Sampras Weighs a Quit Decision

If anything, Pete Sampras has become more conflicted than ever about his tennis future since winning the U.S. Open in September.

There has been no bolt of wisdom or inspiration, only his own counsel.

It sounds so simple when you hear athletes talking about retiring on their own terms. Well, it’s not.

“There’s a lot going on and I need to decide in the next couple of weeks,” Sampras said Friday in Costa Mesa, where he was appearing at a function for a watch maker he endorses.

“I’ve been in limbo for the last month, not avoiding it, but just not sure. It’s all coming to terms with stopping.”

His plan of playing for at least another year was pleasantly disrupted by his U.S. Open victory against his biggest rival, Andre Agassi.

The 31-year-old Sampras is going to be a father for the first time within a few weeks and wants to make a decision before then.

Some days, he is leaning toward retirement.

“I’ve had moments of wanting to continue and I’ve had moments of stopping,” he said. “It depends on what I’m doing at the time. Either you do it all the way or you don’t do it halfway.”

Contrary to popular perception, Wimbledon won’t determine his final decision. Sampras, a seven-time winner, went out in the second round this year to lucky loser George Bastl.

“I won’t play just for one tournament. I’ll play because I want to, because I enjoy playing, and go through the process and the challenges, not just for two weeks of the year.

“In a romantic way, I would love to end it on a much better note than I did this year.”

Award Time

And now, the year-end awards. Sampras’ U.S. Open victory, of course, leads off as the most memorable final of 2002. It was his first title since winning Wimbledon in 2000, and he called it the “sweetest” of his 14 Grand Slam singles championships, considering the circumstances and the opponent in the final, Agassi.

Outerwear of the year: Serena Williams’ black cat suit, which made its debut at the U.S. Open.

Underwear of the year: Jennifer Capriati’s bra, which had its coming-out party in a Manhattan club after she lost in the U.S. Open.

Spat/brat: A petulant Capriati lost a lot of fans after a bitter break with the Fed Cup team when captain Billie Jean King dismissed her on the eve of a match against Austria.

Legend’s biggest fall: John McEnroe’s ill-advised turn on the game show “The Chair.” The XFL lasted longer. Mac’s venture actually makes “Around the Horn” on ESPN look palatable in comparison.

Vanishing act: Martina Hingis. The woman who won five Grand Slam titles by 18 has all but disappeared from the tennis scene and the side of golfer Sergio Garcia. The romance ended and there is a chance her career has too. Hingis, who lost in the Australian Open final to Capriati after squandering four match points in January, is said to be contemplating retirement.

One and done: Thomas Johansson and Albert Costa. Johansson won the Australian Open and Costa took the French a few months later. In the moments after Johansson beat Marat Safin, one television commentator urged him to enjoy the Grand Slam win because it could be his last. Neither player won another tournament in 2002.

Why women’s tennis is better than men’s tennis: Three Grand Slam titles won by Williams. Three Grand Slam titles collectively won by Johansson, Costa and Lleyton Hewitt. Now being advertised as a sleep-inducing device -- Hewitt vs. David Nalbandian in the Wimbledon final.

Why men’s tennis is better than women’s tennis: Shanghai vs. Los Angeles. There were an announced 10,200 fans at the season-ending WTA Championships final between winner Kim Clijsters and Williams. Reports out of Shanghai put the number at the men’s Masters Cup final between winner Hewitt and Juan Carlos Ferrero on Sunday at more than 9,000.

But the men drew better earlier in their event than the women did in theirs. And they acted as though they wanted to be in their season-ending event, unlike most of the women. Of the 15 matches at Staples Center, only three went to three sets. Three suggestions: Bring on the round-robin format, lose the doubles and cut the singles field to eight.

(One thought -- if no one watched Justine Henin beat Elena Dementieva in the first round, did it really happen?)

Best comeback by someone not named Pete: Martina Navratilova deciding to play singles on grass at Eastbourne, and winning her first match. In her second, she nearly upset Daniela Hantuchova. Can a Wimbledon singles return be in the works?

Best match (and assist to Sampras): Agassi defeating Hewitt in a four-set U.S. Open semifinal. For an early-season event, Hewitt’s three-set victory against Agassi in the San Jose final was particularly compelling, considering it was Agassi’s first event with his new coach, Darren Cahill, who formerly worked with Hewitt.

You Canas be serious: Guillermo Canas of Argentina played a series of marathons at the French Open, including one big grudge match against Hewitt in the fourth round, avenging his loss last year in Paris. An angered Hewitt took a swipe at the courtside flowers.

Jockey of the year: Anastasia Myskina of Russia on an “excitable” horse in her GQ magazine debut.

Classless act: Jan-Michael Gambill in meltdown mode during the UCLA tournament, calling a Times columnist “a witch” because she dared mention he was No. 53 in the world.

Hoof-in-mouth disease: Who would have thought Greg Rusedski would become such a big part of the U.S. Open after he lost? Sampras beat Rusedski and Smilin’ Greg gave him almost no chance to beat Tommy Haas in the next round, declaring Sampras had lost a step and a half. The rest, of course, is history.

Best quote by Sampras: “His issues have issues,” he said of Rusedski. The Canadian-turned-Brit always seems to bring out the best in Sampras. One well-circulated story had them practicing in Florida, shortly after Sampras lost the No. 1 ranking.

Rusedski asked him what it was like to be the No. 2 player. Sampras was said to have shot back: “What’s it like to be the No. 2 player in your country?”