It’s Service for Four

As Pete Sampras grows more fearless, his peers can’t help but grow more fearful that, for the near future at least, Sampras means to keep the Grand Slam tournament titles to himself.

They are the prizes he most cherishes and fights most fervently to claim. Sampras won his fourth Wimbledon title Sunday, dispatching Cedric Pioline of France, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in 95 minutes.

Sampras, 25, now has 10 Grand Slam tournament titles, two behind Roy Emerson’s record.

With his focus narrowed almost solely to the four major events, the resolute Sampras may claim that record by this time next year. Sampras won the Australian Open in January and is the defending U.S. Open champion.

Asked after the match to survey the tennis scene and assess what in the game he fears, Sampras frankly saw nothing.

“I really have no fear in the game,” Sampras said. “I feel if I’m playing well, I’m tough to beat. I’ve got some options out there. I can stay back or come in, and to serve as well as I have these past couple of weeks, I’m going to be tough to beat because when I’m confident and playing well, that’s it for me.”

That’s it for everyone else. Sampras’ serving fuels his confidence, drives his game and sets in motion a relentless chain of events opponents find overwhelming. As his serving improves, Sampras volleys better, and when that happens he grows more relaxed. A loose and confident Sampras is highly dangerous, as he has shown here.

From the first round to the semifinals, Sampras went 97 consecutive service games without being broken. He held 116 of 118 service games during the tournament.

Sampras’ serve Sunday was no less sharp. He lost only 17 points against his serve and faced only one break point. It’s not just about velocity. Sampras was able to place his serve where he wanted, and his 17 aces would surely have been multiplied against a player with less ability to return serve.

Pioline is excellent at returning serve, and in earlier rounds defeated two of the game’s best servers, Greg Rusedski and Michael Stich. But even above-average ability isn’t good enough when Sampras fires as he did during Sunday’s match on cool and partly sunny Centre Court.

“I don’t know what happened with my serve, to tell the truth,” Sampras said. “They just clicked in every match I had. It was the shot that won me the tournament. This is the best I’ve ever served in my career.”

Sampras’ serves made the match seem more one-sided than it was, though really there was about all of the competitive suspense that a Wimbledon final between the No. 1 and No. 44 players in the world might have suggested. Unseeded Pioline had no chance.

“When you play Pete, he doesn’t give you air--you know, you cannot breathe against him because he’s serving so big and returning so good,” Pioline said. “When he gets the break, he’s serving even better because he doesn’t want to give you a chance to come back.”

Pioline hurt his cause by losing his serve in the third game of the first set.

Sampras fired an ace to gain set point and, when Pioline sent a backhand return long, Sampras had the first set in 36 minutes.

Pioline held serve to open the second set, then Sampras responded with second-serve ace, ace, service winner, ace.

Sampras broke in the fifth game when Pioline dumped a forehand volley into the net. Pioline’s volley was not at the level he maintained against Stich in the semifinals, but Sampras was passing well. Sampras was accurate from the baseline, committing only eight unforced errors.

Sampras broke again in the seventh game and held to serve out the set.

Pioline played Sampras to his first two deuces in the second game of the third set, but each time Sampras fired an ace to get out of trouble.

He broke in the third game and held to take a 3-1 lead. Pioline got his first break point in the eighth game, aided by a rare double fault by Sampras. Sampras held, as did Pioline in the next game. Fittingly, Sampras served out the match, punctuating his victory with a service winner on championship point.

Sampras allowed himself a mild celebratory moment on court, and afterward gave voice to his pride in his accomplishment.

“To have won 10 by the age of 25, I never really thought that would happen,” Sampras said, allowing himself to sound impressed. “This is what’s going to keep me in the game for a lot of years: the major tournaments. I put so much pressure on myself to do well here and at the other majors. It makes it all worth it, all the hard work I put into the game.”

A coda to Sampras’ comments: Emerson won his 12th Grand Slam tournament title at 30, and during an era when three of the four majors were contested on grass.

How many would Sampras--the best grass-court player of his generation--have won if he had three times the opportunity?

Wimbledon Notes

Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won their fifth Wimbledon men’s doubles title in a row, equaling a record set nearly a century ago by beating the Dutch doubles team of Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-3. Reggie Doherty and Laurie Doherty won five in a row from 1897-1901. . . . In women’s doubles, American Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva of Belarus won their fourth Wimbledon title--third in a row--and their 14th Grand Slam doubles as a team, beating Nicole Arendt of the United States and Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Fernandez and Zvereva also won the French Open doubles, and Zvereva could win the doubles Grand Slam. She won the Australian Open with Martina Hingis. . . . In mixed doubles, the brother and sister team of Cyril Suk and Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic defeated Larisa Neiland of Latvia and Andrei Olhovskiy of Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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WIMBLEDON TITLES

7 William Renshaw, Britain (1881-86, 1889)

5 H. Laurie Doherty, Britain (1902-06)

Bjorn Borg, Sweden (1976-80)

4 Reggie F. Doherty, Britain (1897-1900)

Anthony F. Wilding, New Zealand (1910-13)

Rod Laver, Australia (1961-62, 1968-69)

Pete Sampras, United States (1993-95, 1997)

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GRAND SLAM TITLES

Roy Emerson 12

Bjorn Borg 11

Rod Laver 11

Pete Sampras 10

Bill Tilden 10

Ken Rosewall 8

Fred Perry 8

Jimmy Connors 8

Ivan Lendl 8

John Newcombe 7

John McEnroe 7

Henri Cochet 7

Willie Renshaw 7

Rene Lacoste 7

Mats Wilander 7

Richard Sears 7

William Lamed 7

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HOW THEY WON WIMBLEDON

PETE SAMPRAS

* First round--def. Mikael Tillstrom, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

* Second round--def. Hendrik Dreekmann, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 7-5.

* Third round--def. Byron Black, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

* Fourth round--def. Petr Korda (16), 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (10-8), 6-7 (7-1), 6-4.

* Quarterfinals--def. Boris Becker (8), 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 6-4.

* Semifinals--def. Todd Woodbridge, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

* Championship--def. Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

MARTINA HINGIS

* First round--def. Anne Kremer, 6-4, 6-4.

* Second round--def. Olga Barabanschikova, 6-2, 6-2.

* Third round--def. Nicole Arendt, 6-1, 6-3.

* Fourth round--def. Sabine Appelmans, 6-1, 6-3.

* Quarterfinals--def. Denisa Chladkova, 6-3, 6-2.

* Semifinals--def. Anna Kournikova, 6-3, 6-2.

* Championship--def. Jana Novotna (3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

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PURSE DISTRIBUTION

MEN

* First round: $9,960.

* Round of 64: $16,264.

* Round of 32: $26,896.

* Round of 16: $46,480.

* Quarterfinalist: Greg Rusedski, Nicolas Kiefer, Tim Henman, Boris Becker--$86,280.

* Semifinalist: Todd Woodbridge, Michael Stich--$166,800.

* Runner-up: Cedric Pioline--$332,000.

* Winner: Pete Sampras--$664,000.

WOMEN

* First round: $7,720.

* Round of 64: $18,608.

* Round of 32: $20,840.

* Round of 16: $38,400.

* Quarterfinalist: Yayuk Basuki, Iva Majoli, Denisa Chladkova, Nathalie Tauziat--$73,320.

* Semifinalist: Anna Kournikova, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario--$141,360.

* Runner-up: Jana Novotna--$298,800.

* Winner: Martina Hingis--$597,600.