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Pete through to the third round

January 17, 2002

Pete Sampras, the only past champion left in the draw, overcame a lapse in concentration and progressed to the third round of the Australian Open with a win over Juan Ignacio Chela in four sets.

The eighth seed was given a real work out by Chela who tested the American's resolve before going down 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-4.

Sampras started well, breaking Chela early on, and went on to take the first set before repeating the feat to move further ahead.

But the Argentine showed real spirit to recover and win the third set as the normally reliable Sampras first service went awry.

The fourth set developed into a real battle as Chela came back from 2-0 down to level the scores. but Sampras dug deep to get the crucial break for victory.

Sampras, Australian Open champion in 1994 and 1997, needed five sets to beat Chela in last year's championship and said he had expected another tough match.

"He's a strong player and I have a lot of respect for him," Sampras said. "I didn't serve really well but he made me work, it was tough."

Sampras is the third highest seed left in the tournament, but said it was too early to make any predictions about his chances of adding to his 14 grand slam titles.

"There's a long way to go, I feel like I'm playing well but we'll see what happens," he said.

Pete faces Nicolas Escude next. Also a familiar foe, Safin, could be looming if he reaches the fourth round. Ninth-seeded Marat Safin, who rolled past Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final, advanced to the third round Thursday with a straight-set win over Christophe Rochus.

 

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Pistol Pete pushes on

January 17, 2002

Pete Sampras avoided the growing pileup of injured and beaten players at the Australian Open and stayed on the path to a possible 14th Grand Slam crown.

Ordinarily, making the third round of a Grand Slam is no big deal for the former world No. 1. But with nine of the top 15 men, including the top five seeds, already ousted, Sampras took Thursday's 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Juan Ignacio Chela with some relief.

"Knock on wood, I'm still healthy," Sampras said.

He's the only player left in the field who reached the final at one of last year's four majors. He lost the U.S. Open final to Lleyton Hewitt last September.

"It's a sign of where the game is — the game is very deep, a lot of great players," he said. "You see a lot of upsets, you're going to have guys that get hurt.

"It has been a pretty bizarre tournament, but it's happening and you've got to move on. You can't be too consumed with everyone else and what's going on, just focus on my preparation and getting the job done."

Sampras beat Chela in five sets in the third round at Melbourne Park last year and said it was tough again.

Sampras seemed to have more trouble with his own errors than he did with Chela, serving most of his 12 double-faults in the third set and finishing with 42 unforced errors.

Serving for the match, Sampras sprayed successive forehands and backhands wide and lost at love to let Chela get on serve at 5-4.

But Sampras broke back and sealed it on his second match point when the Argentine missed a forehand.

Frenchman Nicolas Escude saved two match points and rallied from two sets down to beat Spaniard Alex Calatrava 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in almost 4 hours.

Escude will meet Sampras in the next round and gives himself a good shot at a win.

"Pete isn't invincible," he said. "He's no longer No. 1. Last year, he didn't win any Grand Slams. So there's room to squeak through."

 

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Australian Open - Round 2
Post-Match Interview

Pete Sampras defeats Juan Ignacio Chela
6-3 7-5 3-6 6-4

Q. Pete, you are not injured and you're still in the tournament; where has it all gone wrong?

A. Well, knock on wood, I'm still healthy. But that was a good, hard-fought win today, I had to work pretty hard out there. It took me five sets last year and this year he was tough again.

Q. Are you surprised about how many players have got injuries and have been knocked out? It has been quite an unusual tournament so far.

A. Well, it's a sign of where the game is. The game is very deep, there are a lot of great players, and you see a lot of upsets. And you're going to have injuries - guys are playing a lot, it's the beginning of the year and there's not much of an off-season for guys to recover and then to come down here in a Grand Slam atmosphere, having to practice hard and train hard, and you are going to have guys that get hurt. It has been a pretty bizarre tournament, but it's happening, and you just have to move on here.

Q. Pete, it is happening to young players rather than guys over 30. Roddick today has had another ankle problem, which is getting into a whole series of these types of things?

A. When you twist an ankle, there is not much control you have over that. You are going out competing and you roll it, and it's unfortunate. It wasn't like he pulled a muscle. When you sprain an ankle it's hard to play through that. It's bad luck and bad timing.

Q. Does it make any difference, Pete, to kind of be the senior pro, as it were, left in the event?

A. Well, it's good just to be in the event. You can't be too consumed with everyone else and what's going on, just focus on my preparation and who I'm playing and going out there and getting the job done. That's my goal. You can't look ahead, you can't look at who's left, who's not left. There are a lot of great players still in this event, and I'm one of them. I'm not saying I'm a great player, I'm just saying I'm still in the tournament. I don't want to get a swollen head. Some of these other people.

