Sampras Makes a Lasting Impact

His journey from zero to 13 was nothing compared to the march from 13 to 14. Almost yearly, Pete Sampras marked off majors, sometimes winning two in the same season.

But the man who was as reliable as a machine started to stall after his record-setting 13th Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon in 2000. And as his tournament title drought hit 33, his viability on the circuit was questioned by many, including his peers, who circled his aura like vultures.

So much of Sampras’ career has traded on a rare ability to astound, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he had it in him to do it one more time.

He flicked his magic racket again Sunday, maybe for the last time, recording a most improbable result, winning the U.S. Open at age 31 to capture his 14th Grand Slam singles title.

That the result came against his greatest rival, Andre Agassi, put the championship in a special stratosphere. The 17th-seeded Sampras served the way he did in his prime for two sets, then held on with gritty determination, defeating No. 6 Agassi, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in 2 hours 54 minutes, hitting 33 aces.

Flashes of light dotted Arthur Ashe Stadium as Sampras tossed the ball in the air to serve on his first match point, at 5-4, 40-0. Agassi saved it with a forehand passing shot, and the cameras were poised again, lights flashing to capture the winning image.

And Sampras supplied it, hitting a winning backhand volley, ending his 26-month run without a title. He thrust his arms in the air and shared a warm embrace with Agassi at the net, and later made the long climb into the stands to hug his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson. It was somewhat reminiscent of his journey up the stairs at Wimbledon when he found his parents after the record-setting moment.

So similar, and so different.

“This one might take the cake,” Sampras said. “I never thought anything would surpass what happened at Wimbledon a couple of years ago. But the way I’ve been going this year, to kind of come through this and play the way I did today, it was awesome.”

But were the cameras capturing the image of Sampras for the last time? His close friend Paul Annacone, who reunited with Sampras this summer as his coach, spoke positively about the future.

Then Sampras came into the interview room. After he was done talking, the question was: Will he stay or will he go?

That has been out there, but Sampras put it out there himself Sunday. “Well, I’m gonna have to weigh it up in the next months to see where I’m at,” said Sampras, who appeared in his third consecutive Open final. “I still want to play. I love to play. But to beat a rival like Andre in a major tournament at the U.S. Open, a storybook ending, it might be nice to stop. ... You know, see where I’m at in a couple of months, where my heart’s at and my mind. Right now, it’s really hard to talk about. My head’s spinning. But I’m sure the next couple of weeks I’ll reflect on it and kind of see where I’m at in a few months time.”

The flip side of staying is the idea of going out on top. In a sense, Sampras’ victory at the Open--his fifth, which tied Jimmy Connors--is similar to Jack Nicklaus’ Masters victory in 1986, after almost six years without a win in a major. Nicklaus, too, used negative comments to fuel his desire, putting articles on his refrigerator.

Sampras had Greg Rusedski for that. “He’s got his own issues,” Sampras said of the British player, who had criticized him at the Open. “His issues have issues.”

The vulnerability of Sampras made him a sentimental favorite, which is saying something with the 32-year-old Agassi on the same court. Agassi, playing in his first Grand Slam final since winning the Australian Open in 2001, is 1-4 against Sampras in Grand Slam finals.

“Well, I think a lot of people get support toward the end of their career,” Agassi said. “The difference is they thought I’d been at the end of mine for eight years now.”

Agassi started slowly and looked slightly sluggish, perhaps a product of a difficult semifinal victory Saturday against Lleyton Hewitt of Australia. But he showed his mettle and kept plugging away. Eventually Sampras’ serve returned to earth, losing some speed, and Agassi found his return range.

“I was having a hard time getting on to it and getting off the mark and making any sort of impact at all,” Agassi said. “I think he sensed that, and I was allowing him to play pretty loose in his return games.”

Agassi quite conceivably could have pushed the match into a fifth set. He had two break points against Sampras in the fourth game of the fourth set, a 22-point game that had seven deuces. Sampras held on, and later in the set, the momentum flipped one more time in about a five-minute span.

Sampras broke Agassi in the ninth game on his fourth break-point chance, hitting a huge forehand service return, drawing a forehand into the net from Agassi. Sampras served it out, calling the moment “eerie.”

