Sampras wins exhibition match on grass
June 20, 2002
Pete Sampras stepped onto an English grass court for the first time this year on Thursday at an exclusive country club deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside.
That the James Bond film 'Goldfinger' was filmed at Stoke Park Club more than 35 years ago perhaps made it a fitting setting for the man who has won 007 Wimbledon titles.
Having shunned the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's Club a week ago and suffering an early loss on Halle's grass, Sampras's mission was no secret -- to get a grasscourt win under his belt before Wimbledon starts on Monday.
Despite a shaky start at the Boodle and Dunthorne Champions Challenge, Sampras achieved just that, beating Australian doubles supremo Todd Woodbridge 6-7 6-4 6-4 on an immaculately manicured lawn.
Sampras had made it plain to organisers before agreeing to take part in the inaugural event that he would not talk to the media before or after his match.
That newsmen still turned up at the low-key but high-profile exhibition event speaks volumes for the pulling power of the 13-times grand slam champion.
That pulling power is never more magnetic than around Wimbledon fortnight, a two week period the American has made his own.
Having lost his Wimbledon crown last year in a painful fourth round defeat to Roger Federer, Sampras has failed to win a tournament of any kind since July 2000 when he collected his record 13th grand slam at the All England Club, beating Pat Rafter in a gut-wrenching final.
Reduced to the status of mere mortal, Sampras has lost his invincibility, first on hard courts and then on his beloved grass.
An astonishing Davis Cup five-set defeat at the hands of claycourt specialist Alex Corretja on Houston grass in the Davis Cup in April rocked his grasscourt confidence.
Then a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Nicolas Kiefer -- a player who had won just four tour matches all year before facing the American -- in the second round of Halle a week ago shattered it.
Thursday's victory against a tough and competent grasscourt competitor will have righted a few wrongs in his mind.
Although he would say nothing, simply rushing back to central London and his Wimbledon base after the match, the manner of his win would have boosted him ahead of next week.
Woodbridge, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1997, was a tough challenge but Sampras served and volleyed with great confidence.
Though it was an exhibition, it was a good workout for Sampras who rarely suffers from nerves in competition anyhow.
If Sampras can start to string some wins together in the early rounds at Wimbledon, only a fool would doubt his ability to clinch an eighth grasscourt major.
If he does achieve that, he can thank, in some small way, a solid, rot-stopping performance in front of a few spectators in the English countryside.
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