Q. Where is your game at? How happy are you so far?

A. I thought I struggled a little bit today, especially with my serve. It wasn't a great serving day and he's a very tough guy to serve against because he stands so far back, and I really didn't have much of a rhythm out there. Like I said, he returns very well, he stands so far back it was hard to get a rhythm, serve and volleying. I knew it was going to be a hard-fought match, because last year he was up a break against me in the fifth and had chances to possibly beat me, and this year I was kicking myself a little bit - I was up a set in a break, I kind of lost that, gave him some momentum; up a break in the fourth, served for the match, played a better game. It was a little bit of an up-and-down match for me, but it was a good one to get through, not playing great but we're playing pretty well.

Q. Can you give us an idea of any little difference that Tom has made, anything he has perhaps introduced or wanted you to focus on a little bit different than Paul had been doing?

A. Well, there's a few things here and there that he sees in my game; you know, trying to be pretty active, trying to be aggressive on my returns. It is the same way I want to play over the course of my career, is to be aggressive, and he is just emphasising that, staying positive and going out with a good attitude, and that's what I have been doing here. There's not a whole lot of changes at this point in my career, it is about practising hard and having a good energy on the practice court and that's what I've had with Tom.

Q. Everybody is talking about the courts being sticky and stuff; do you do anything to the soles of your shoes?

A. No.

Q. You play in the same shoes you play anywhere else?

A. Yes.

Q. On a parochially British angle, could you give me any idea, if you had $5 to bet on Henman and Rusedski, who would put it on?

A. No comment. I'll take the fifth on that. I will say it will be interesting. I will tune in for that match.

Q. You will?

A. Just pure drama. There'll be some tension on the court.

Q. With the number of players out, do you actually know half the players that are left in the other side of the draw?

A. Sure.

Q. Do you know their games?

A. Well, yeah.

Q. Just on a betting front again, Pete, did you have a wager on yourself at 16 to 1?

A. I don't gamble. No, I do gamble, but I don't bet on myself. That would be illegal, wouldn't it?

Q. Probably. Did it peak your interest, though, 16 to 1?

A. It is a pretty good bet. There are some pretty good odds there. I have won here a couple of times, but I didn't put any money on myself, I just give it away on the blackjack table.

Q. On the support you have got here, is it something you've noticed that crowds seem to be warming more to you now than when you were at the top?

A. Yes, a little bit. When you are 1 in the world and such a heavy favourite, people are looking at underdogs and looking for the upset, but as I have gotten a little bit older in the last couple of years, you feel like you get a little bit more support. Obviously I'm not 1 in the world, so it feels - I don't want to say I'm an underdog, but it's a different place in my career when I'm 30 versus 23. So it is support, but in a different way, just more respect. And now it is at a different stage of my career, where people appreciate me more today than they probably did five or six years ago, and that feels good.

Q. After all those years that you were number 1, Pete, is it almost as if a burden has been lifted?

A. A burden has been lifted off me? No. I mean, I still feel like I put so much pressure on myself at the majors and to do well here, and I have been number 1 for so long, I enjoyed the time at the top but it is time for someone else to deal with the pressures of that. I've done it a lot longer than anyone, so I know what it feels like to be up there - a lot of pressure. At just a different stage of my career, I'm not so consumed with what I'm ranked, you know. I've chased it for too long.

Q. Pete, even if we don't know yet the name of your next opponent, because they're playing the fifth set now, could you say a few words on Escude or Calatrava?

A. Sure. Calatrava beat me at Hamburg in a pretty good match, a three-setter; Escude, I don't believe I have ever played him. But he has a lot of talent, he moves well, he has got a good backhand and a very talented player. I have practised with him a little bit so I know his game, but he is someone that has a lot of potential and returns well, does everything very, very well, so this should be a good one.

Q. Can I ask one for the cameramen, Pete? Is Pearl Jam a sponsor?

A. Do you know who Pearl Jam is?

Q. Is Pearl Jam a sponsor?

A. Come on, you don't know who Pearl Jam is?

Q. Yes.

A. Who is it?

Q. The group?

A. Yes.

Q. And it was actually named after Pearl, one of the guys' grandmothers, who made jam.

A. Who made jam; that's right. The best rock band in the world, right here. You can quote me on that.

Q. How many hats have you got?

A. I've got quite a lot here.

 

 

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