Whatever happens in his future, he will always have New York, which is where it all started with his first Grand Slam title in 1990, against Agassi, and where it may have ended with a win against Agassi, completing the circle.

“A little destiny, sure. It might have went my way in this event to play Andre in the final, two Americans that have meant a lot to the game in the U.S.,” Sampras said. “Yeah, it was a fitting way to end it.”

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*--* Pete Sampras holds a 4-1 advantage over Andre Agassi in Grand Slam finals: Year Event Winner 1990 U.S. Open Sampras 1995 Australian Open Agassi 1995 U.S. Open Sampras 1999 Wimbledon Sampras 2002 U.S. Open Sampras

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*--* GRAND SLAM VICTORIES Event Sampras Agassi Australian 2 3 French Open 0 1 Wimbledon 7 1 U.S. Open 5 2 Total 14 7 Note: Agassi, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Fred Perry and Roy Emerson are the only men to win all four Grand Slam events

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Sampras in 2002

Pete Sampras’ victory in the U.S. Open was his first in 33 tournaments dating back to Wimbledon 2000. A look at how he fared this year before the Open:

*--* Tournament Round Eliminated by Result Adelaide First round Todd Martin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Australian Open Round of 16 Marat Safin 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (10) Scottsdale Second round Wayne Ferreira 7-5, 7-5 Indian Wells Semifinals Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4 Miami Third round Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (1), 6-1 Houston Final Andy Roddick 7-6 (11), 6-3 Rome First round Felix Mantilla 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 Hamburg First round Max Mirnyi 6-3, 6-4 French Open First round Andrea Gaudenzi 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3) Halle, Germany Second round Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-4 Wimbledon Second round George Bastl 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 Toronto Round of 16 Tommy Haas 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5) Cincinnati Second round Wayne Arthurs 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) Long Island Second round* Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-4 *Had first-round bye

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Sampras vs. Agassi

Pete Sampras leads Andre Agassi, 20-14, in head-to-head meetings:

*--* Year Site Winner Result 1989 Rome (R32) Agassi 6-2, 6-1 1990 Philadelphia (R16) Sampras 5-7, 7-5, ret 1990 U.S. Open (F) Sampras 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 1990 ATP Finals (RR) Agassi 6-4, 6-2 1991 ATP Finals (RR) Sampras 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 1992 Atlanta (F) Agassi 7-5, 6-4 1992 French Open (Q) Agassi 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-1 1993 Wimbledon (Q) Sampras 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 1994 Key Biscayne (F) Sampras 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 1994 Osaka, Japan (S) Sampras 6-3, 6-1 1994 Paris Indoor (Q) Agassi 7-6 (8), 7-5 1994 ATP Finals(S) Sampras 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 1995 Australian Open (F) Agassi 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-4 1995 Indian Wells (F) Sampras 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 1995 Key Biscayne (F) Agassi 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) 1995 Montreal (F) Agassi 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 1995 U.S. Open (F) Sampras 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 1996 San Jose (F) Sampras 6-2, 6-3 1996 Stuttgart Indoor (Q) Sampras 6-4, 6-1 1996 ATP Finals (RR) Sampras 6-2, 6-1 1998 San Jose (F) Agassi 6-2, 6-4 1998 Monte Carlo (R32) Sampras 6-4, 7-5 1998 Montreal (Q) Agassi 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-1 1999 Wimbledon (F) Sampras 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 1999 Los Angeles (F) Sampras 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1) 1999 Cincinnati (F) Sampras 7-6 (7), 6-4 1999 ATP Finals (RR) Agassi 6-2, 6-2 1999 ATP Finals (RR) Sampras 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 2000 Australian Open (SF) Agassi 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-1 2001 Indian Wells (F) Agassi 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-1 2001 Los Angeles (F) Agassi 6-4, 6-2 2001 U.S. Open (Q) Sampras 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) 2002 Houston (S) Sampras 6-1, 7-5 2002 U.S. Open (F) Sampras 6-3, 6-4,. 5-7, 6-4

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INDEX: RR: Round robin; R32: Round of 32; R16: Round of 16; Q: Quarterfinals; S: Semifinals; F: Final.