Sampras Remains in Holding Pattern

Nearly two weeks ago, an unassuming Swede named Mikael Tillstrom broke Pete Sampras’ serve. It was the fourth game of Sampras’ first match here.

No one would have guessed then that Sampras would move through Wimbledon to Friday’s semifinals without losing his serve again. Sampras held 97 consecutive service games until an unassuming Australian named Todd Woodbridge broke his serve in the fourth game of the third set.

Given Sampras’ phenomenal serving here, Woodbridge can count that as a victory of the highest order, although Sampras claimed the greater victory. His 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) defeat of Woodbridge places Sampras, seeded first, in a Wimbledon final for the fourth time.

On Sunday, he’ll face Cedric Pioline of France, who defeated Germany’s Michael Stich, 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

For Stich, who announced his retirement earlier in the year, this was his last tournament. Stich won Wimbledon in 1991.

Pioline is a solid grass-court player whose superb volleying kept Stich at bay.

“I’ve seen Cedric play a lot, and those volleys, I don’t know where he got them from,” Stich said. “He played so well that I had to win every point three times before I had the point.”

Serving is always the bellwether of Sampras’ game, an accurate gauge of his confidence and comfort. Sampras is far from a one-dimensional player, but where his serve goes, the rest of his game usually follows.

It’s not as if Sampras’ nerve and serve haven’t been tested. Not only has he faced players of the level of Petr Korda and Boris Becker and held fast, he scarcely has faced a break point.

The three-time champion made the kind of adjustments great players make, and Friday raised his game to match the level of the situation.

Woodbridge, a doubles specialist, was overmatched and knew it.

“We know that Pete Sampras is human . . .” began a reporter after the match.

“Not by much,” Woodbridge said with a snort.

Sampras is not the fastest server--five men have been clocked with faster serves at Wimbledon this year. He has not served the most aces. He’s simply the most efficient.

“When he got his first serve in, it was tough to even get the ball back in play,” said Woodbridge, ranked 37th. “But the way he serves the second ball--how good the second ball is--that is what sets him apart from the other players. It’s put on a dime, basically, wherever he wants it, and it’s very heavy and very hard.”

The sustained level of Sampras’ play was markedly better than it has been here, where he has appeared slow. He was sharply focused Friday.

“You really can’t be in a zone on grass,” Sampras said. “It’s too tough a surface to play great tennis. But I’m playing very solid. I couldn’t play any better. I don’t remember a Wimbledon that I’ve served as well as I have this year.”

Sampras admits to being tired. The rain has clogged the schedule so that he has played every day since Monday, though today will be a rest day.

The start of the Sampras-Woodbridge match was delayed by rain for an hour and a half. Once it began, Sampras asserted himself with a break of Woodbridge in the Australian’s first service game. Woodbridge was undaunted. He craftily manufactured three break points against Sampras’ serve in the seventh game but Sampras saved them.

In a manner he wouldn’t be able to enjoy, Woodbridge is a perfect foil for Sampras’ game. He hits cleanly, he plays slowly and there’s seldom anything unexpected. He’s also scrappy and can volley, so he wasn’t without weapons. Just without realistic hope.

“I think today I played one of the greatest players, playing great,” Woodbridge said. “There were not many weaknesses for grass-court play, that’s for certain. . . . There was no weakness there today that I could have attacked and got errors out of.”

A 55-minute rain delay came early in the second set. Sampras held to open and broke in the second game. Sampras broke again to go up 5-1. He held to take the second set.

During the opening game of the third set, Sampras stretched while chasing a ball, got it, changed direction and slipped and fell. Without taking his eyes off the ball, Sampras scrambled up, dived for the shot and hit a winner.

Sampras broke in the third game and Woodbridge got his hope-boosting break in the next game to draw even, 2-2. Sampras served and volleyed his way through the tiebreaker, the second he has won at this Wimbledon.