Paris Is Very Forgettable Again for Sampras

When something is crushed by Galo Blanco, the tendency is to think of wine grapes, not Pete Sampras.

But it took a little more than two hours Thursday for Blanco, not a little old wine maker but a Spanish tennis player, to end Sampras’ latest attempt to win the French Open. Blanco, 24, did the heavy lifting, the crushing, the passing and the breaking of the serve of Sampras--whose pursuit of a French title is about at the tilting-at-windmills stage--winning their second-round match on Center Court, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

Now, Blanco is hardly the most-feared Spaniard. He drew more attention when he refused to shake Petr Korda’s hand at the Australian Open in 1999 than he has with his play. He has won one title, to Sampras’ 63, and isn’t of the Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alex Corretja or Carlos Moya stripe. Think of him as in the second tier of elite Spanish players, which might be a generous estimation.

He had gone past the first round only once in five trips here. But anyone who watched the fifth-seeded Sampras get past French journeyman Cedric Kauffmann in the first round had to know Sampras’ return trip to Los Angeles was imminent.

And so, a decent draw and ideal weather conditions were wasted. Sampras had a chance to work his way through the tournament. The vaunted Lars Burgsmuller of Germany would have been his third-round opponent, and he would have played either Anthony Dupuis or Sebastien Grosjean in the fourth. Last week, Sampras beat Grosjean in three sets in Germany.

This loss came down to the first-set tiebreaker. Blanco raced off to a 6-1 lead, squandered three set points, then took it, 7-4, with an ace down the middle. Sampras was promptly broken in the opening game of the second set and showed little resistance after that. He had 11 aces, eight double faults, 60 unforced errors and was 0 for 5 on break-point opportunities.

“It’s always a [bad] feeling when you lose in a major--when you lose, period--but especially in a major, the things that build up,” Sampras said. “It’s just as hurtful today as it was 10 years ago. You work hard and prepare and it’s a letdown.

“These next number of days, I’ll go home and be a little bummed out. I’m not going to be sad. I’ve done too many things over my career to let it affect me too much.”

The sting of disappointment apparently isn’t enough for Sampras to make a radical change in his French Open preparation. He made some subtle adjustments, adding a tournament here or there but has never chosen to work with a clay-court expert, such as Jose Higueras.

One of his peers with an active dislike of clay, Greg Rusedski, set up a base this spring in Barcelona and trained there between tournaments for several weeks. But Sampras, who turns 30 in August, doesn’t seem willing to take any drastic measures.

“I think we can read too much into, as for preparation, how much I should play,” Sampras said, adding that he still has plenty of years remaining to succeed here.

“People think I should be here for two months to get used to the clay,” he said. “It just depends on how you’re playing on the day. Not doing well in Hamburg and Rome didn’t help. Guys don’t fear me as much as they do someone else.”

Blanco, who said the match was perfect for him, thought Sampras stayed back too much and tried to hit too many ground strokes.

“Probably if he goes more to the net, he’s more dangerous than if he stays on the baseline,” Blanco said. “So I don’t know, when he comes to the net, he puts you under too much pressure. You have to pass him. When you have Pete Sampras in front of you, is not easy to pass.”

An outside source was consulted on the issue, third-seeded Andre Agassi, who beat Frenchman Julien Boutter, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round. Boutter was hobbled by a sprained ankle and had trouble finding his footing, and because the match had been so one-sided, Agassi answered more questions about Sampras’ match than his own.

It was noted that Sampras has won five matches at Roland Garros in five years, and has not advanced past the second round the last four years. Sampras last won a title last July at Wimbledon.

“Every year, it’s going to get tougher and tougher, like it is for all of us,” Agassi said of Sampras. “There’s nothing that you could teach Pete that’s going to make it any easier. I think [Coach] Paul [Annacone] has done a great job with him. Pete’s done an incredible job with his game. It speaks for itself. When we get to grass, he’ll get everybody’s attention again.”

The other seeded players in the lower half of the men’s draw advanced. No. 2 Marat Safin of Russia had the most difficulty, needing 3 hours 28 minutes to defeat Alex Calatrava of Spain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Safin had treatment by the trainer on his big left toe on the changeover after the third game of the fifth set. In the sixth game, Safin broke at 15. Calatrava tried a drop shot, which Safin anticipated and put away with a forehand winner.