By Jennifer Frey
Washington Post Staff Writer
September 22, 1997
Mark Philippoussis sat in the locker room nervously, anxiously, as his Australian teammate, Patrick Rafter, played Pete Sampras in a crucial Davis Cup singles match at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center yesterday afternoon. He watched Rafter win the first set, in a tiebreaker, and started to grow excited -- hopeful -- that Australia might have a chance to stage a comeback in this semifinal tie.
Philippoussis only needed to watch for the next 25 minutes -- the duration of the second set -- to realize his hopes were absurd. With an unbreakable serve and an ethereal return game, Sampras played one of the most brilliant sets, then went on to defeat Rafter, the newly crowned U.S. Open champion, 6-7 (8-6), 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. Sampras?s victory clinched the best-of-five-match semifinal for the Americans, and he celebrated by hugging the U.S. captain, Tom Gullikson, then seizing an American flag and making a triumphant lap around the court.
Afterward, Michael Chang (pictured) defeated Philippoussis, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2), in the final singles match of the weekend -- the match was reduced to a best-of-three-set format because the outcome was meaningless -- and the United States emerged with a 4-1 victory. The Americans will play Sweden -- which beat Italy, 4-1, in the other semifinal this weekend -- in the Davis Cup finals, Nov. 28-30 in Goteborg, Sweden. Sampras and Chang have told Gullikson they will participate in the finals.
"This is a big match for me and the team," said Sampras, who, with partner Todd Martin, lost in doubles on Saturday for the U.S.?s only failure of the weekend. "It would have been nice to have clinched it yesterday, but it was nice to clinch it and to play the way I played. That, if anything, is the most gratifying."
There seem to be days when Sampras walks onto a court and simply decides, just like that, to play his best tennis. He is unbeatable -- almost untouchable -- on those days, and his opponent, sensing this early, has no earthly idea what to do. Yesterday was one of those days. Sampras?s serve was not broken in the match -- he never even faced a break point -- and that Rafter managed to win even one set, in a tiebreaker, was relatively astounding. Even Rafter had to admit that Sampras played on a level beyond anything he had experienced on a tennis court.
"This brings you back down a little bit," said Rafter, who has been on a personal high since he won the U.S. Open title two weeks ago. "It is good, though. Got to be knocked around a little bit."
Rafter changed his shirt twice and tried to adjust his serve to combat Sampras?s fierce returns, but all his efforts were essentially useless against Sampras, who gave Rafter a vivid lesson in how far removed his No. 3 world ranking is from Sampras?s No. 1. Humbled and appropriately reverent when it came to his conqueror, Rafter laughed when asked after the match if he had learned anything he could use against Sampras in the future.
"No," he said. "I?m sort of more confused now."
Sampras was still smarting from his fourth-round upset at the U.S. Open when he arrived in Washington for this event, and he went out of his way to call Rafter a "marked man" now that the words "U.S. Open champion" are attached to his name. He was anxious -- eager, actually -- to get on the court and reestablish himself as the world?s greatest tennis player and that desire was evident in the intensity of his game. On Friday, when he beat Philippoussis in the second match of this tie, Sampras played what he called the two best sets of his career. Yesterday, he stated, simply, that he played as well as he had in the previous match.
"A lot of people get into the match and get excited, but that?s as pumped up inside as I have seen Pete," Rafter said. "When he played Mark I felt the same thing, he was right into it, so maybe he plays better like that."
Sampras?s second set could stand alone as a monument to masterful tennis. He did not lose a point on his serve, made no unforced errors and hit on 75 percent of his first serves. To no one?s surprise, then, the emotional lift Rafter felt after his victory in the first-set tiebreaker quickly dissipated. And from his seat on the court, Australian Coach John Newcombe was left to marvel at the glorious display Sampras gave to the sellout crowd.
"I thought it would be devastating earlier," Newcombe said of Sampras?s focus and intensity, "but I didn?t know he?d be able to maintain it for that long. . . . When someone who?s been the best in the world for five years pulls it into top gear, you?ve got problems."
