An American Story: From 16 Down to Two

Pete Sampras and Richey Reneberg are the only American men left at Wimbledon, although feisty Alex O’Brien nearly joined them in Monday’s third-round matches.

Top-seeded Sampras defeated Byron Black in 69 minutes, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, and 16th-seeded Petr Korda needed all his skill to fend off O’Brien, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4.

O’Brien, a 27-year-old Texan, pestered Korda, as did the Czech’s own mistakes. Korda was up, 3-0, in the fifth set and did well to win.

Sampras and Reneberg, who defeated Guillaume Raoux of France on Sunday, are the last of 16 American men in the tournament, the fewest to make it to the fourth round since 1963.

Sampras appears on a collision course with Boris Becker, who defeated another surprising English player, Mark Petchey, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. If they meet, Sampras and eighth-seeded Becker will play in the quarterfinals.

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The care with which the ground crews at the All England Club tend the courts has been undone by the wet weather and the usual wear and tear.

Centre Court can be expected to grow increasingly brown and bare, but that usually happens later in the second week. Already it’s cut and rough.

“It was very chewed up,” Sampras said. “I couldn’t believe it in the warmup. In the middle of the court, there was no grass. I’ve never seen Centre Court so chopped up, obviously because of the rain and all the play on it.

“There are areas where there’s no grass. It’s like cement. Unless you play from the baseline, you’re not going to have any shots go there. It’s the middle of the court, where it’s all chewed up.”

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The Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight has been much in the news here. Tyson’s biting off a piece of Holyfield’s ear provided irresistible fodder for tabloid headline writers.

A sampling: “Ears of a Clown,” “Long and Winding Lobe” and “Ears on My Pillow.”

Tyson’s former wife, actress Robin Givens, was here Monday, watching a doubles match involving her friend, Lori McNeil.

Approached by a reporter seeking a comment about Tyson’s behavior, Givens smiled and shook her head.

“No way,” she said, laughing.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Featured Matches

MEN

* No. 9 Marcelo Rios of Chile vs. No. 8 Boris Becker of Germany.

* No. 14 Tim Henman of Britain vs. No. 4 Richard Krajicek of Netherlands.

* Greg Rusedski of Britain vs. Richey Reneberg of United States.

* No. 1 Pete Sampras of United States vs. No. 16 Petr Korda of Czech Republic.

* No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia vs. Nicolas Kiefer of Germany.

* No. 12 Patrick Rafter of Australia vs. Todd Woodbridge of Australia.

WOMEN

* No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain vs. No. 9 Mary Pierce of France.

* No. 11 Mary Joe Fernandez of United States vs. No. 3 Jana Novotna of Czech Republic.

* No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland vs. Sabine Appelmans of Belgium.

* No. 4 Iva Majoli of Croatia vs. No. 12 Irina Spirlea of Romania.