Posted on: September 08th, 2002
Sampras Ends Doubts in Open
- petepageBy SELENA ROBERTS / NY Times / Sept 8, 2002 -
Peel away their history together, and go beneath their past loves, losses and current reincarnations, and what remained was two married guys at a special reunion last night, playing as if nothing ever changes.
They were the same as always, and as different as usual. There was Pete Sampras, methodically popping out aces like a Pez dispenser, deliberately separating his racket strings between points. There was Andre Agassi, trying to find himself on the court, pacing in cat circles between points.
Then Agassi tuned in and Sampras fizzled out. But just when it appeared that Sampras's desperate attempt to soothe two empty years in his career would escape him, when it seemed Agassi's winter of wind sprints would doom his longtime rival, the pattern of the ages continued.
Bent over, with lead in his bones, a weary Sampras left Agassi wondering once again what had just happened as Sampras captured his fifth United States Open title with a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory.
A moment later, as the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium stood in reverent applause, Sampras greeted Agassi at the net with an embrace.
"To beat a rival like Andre in a major at the U.S. Open, it's a storybook ending," said Sampras, who is 4-1 against Agassi in major finals and 20-14 over all. "But I still want to compete. I still love to play. I'll see where I'm at in a couple of months, where my heart is and my mind."
Agassi isn't going anywhere for now. He did not react with melancholy, just disappointment. To many, he was the one expected to win last night. Wasn't Agassi the sharper one the last two weeks? Wasn't he on his way to a fifth set last night?
After their 34th meeting, it was hard to call one a loser. If this was the last major between them, the United States Open final was a fitting dance floor.
All the memories they recreated last night, all the time capsules they opened for the occasion, were all for the public's viewing pleasure. Everyone was invited to watch Agassi and Sampras for old times' sake.
The lead-up never matters with these two. Out of nowhere, Sampras's desire for major No. 14 converted into adrenaline as he went from tired strokes to crisp passing shots, from double faults to aces late in the fourth set.
After struggling to save two break points in the eighth game, he conjured up the critical break point against Agassi, turning the match around in the ninth. At that moment, one forehand into the net by Agassi was all Sampras needed.
He was ready to serve out the match. After his 33rd ace of the day, after a backhand volley touched down for a winner on match point, Sampras smiled at the leftover blue in the evening sky as he raised his arms.
"This one takes the cake," Sampras said. "The way this year was going, the way I had to come through, it was awesome."
His 14th major was more important than the rest, if only to vanquish the issues surrounding Sampras. He should retire before he embarrasses himself. So he won in throwback style. He couldn't win as a married man. And so the father-to-be did.
"She's a big reason why I've been able to kind of get through this tough period," said Sampras, who married Bridgette Wilson after he won his record 13th major title, at Wimbledon in 2000. "She lives with me every day. Trust me, it's not easy. When you're struggling, you're not having fun. It's a burden. It just showed me that I met the right woman."
To underscore that, Sampras trotted up the stairs of the stadium and sought out his wife. They hugged.
Bridgette has been by his side, from the 2000 Wimbledon, through the devastating low Sampras felt after losing in the second round at the All England Club in July. A few days later, Sampras called the coach he had split from a year earlier. He wanted Paul Annacone back, and the timing was perfect.
"Whatever is next, it's his choice," Annacone said. "He can continue on the path he started last month and get better, or he could walk off into the sunset."
Agassi and Sampras are as different as two men can be ?Agassi is a CNN man, Sampras is an ESPN junkie ?but they have come to embrace a link that has left them as inseparable as any legendary duo.
"I believe in fate to a point, a little destiny for sure," Sampras said. "I think it went that way at this event, playing Andre in the final, two Americans who have meant a lot to the game in the U.S. It was a fitting way to end it."
Sampras and Agassi emerged as the oldest two players to meet in a United States Open final in 32 years.
"I think a lot of people get support at the end of their careers," Agassi said. "The difference is they thought I'd been at the end of mine for eight years now."
Although Sampras was 31 and Agassi was 32, they seemed to be at different levels of need. It had been two years and 33 tournaments since Sampras won his last event.
Agassi won the 2001 Australian Open and several Tour titles on his journey to the United States Open final. He was less desperate. At first, it showed. Sampras arrived in sync, untouchable through the first two sets, with no sign of wear and tear after five matches in six days.
Agassi was fumbling for the station amid the static. His strokes were fuzzy, his head wasn't clear, and before he knew it, two sets had slipped away in less than an hour.
"Just a tough day for me," Agassi said. "On top of him playing well, I just was flat. I had to work pretty hard to just give myself a chance."
The role reversal began in the sixth game of the third set. On the second point, Agassi rifled a running cross-court passing shot for a winner, a first sign of his revival.
Sampras managed to save three break points that game, but Agassi had inserted some doubt into his old rival's head. Fitness started to separate the two as the third set wore on. All those sprints up the mountain in Las Vegas, all the time spent in the gym, were paying off for Agassi.
Sampras was sagging. His deflated legs finally caught up to him in the 12th game. After four deuces, Agassi finally had a second break point for the third set. Sounding like a symphony warming up for a concert, there was the sweet, chaotic sound of cries for Pete, clashing with the cheers for Andre.
The noise in a cavernous stadium not known for volume reached a peak. On a second break point, Sampras punched a weary forehand volley into the net to hand the third set to Agassi.
The hunched state, the Jell-O in Sampras's legs, it was all camouflage. Frantic to end the match, not wanting to give Agassi a fifth set of momentum, and needing this fifth United States Open title to validate his belief in himself, Sampras reached inside and came up with some magic.
"It was special," Agassi said. "You can't get around that. I take what I can get. Hopefully, it will happen again."
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