Philippoussis felt the brunt of that intensity on Friday, but when he saw Rafter pull out the first set he dared to hope that his mate could pull off the near impossible yesterday. That first set, though, was an aberration, an almost inexplicable phenomenon, one that Sampras and Gullikson both referred to as "unlucky." Philippoussis realized that, too, as he watched Sampras start treating Rafter with the same dismissive ease that he had shown in their match two days earlier.
"I thought he was going to make me the hero," Philippoussis said of his thoughts right after Rafter won the first set. "But I just couldn?t believe the tennis he was playing after that."
Rafter (pictured) was asked after the match if he thought it possible for the up-and-coming Aussies to ever capture the Davis Cup while Sampras is still an active player, and he gamely said it thought it was possible. At this point, though, the United States is the runaway favorite to capture its record 32nd Davis Cup crown on Thanksgiving weekend. The Swedes, represented in singles this round by Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Enqvist, had little trouble with the Italians, but Italy did not bring the world?s No. 1 and No. 2 singles players to the competition, as will the United States.
"I will take my chances against anybody with Michael and Pete," Gullikson said, grinning broadly. "That is for sure."
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SAMPRAS WIN PUTS US IN DAVIS CUP FINALS
CBS SportsLine wire reports
September 21, 1997
WASHINGTON -- Playing not only for his country but with a chance to humble a U.S. Open champion, Pete Sampras was at his impeccable best.
He didn't just put away volleys. He was up in the air - way up - spiking shots into his opponent's court. And Patrick Rafter and the Australians didn't stand a chance.
Sampras beat the reigning U.S. champ 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to send the United States to the Davis Cup finals for the second time in three years.
"I COULDN'T PLAY any better," Sampras said of the last three sets. ``I did everything that I could do very well, served well and returned well. ... I think the key was the crowd. That kind of got me going and pumped me up."
Sampras gave the United States an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-5 semifinal. Michael Chang made the final score 4-1 with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2) victory over Mark Philippoussis in match reduced to the best-of-3 sets.
The United States will play the Nov. 28-30 finals in Goteborg, Sweden. The Swedes, last year's runner-up to France, defeated Italy 4-1 after sweeping Sunday's reverse singles.
After his winning volley, Sampras raised both hands and hugged captain Tom Gullikson. Sampras and Gullikson then each ran a victory lap with an American flag to the cheers of 7,500 - minus a couple of hundred Australians - at the FitzGerald Tennis Center.
SAMPRAS, THE WORLD'S top-ranked player, has won eight consecutive Davis Cup singles matches. But he raised his level of play against Rafter, who earlier this month won the U.S. Open crown Sampras had come to own for much of the 1990s.
"He knew coming into the weekend that he was a bit of a marked man," Sampras said. "He is someone that wins a Slam, and you want a piece of that."
Sampras did not face a break point the entire match, did not give up a single point on his serve in the second set and served seven games to love. He hit 14 aces and had just one double fault in the 2-hour, 19-minute match. He also faced just one break point in his victory Friday over Philippoussis.
"That was as pumped up inside as I have seen Pete," Rafter said. ``I couldn't read his serve and just didn't pick the ball up."
Asked if he had picked up anything that might help him against Sampras next time, Rafter said: "Not really. Sort of more confused now."
RAFTER MADE A VALIANT EFFORT to stay in the match through the first set, saving four break points in the fourth game and winning the tiebreaker. But his serve-and-volley game soon deserted him. He netted many easy forehand volleys and even had trouble with his toss, at one point kneeling with his head down to regain his composure after two consecutive wayward tosses.
Rafter's surprise U.S. Open triumph raised his ranking to No. 3, but he was taught tennis lessons this weekend with one-sided losses to both Chang and Sampras.
"Brings you back down a little bit," Rafter said. ``It is good, though, good to be knocked around a little bit. It makes me want to work harder, that is all it does."
SAMPRAS SKIPPED THE first round and quarterfinals of the Davis Cup this year. He said he will play in next month's final in Sweden, the site of his last Davis Cup singles defeat - a retirement because of a leg injury against Stefan Edberg in 1994.
