Sampras Gets Draw in French Open
May 24, 2002
As Pete Sampras swatted practice strokes in a drizzle a few hours after Friday's draw for the French Open, a yellow ball smacked against the net and rolled slowly, gathering rust-colored dirt.
Sampras wandered over, lifted the coated ball, and wondered aloud: "What is this? The ball doesn't even bounce."
Things never seem to go Pistol Pete's way at Roland Garros, and this year's draw was no exception, putting him in a tough quarter with No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten and '98 winner Carlos Moya.
There was a bit of good news in the draw for Sampras, whose No. 12 ranking is his lowest heading into the French Open since his 1989 debut: He's won all three previous matches against first-round opponent Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy.
Sampras' troubles in Paris are the one blotch on his resume, which includes a record 13 Grand Slam titles (seven Wimbledons, four U.S. Opens, two Australian Opens). The French Open is the only major played on clay, which takes some sting off his powerful serves and volleys.
"I have to play patient. My serve isn't as effective on clay as on other surfaces," said Sampras, who's only been as far as the semifinals at Roland Garros once, in 1996.
"I need to be smart out there."
His switch in February to coach Jose Higueras came at least in part with an eye on Roland Garros, where Sampras' last four trips ended in the first or second round. Higueras reached the semifinals here as a player in 1982-83 and coached French Open champions Michael Chang and Jim Courier.
"It's a surface that I've struggled on over the years. Jose's got a lot of experience coaching and playing on the clay. He knows what clay-courters think when they play a big server like me," Sampras said. "I'm not going to all of a sudden go out there and win the French. But I want to hear his philosophy on clay."
During Friday's practice session, Higueras stood on the court, a few feet behind Sampras as he exchanged shots with No. 23 seed Fabrice Santoro. Several times, Sampras let out a guttural "Ooooh!" after a poorly hit stroke. He often turned to chat with Higueras.
Sampras lost in the first rounds at Masters Series clay-court events in Rome and Hamburg this month, flying to Paris after the latter to practice up to 3 hours a day. He played in the World Team Championship in Duesseldorf, Germany, this week and went 1-2, dropping his match record in '02 to 15-11.
His last title came 27 tournaments ago, at Wimbledon in 2000, and it sounds as though the drought is weighing on him.
After losing to Max Mirnyi in straight sets at Hamburg, Sampras lamented: "I am trying to find my game. I haven't found it. It's pretty frustrating."
Back to Archives - 2002 | News