 1 Monica Seles will play future No. 1 Martina Hingis for the women’s championship today. Regardless of the outcome, Hingis, 16, will become the youngest No. 1 player in history Monday.