Sampras upset by Ilie
March 6, 2001
Pete Sampras never had good results at the Franklin Templeton Classic and this year was no different. Andrew Ilie was able to use his baseline game and passing shots to score a victory over Sampras, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6
Highlights of the match
First set: Pete broke Ilie in the 7th and 9th game to take the set. 6-3.
Second set: In the 11th game, Pete lost his serve due to a double fault to let Ilie go up 6-5. Pete was able to break back and force a tiebreak. But Ilie took the second set with a 7-2 win in the tiebreak.
Third set: It was pretty even until the 10th game. At 5-4, 30-40 Pete committed his 5th double fault to lose the match.
Presscon
In his post match interview, Pete said, "I let him back in the match
and before I knew it, it was a dog fight... I had a lot of chances to win
today's match but just couldn't pull it out. I had an off day but still
felt I played well enough to win. You have to give him credit, he made some
great shots. But on the other hand, I let him play that well. I let him
into the match."
Pete also blames his lack of match play. "I don't have a lot of matches and you struggle a little with confidence," he said. "The only thing I can do at this point is go back to the practice courts and play my way out of it.
"It would have been nice going to Palm Spring (Tennis Masters Series) with a few more matches under my belt," he said. "These matches are important to build on, but I felt like I had a lot of chances."
The match lasted 1 hour 52 minutes.
Back to Archives - 2001 | News