Tennis immortality: Sampras rewrites tennis history
July 9, 2000
WIMBLEDON, England - Drizzle, double faults and darkness couldn't keep Pete Sampras from making tennis history.
Fighting back to win a match he felt slipping away, Sampras overcame Patrick Rafter in four sets Sunday to win his seventh Wimbledon title and record-breaking 13th Grand Slam championship.
Sampras served 27 aces and whipped 13 passing shot winners to beat Rafter 6-7 (10), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in a match that ended at dusk after four hours of rain delays.
After Sampras hit a service winner on match point, he raised his arms in triumph, then bent over, bit his lower lip and began to cry.
Sampras climbed into
the stands and hugged his tearful father, Sam, and mother, Georgia, who
came to Wimbledon for the first time to watch their son go for the record.
Even tournament referee Alan Mills' eyes brimmed with tears.
"It meant so much to me," Sampras said after accepting the champion's trophyfrom the Duke of Kent. "My parents are here today. It's so important to methey could share it with me.
"I love Wimbledon. This is the best court in the world. It's my home awayfrom home."
The victory confirmed that Sampras was certainly one of the greatest playersof all time - if not the greatest.
The 28-year-old American matched the record of seven Wimbledon titles, set by William Renshaw in the 1880s, and surpassed the men's record of 12 Grand Slam tournament victories he had shared with Australia's Roy Emerson.Sampras accomplished the feat despite tendinitis at the front of his left shin, which hobbled him most of the fortnight and left him mentally prepared for defeat.
"With everything that's happened, I'd say this is one of my best moments," Sampras said. "It's amazing, really amazing how this tournament has panned out for me. I didn't think I was going to win here. I was really struggling."
Sampras remained typically understated about his place in the record books.
"I don't look at it as relief," he said. "I never planned on breaking this record. I looked at it as an opportunity. It's kind of transcended into something that I put myself into position to do it."
The Grand Slam record likely could stand for years.
"Time will tell if it will be broken," Sampras said. "In the modern game, it could be difficult. The next person might be 8 years old hitting at a park somewhere around the world."
Sampras has won 28 straight matches at Wimbledon, extending his mark there to 53-1 over the past eight years.
"This is the greatest player ever at Wimbledon," former three-time champion John McEnroe said. "This guy's not someone you can put anyone up against, nobody. No one has ever come close to Pete."
Sampras is only the sixth player in history to win Wimbledon four straight years. The last to do it was Bjorn Borg, who won five straight from 1976-80. In the end, he did it the way he always has - by outserving his opponent. Firing first serves at an average speed of 123 mph, with a top delivery of 133 mph, Sampras was never broken Sunday, saving the only two break points against him. He broke Rafter three times.
In seven Wimbledon finals, Sampras has lost his serve only four times in 131 service games.
But mixed in with all his aces and service winners, Sampras also had 12 double-faults, including several at crucial junctures that nearly cost him the match.
Sampras hit two double-faults in the first-set tiebreaker, including one at 11-10 that gave Rafter the set.
"I lost my nerve in the first set," Sampras said.
He opened the second tiebreaker with another double, his ninth of the match, and Rafter capitalized to go up 4-1.
"I really felt like it was slipping away," Sampras said.
Then, suddenly, the match turned in Sampras' favor.
A double-fault from Rafter brought Sampras back to 4-4 when he ran off five straight points, punctuated by a searing inside-out forehand pass which he celebrated with an uppercut fist pump.
Sampras ended the tiebreaker by wrong-footing Rafter with a forehand volley, clenching his fist again as he turned to his entourage in the stands.
"This game is a matter of nerves," Sampras said. "We were both feeling it. I felt it in the first tiebreaker. He felt in the second. The whole match just changed in a matter of minutes. The turning point of the match was the second set tiebreaker."
The first break of serve came after 2 hours, 11 minutes of play, when Rafter, who had saved nine break points until then, slapped an easy forehand volley into the net in the fifth game of the third set. Rafter bounced his racket on the turf in anger.
Sampras slammed his 24th ace to serve it out at love in the 10th game of the third set to go up two sets to one.
By then, it was nearly 8:30 p.m., but play continued into the fourth set. Sampras got a bit of luck when he broke for a 3-2 lead, a mis-hit backhand flying over Rafter and landing on the baseline.
In the next game, Sampras double-faulted again to give Rafter a break point and chance to stay in the match. Showing the grit that has dug him out of trouble so many times in his career, Sampras saved the break point with a 118 mph second-serve winner.
Sampras held for 4-2 with his 27th ace. Rafter had nothing left, losing serve at 15 in the next game and watching almost helplessly in the final game as Sampras served out the match at love.
There were only a handful of baseline rallies in the whole match. The longest point came in the third game of the fourth set and had 13 shots, ending with Rafter hitting a forehand lob volley over Sampras' shoulder. The match began an hour late because of rain and play was interrupted twice in the first set. There was a 2 1/2-hour interruption at 4-4, with Rafter serving at deuce.
The winner's share was worth $720,000 for Sampras; as runner-up Rafter received $360,000.