"To commit to every tie is basically too much tennis," Sampras said. ``I have told the (International Tennis Federation) if they had a better schedule for Davis Cup, I would commit myself."
The United States will be playing in the finals for the 59th time and will be seeking its record 32nd title. The U.S. team last won the Davis Cup in 1995, when Sampras led a 3-2 victory over Russia in Moscow.
The Americans led 2-0 after Friday's singles when Chang defeated Rafter and Sampras beat Philippoussis. Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge kept the Australians alive with a doubles victory over Sampras and Todd Martin on Saturday.
In World Group qualifying this weekend: Zimbabwe beat Austria, Brazil beat New Zealand, India beat Chile, Belgium beat France, Germany beat Mexico, Russia beat Romania, Slovakia beat Canada and Switzerland beat South Korea.
The losers of the series will be relegated from the group of top Davis Cup teams.
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Sampras Is at the Top, and Still Climbing
By Michael Wilbon
Washington Post Columnist
September 22, 1997
I'm guilty of underappreciating Pete Sampras, and I'm not alone. It's a club with far too many members. Since Sampras is still just 26 years old, there's time for us to adjust our attitudes, time to really appreciate one of the greatest tennis players of all time while he's at the top of his game. We were reminded of that yesterday, because with a spot in the Davis Cup finals up for grabs, and having to play the U.S. Open champion one day after losing a four-set doubles match, Sampras played as well as he can play. And that's a mouthful.
If you can't have extreme drama, the next best thing you can see in professional sports is a champion on fire, precise to the point of being near perfect. It's something most of them don't like to admit, as if the mere acknowledgment might be a jinx. But Sampras had no way around it after a 6-7(8-6) 6-1 6-1 6-4 victory over Patrick Rafter at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. Not only did Sampras never allow his serve to be broken, but also never even faced break point. He was more effective on his second-serve points than Rafter was on first-serve points. Sampras won more points at the net than the arguably the best serve-and-volley player in the game. He hit 62 winners to Rafter's 33. In the second set, which Sampras won in 25 minutes, he didn't make a single unforced error.
Pressed about whether he could have played any better than he did, Sampras finally conceded: "No, I couldn't play any better. I did everything I can do very well. ... It's not easy to play at that level for an entire match. But I pretty much did in the second, third, and fourth sets."
And just like that, he dismantled the most recently crowned Grand Slam king. Torched him. I keep hearing American men's tennis is dead. I know this because Tony "Catgut" Kornheiser keeps saying it over and over. And he has plenty of people singing backup for him, too. Except here's the problem: Sampras is an American. He's one of ours. And he's killing people. He's won 10 Grand Slam titles, which is three more than the man we 30- and 40-somethings believed was a tennis genius, John McEnroe.
Sampras has a well-chronicled problem: He's boring.
Translated in today's sports lexicon, "boring" means he doesn't dye his hair some stupid color, doesn't scream at linesmen like some Neanderthal, doesn't make persumptuous commercials about his image, doesn't swear in public or otherwise make an ass of himself. If you consistently behave with class and dignity these days, it makes you a bore. No controversy, no hype, no sizzle.
Former U.S. Davis Cup player Donald Dell, for many years, friend, then agent, to Stan Smith and Arthur AShe, has finallly run across somebody who reminds him of his old friends. "Sampras", Dell said yesterday, "is a throwback. He's a gentleman first. As a culture we've become so wrapped up in controversy and hype. Arthur used to say, 'I don't do it with my mouth, I do it with my racket.' Sampras is the same way. The way he wants you to judge him is by his results. You could see he was a little embarrassed running around out there with the flag during the celebration. He's getting a little more extroverted because everyone keeps telling him he has to be."
Sure enough, even though Sampras looked like he was somewhat eager for the postmatch news conference to end, when he left the microphone, he stopped and chatted comfortably with a smaller group of reporters for another 30 minutes. Earlier in the week, during a conversation with The Post's Jennifer Frey, Sampras said, in essence, of the general way that he's perceived, "What else am I supposed to do?"
The answer, of course, is, "Nothing."
