Sampras Shows He's Still Master
September 9, 2002
NEW YORK — Pete Sampras was right all along: He did have a 14th Grand Slam title in him. And just like the first, all those years ago, it came in a U.S. Open final against rival Andre Agassi.
His serve clicking, his volleys on target, his forehand as fluid as ever, Sampras beat Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Sunday to win America’s major for the fifth time. At 31, Sampras is the Open’s oldest champion since 1970.
Sampras’ play faded in the third set and the fourth, and it was hard to tell whether Agassi or time was taking the bigger toll. But he managed to hold on, the rebuke to his doubters as loud as the sound made by his 33 aces as they slapped the walls behind the baselines: Pop!
When Agassi put a backhand into the net to give Sampras the last break he would need, making it 5-4 in the fourth set, Sampras was so drained he barely lifted a fist, slowly pumping it once as he trudged to the changeover.
He then served it out, with an ace to match point, and a volley winner to end it. And he had enough energy to climb up the stairs in the stands to kiss and hug his pregnant wife, actress Bridgette Wilson.
Sampras hadn’t won a title since July 2000, a drought of 33 tournaments, and his match record this year was barely above .500 coming into the Open, resulting in a seeding of merely 17th. He’s been deflecting questions about retirement for some time now, always insisting he could still produce on the big stage. After all, he figured, his 13 major titles were a record.
Indeed, Sampras played his best tennis at the U.S. Open the past two years, making it to the championship match before losing in straight sets to a pair of 20-year-old first-time Grand Slam finalists: Lleyton Hewitt in 2001, Marat Safin in 2000.
On Sunday, Sampras got to pick on someone his own age: the 32-year-old Agassi, winner of seven Grand Slam titles. They’ve played each other since the junior ranks, before they were 10, and now have met 34 times as pros (Sampras holds a 20-14 edge, including 4-1 in major finals).
If Sunday’s match signaled the end of an era, they produced a gorgeous goodbye. The crowd of more than 23,000 in Arthur Ashe Stadium split its rooting evenly, throwing more vocal support to whichever player trailed. Still, any time a yell of “Pete!” came from one corner, an “Andre!” would follow.
What a study in contrasts. Agassi is the baseline slugger, the greatest returner of his generation, and a true showman (he is from Las Vegas, after all), blowing kisses to the crowd. Sampras is a serve-and-volleyer always looking to get to the net, the greatest server of his generation, and almost always staid on court.
Each played the assigned role to perfection, Sampras smacking his serves at up to 132 mph, and winning the point on 69 of 105 trips to the net. Agassi ventured to the net just 13 times, but conjured up 19 groundstroke winners to Sampras’ 16.
Yet, as though a mirror were at the net, each also showed he can do what the other built a career on. Sampras whipped a backhand return to a corner to set up a service break in the second set; Agassi slammed a service winner at 117 mph to save a break point at 3-3 in the fourth set.
The first four games of the match ended at love, Sampras finding the lines with first and second serves, and Agassi cracking ground strokes right where he wanted them.
Agassi already was walking to the changeover chair when Sampras ended the seventh game with an ace at 117 mph. Pop!
In the next game, Sampras earned the first break point of the match and converted when Agassi’s backhand pass flew wide. Then, serving for the set at 5-3, Sampras faced his first break point. How did he handle it? A second-serve ace at 109 mph. Pop! That helped him take the set.
The second set was similar, Agassi not quite handling the speed and movement of Sampras’ serving - he held at love four times - and Sampras getting the break he needed.
Agassi finally was able to measure Sampras’ serve with some regularity in the third set, like a hitter who finally catches up to a tiring pitcher’s fastball in the late innings.
With the crowd cheering Sampras’ faults - hey, they wanted to see more than three sets - he obliged with a double to give Agassi set point. And Agassi took advantage, stretching for a sharp backhand return that Sampras volleyed into the net.
Showing a bit of gamesmanship, Sampras took a bathroom break. He faced a break point with Agassi ahead 4-3 in the fourth set, and how did he erase it? An ace. Pop!
They had walked out for the match as shadows started to creep across the court, and neither looked much like they did in their 1990 U.S. Open final, where Sampras started his collection of majors.
Back then, Sampras was bushy haired and his arms were as thin as a ball boy’s. Agassi was Mr. Image is Everything, showing up on court with long blond tresses, denim shorts, Day-Glo bicycle tights.
And on Sunday, there was Sampras, his hair thin on top, his bulging right forearm three times thicker than his left. There was Agassi, his head shaved, his outfit downright conventional. Both of their wives were in the crowd - Agassi’s, Steffi Graf, watching with their baby son.
Based on recent play, the showdown seemed improbable. Take a look at what
happened at July’s Wimbledon: Both lost in the second round to players ranked
outside the top 50.
But both are still in great shape. Agassi was out under the midday sun,
swatting shots on a practice court in a black T-shirt. Sampras, headphones
on, jogged in the hallway outside the locker room shortly before taking
the court.
The last time they played on the Grand Slam stage was in last year’s U.S. Open quarterfinals, a match Sampras won in four tiebreakers, with neither player breaking serve even once. It was presumed by many to be their last meeting at a major.
After, Agassi leaned over the net, offering wishes of good luck the rest of the way in that tournament by whispering, “Win this thing.”
One year later, Sampras did.
Yes, the same Sampras who beat Agassi 12 years ago in the U.S. Open. Sampras was 19 then, and still holds the record for youngest winner at the Open.
Nice career bookends, huh?