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THE
SCOOP: SATURDAY, SEPT. 22
An
insider view on a rejuvenated Sampras
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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Since
Pete Sampras was run over by Aussie Lleyton Hewitt in the final
of the
2001 U.S. Open, tennisreporters.net
never didn't have a chance to print the insightful
comments of former Davis Cup coach Tom Gullikson, Pete's good
friend and the
twin brother of Sampras' former coach, Tim.
Coming
into the Open, Sampras hadn't won a title since Wimbledon '00,
had
lost some bite of his greatest weapon, his serve, wasn't scampering
up to the net with his normal zest and was frequently being overpowered
from the baseline.
But
Sampras refused to admit he was done and after losing his coveted
Wimbledon title in July, he refocused, began to train more intensely
and regained some of the fire that he had lost. While Sampras
himself never publicly admitted that he had lost some interest,
it was pretty apparent to some members of his camp that he wasn't
the same old Pistol Pete.
"Obviously,
Pete hasn't been too focused or too motivated and hasn't really
played that well since he won Wimbledon a year and half ago,"
said Gullikson.
"Finally, all that talk about when he was going to retire
and all the
substandard performances that fueled that talk got him motivated
enough to
say, 'I'll prove to you guys that I'm not going away.' "
Gullikson
added that Sampras not only had to make an outstanding showing
to
prove to his critics that he's still alive and kicking, but he
had to make a
statement to himself. "I think he does have to prove something
to himself,"
Gullikson said. "It's been a while since he won a Slam and
that's his main
motivation for continuing to play the game – either
winning Slams or
threatening to win Slams. Look, Pete has always had it, he's always
had a
lot of gears. More than anyone. Pete kind of lulls you to sleep
a little bit.
He's holding, holding and then he breaks you and boom, he goes
on a four game
run and you down a set and a break before you know it."
Suddenly,
in New York, the Sampras of old had risen again, he of the
impenetrable serve that torched through all angles of the box,
the sharply
punched volley or deft crosscourt touch shot over the net, the
sidewinder
forehand from the back court that bounced crazily toward the corners.
Hewitt was supposed to be merely icing on the cake for Sampras,
yet working
on on less than 24 hours rest, the old champion's spark plugs
kept misfiring.
Sampras came into the Hewitt match having won 87 straight service
games but
the fiery Aussie broke him in the opening game of the first set
and from then
on, constantly put the serving god Sampras under pressure.
HOW
LONG CAN HE GO?
The
question still remains as to how long Sampras can keep seriously
contending for Grand Slam titles. He certainly proved in New York
that when he is in top condition and motivated, he can overcome
any player on any given day. But does a guy who has been grinding
week in and week out for the past 13 year have enough left in
his tank to win seven three-out of five set matches in a row against
increasingly more difficult and more youthful competition?
"Pete's
a great champion with a lot of pride and you don't want to go
out [on
a long losing streak]," said Gullikson. "He's rather
choose his own time to
go out. But you want to go out playing some pretty good tennis."
Sampras
coach, Paul Annacone, promised that the 2001 U.S. Open wasn't
Pete's
last stand. "Pete isn't really fond of second place,"
Annacone said. So I
don't think he's happy if he didn't come home the title holder.
He'll be back
again. He isn't going anywhere."
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