Ten Grand Slam titles and winning Davis Cup matches for your country ought to be enough for the tennis public. As a member of the media, I'll shoulder some blame for showing less interest in Sampras than he deserves. In the ideal media world we overdose on the Barkleys and Deions, world-class performers and showmen. But we've grown too concerned with the sizzle, which is why the moment somebody enjoys 10 seconds of athletic success he runs out and hires a PR person to maximize marketability, which is how Andre Agassi winds up getting more attention than Sampras. Does a guy necessarily have to wear a wedding dress or start his own line of athletic apparel to be fully appreciated? The only athlete more dominant in a sport than Sampras is right now in men's tennis is Michael Jordan. End of list. And as Dell pointed out, "Sampras, I think, is young enought win several more Slams."
The record, in case you're wondering, belongs to Roy Emerson, who won 12 Grand Slam titles. For many years, Dell has been a member of the club that subscribes to the view that Rod Laver is the greatest tennis player of all time. "I'm not so sure anymore," Dell said. "Sampras has me thinking." He may not have the fastest serve, but look at the placement. Sampras's greatness is in his controlled power. That's the secret. And he's got the best second serve in the game, bar none. Jack Kramer always said you're only as good as your second serve." Dell didn't know it as he spoke, but Sampras won 21 of his 31 second-serve points (68 percent) yesterday against Rafter.
Asked what advice he might have for the ascending Rafter, Sampras smiled and said: "Over the next year, he's going to feel the pressure. After winning the U.S. Open, he's something of a marked man. It's something that comes with the territory."
It's a territory Sampras has negotiated better than any male tennis player of his generation. And as he continues to pile up tournament championships and international victories that suggest a higher place in history than many of us thought, it's possible Sampras will be moving into unchartered territory.
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Rafter Finds Post-Open Life Not So Grand
By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
September 22, 1997
Besides losing both of his singles matches in this weekend?s Davis Cup semifinal, including the deciding match yesterday against Pete Sampras, Australian Patrick Rafter tumbled with a crash into his new life as the recently crowned U.S. Open champion.
The other side of the champion?s life, that is.
Three weeks ago, Rafter won his first Grand Slam title, collected his $650,000 winner?s check, made the front page of just about every newspaper in his home country and went on the David Letterman show.
Rafter, 24, then traveled to William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center and ran headlong into something far more stifling than all of those autograph-seekers. Rafter lost in four sets to Michael Chang Friday to open the Davis Cup competition. Yesterday Rafter ended his team?s chances of advancing to the final in late November with a 6-7 (8-6), 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 loss to Sampras.
"Brings you back down a little bit," Rafter said, winking knowingly. "It?s good. Got to be knocked around a little bit."
Sampras spent the week piling pressure on Rafter. Sampras followed that up yesterday on the court by confusing Rafter so thoroughly that Rafter said, "I had no idea what was happening."
"He is someone that wins a Slam and you want a piece of that," Sampras said. "He definitely, over the next year, is going to feel the pressure. He is the U.S. Open champ. Expectations are much higher. It is something he is going to have to live up to."
Sampras, who won his first U.S. Open in 1990 at 19, smiled broadly when asked if his comments had been intended to toy with Rafter?s mind. Sampras called Rafter a "marked man" last week, then used the label frequently, including three times during yesterday?s postmatch news conference.
"I think," Sampras said, "it is something that comes with the territory. ... I think he feels that."
Rafter does now.
"Definitely," Rafter said. "Oh yeah. Everyone wanted to knock me off, anyway. Right now, they really want to kill me."
Rafter said he was as motivated for this match against the world?s top-ranked player as he had ever been for any other. Yet, even in the first set, Sampras outplayed Rafter. Throughout the set, Sampras dominated on his service games and Rafter squeaked by in his. In the fourth game, Rafter saved four break points by Sampras to hold serve. To that point, he had won just one point off of Sampras?s serve.
Once the first set was out of the way, Sampras rolled. He hit 62 winners to Rafter?s 33 and committed 15 unforced errors to Rafter?s 27.
"I?ve got a lot to learn, a lot to do before I can concern myself with where I am right now," Rafter said.
