Hoping for Re-PETE
August 18, 2002
Pete Sampras' stirring run last year at the U.S. Open really began the week before in Commack. In the throes of a year-long slump, Sampras arrived in Long Island hearing whispers that he had lost it growing louder.
At the Hamlet Cup last August, Sampras marched to the final, losing to Tommy Haas in three sets. That preceded a compelling Open run in which he survived three former Open champions - Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter and Marat Safin - on his way to the final.
That's where the fairy tale ended, fast and hard. Lleyton Hewitt battered him 7-6, 6-1, 6-1, and Sampras has yet to recover. The whispers are no longer whispers; they are shouts.
The question now is not whether Sampras will win another Grand Slam, it's whether he'll win any tournament before he retires.
Sampras, ranked 17th and without a tournament title since Wimbledon 2000, flies from L.A. into New York today, possibly gearing up for his last U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 26. The 31-year-old legend hasn't won a tournament in his last 31 events.
He again will use Commack - the tournament's name has been changed to the T.D. Waterhouse Cup - as his Open tuneup. He debuts Tuesday night, hoping to stick around in New York a full three weeks. Nobody in tennis expects him to.
"The difficulty is he can certainly play a good match or two, but the recovery, being able to recover mentally and physically, to go through five matches in a smaller tournament, seven at the U.S. Open, that's extremely difficult," TV analyst John McEnroe said. "He's won 13 Grand Slams and it's taken its toll. He's going to have to hope that it's right at this Open because it's been very disappointing for him this year."
The only good news for Sampras is that he and his actress wife, Bridgette Wilson, are expecting a child in December. She's put her acting career on hold - her last movie was "The Wedding Planner" - to support Sampras.
Wilson is the only soul whom Sampras talks to about retirement, with chats lasting until 3 a.m. She travels with him on the road and she'll be with him here. While his marriage is rock-solid, he's gone through coaches this year like Johnny Carson goes through wives.
Sampras fired Paul Annacone and chose Tom Gullikson in January, but his past friendship with Sampras prevented the tough-love approach Sampras needed. Jose Higueras was hired next, but he couldn't put in the time Sampras requested. Sampras, who also fired his agent, is back with Annacone, but only through the Open because of Annacone's new position as USTA coaching director.
Blaming Wilson's presence solely for Sampras' shambled career is unfair (they were married in September 2000). Serve-and-volleyers have less shelf life at No. 1 because of the super-quick reflexes and lateral movement needed to dominate the net. Confidence erodes even quicker. Boris Becker and McEnroe can attest to that.
"You need a lot of confidence to play that way," Becker said. "You risk a lot on your serve, especially the second serve. Whenever there's a crucial time on the second serve, he is doubtful, he doesn't really go for it. That's his biggest problem."
"His confidence is low and his movement is not quite the same," McEnroe said. "The middle of your body, your hips, where you can torque, the quick burst you need, it slows down. That's why for a serve-and-volleyer, it's more difficult to maintain as long. All of a sudden the balls you were volleying and putting away are the ones you watch go by."
Along with the career.
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