Sampras said Rafter?s game is reminiscent of Stefan Edberg?s, only not as strong from the backcourt. Rafter?s serve-and-volley approach made him the Open champion this year and lifted him to the No. 3 ranking, but Sampras attacked the flaws in Rafter?s game: average return of serve and passing shots.
"He has proven over the last couple of years his game has gotten better," Sampras said. "With winning the U.S. Open, he is a force to be reckoned with. We will see how he plays against the guys ranked 15 to 50. Those are the matches now he is expected to win."
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Never underestimate the importance of your enemy
By Al Reba, "Sports & Clubs", The Monroe Street Journal
September 22, 1997
Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest American sports champion of our time.
Baseball is in trouble.
Bill Gates needs Netscape.
Let me explain.
Over the past five years, no American athlete has dominated his sport as convincingly as tennis champion Pete Sampras (Apologies to Greg Maddux; Michael Jordan's foray into baseball removes him from consideration under the criteria). Sampras has won almost fifty percent of the sport's Grand Slam tournaments since 1993 and will finish 1997 as the world's top- ranked player for the fifth straight year. Not only is his play outstanding, but he handles himself with grace and humility on and off the court. While many of today's athletes shun the title of "role model", Sampras provides a shining example of sportsmanship to our youths.
Yet, despite these achievements and accolades, Sampras is probably the least recognized legend of all time. The public has characterized him as dull and lackadaisical. Insiders (including John McEnroe) have gone so far as to say that Sampras' perceived lack of personality is hurting the game of tennis. There are clamorings for Sampras to be more emotive on the court and to be more outspoken off of it.
Without going into a tirade about skewed American values (which could consume a whole issue of this paper), it is obvious that Sampras' personality is not the issue. Actually, he has quite a bit of charisma, as witnessed through his multiple appearances with David Letterman. The fact that Sampras currently has no rival on the men's tour is what is bringing the game down. Think about it. Would we have loved Chris so much if it hadn't been for Martina? Would we have tolerated Mr. McEnroe if Jimmy and Ivan hadn't counterbalanced him? That would be, "No" and "No."
All leaders need rivals in order to push them to the limits of their capabilities, and beyond. Otherwise, they run the risk of complacency, and in the sports world, the loss of public interest.
Before Andre Agassi swam into the blue lagoon and before Jim Courier decided reading captivated him more than playing a tennis match, there was hope that Sampras would have an enduring rival. And there is hope that those two, who have both held the #1 ranking, will once again rise toward the top. Until they do, or Michael Chang, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and others can step it up a notch, men's tennis will continue to suffer from a lack of fan interest.
I raise the issue of the importance of rivalry as Major League Baseball considers realignment of its teams. Briefly, the structure of the American and National Leagues must necessarily change in 1998 due to the entrance of two expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The initial proposal put Arizona in the NL and Tampa Bay in the AL, with Detroit and Kansas City shifting divisions within the AL. The Royals got enough support to veto this move. That opened the floodgates to a myriad of realignment proposals, the most radical of which would have fifteen teams switching leagues next year in an effort to regionalize the divisions.
Without going into a tirade about which of the several proposals makes most sense (which could consume a whole issue of this paper, plus flipcharts), let's not lose sight of the opportunity that baseball has before it. Once the undoubted king of American sports, baseball has been slipping behind basketball and football in terms of fan favoritism since the mid-1980s. Currently lacking the excitement to compete with those two sports, baseball needs to exploit its natural rivalries?the regional ones.
Interleague play proved that nothing in the game can generate more chills and thrills than a Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, Blue Jays-Expos series. These teams need each other to bring out their best. The problem is, under the current interleague play plan, these teams will only play one series every three years. So, the solution is to either revise the provisions for future interleague play, or to realign along regional boundaries.
Of course, this throws traditionalists into a tizzy fit. The traditionalists, however, must understand that their beloved pastime sorely needs a shot of adrenaline. I hope that baseball's "powers that be" consider the importance of rivalry as they make their realignment ruling.
Oh, and Bill Gates needs Netscape. But we don't need to get into details on that . . . .