Lleyton Hewitt (#4) vs. David Sanchez (First Round)
First Meeting.

Despite being nearly three years senior of his opponent today, David Sanchez, nicknamed "Don Quixote," really would need to be dreaming the impossible dream today against the top ranked Australian Lleyton Hewitt. Sanchez (no relation to that other famous tennis playing family) broke into the Top 100, ending the year at #89, in the ATP Entry System rankings. However, his successes were mostly on the challenger circuit where he boasted a 31-11 record last year (a slim 4-4 record on the main ATP Tour). So the result of the match seemed apparent even before it started with little doubt that the supremely confident Hewitt would prevail.

The crowd on hand warmly greeted the defending champ. The players held their service games to open the match. On Sanchez's second service game, the Spaniard quickly went down 0-40, battled back to 30-40 but surrendered the game to Hewitt when a forehand landed in the net. The first "C'mon" escaped Hewitt's mouth, but definitely in a much milder volume and tone than usual. After holding his first service games fairly easy, Hewitt gave Sanchez a break point opportunity but squashed that with a 109 mph service winner to bring the game to deuce. Hewitt held on and broke Sanchez in the next game to go up 5-1. Two forehand errors by Sanchez on Hewitt's next serve gave the Australian the first set at 6-1 in 30 minutes.

The start of the second set resembled the first with the players holding onto their serves. Though Sanchez says his favorite shot is his forehand, it was his fairly consistent backhand that was keeping him competitive in many of these games. Hewitt was having a typical day at the office, powering shots all over the court for winners or forcing Sanchez. On his first break opportunity in the fifth game of the set, Hewitt broke Sanchez for the third time in the match. From this point on, Hewitt was increasingly entering the proverbial "zone." In the latter stages of the set, Hewitt held his serve at love twice (the second of which contained a 123 mph ace and two service winners). In what would be the final game of the match, Hewitt reached break point on Sanchez and yelled his loudest "C'mon" of the match. Sanchez battled back to contest two deuces, but Hewitt won the set and match at 6-3 in 1 hour and 5 minutes.

Pete Sampras (#1) vs. Andre Ilie (First Round)
First Meeting.

A sizable daytime crowd enthusiastically greeted Pete Sampras as he walked onto the court. His opponent, Australian Andrew Ilie, had to wait courtside a good five minutes before the Sampras arrival. Diehard tennis fans know what a dangerous opponent Ilie can be, but my subtle eavesdropping seemed to suggest that Ilie was a lightly regarded threat to the long-time American #1 player.

But Ilie quickly turned some heads, when he capped off his first service game with a 128 mph ace. Likewise, Sampras opened impressively with his trademark serve and volley game on display. The American won his first service game with a 112 mph second serve ace. In Ilie's second service game, Sampras earned his first break point and the stadium court fans were not surprised. But once again, Ilie solidly fought back with a 105 mph ace and a backhand crosscourt winner to hold for 2-1. This would not be the case in the seventh game. Ilie, committing all types of unforced errors, went down 0-40 and Sampras earned the break for 4-3. Illie's struggles on serve continued in his game and was broken for the set at 6-4 in 24 minutes.

The feisty Australian showed no signs of going away in the second set. Ilie earned his first break point of the match in the third game thanks to a double fault, but was unable to break Sampras's continuing ability to come up with the goods when he needed. The players held their serves fairly easily for much of the middle of the set. At 5-5 with Sampras serving, Ilie finally earned his first break of Sampras with the American double faulting at 30-40. Serving for the set, Ilie was unable to convert sending the set to a second set tiebreak much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd.

S: Sampras serves and volleys on a 109 mph second serve, Ilie backhand lands in the net, Sampras 1-0.
I: Sampras forehand goes wide on fifth stroke of the rally, 1-1.
I: Backhand crosscourt winner for Ilie, Ilie 2-1.
S: Another Sampras serve and volley, but forehand volley goes long, Ilie 3-1.
S: Ilie cracks a forehand crosscourt winner catching Sampras in mid-court, Ilie 4-1.
I: Sampras nets a forehand on the tenth stroke of a rally, Ilie 5-1.
I: Sampras sends a backhand long on the sixth stroke, Ilie 6-1.
S: Ilie's forehand service return goes long, Ilie 6-2.
S: Sampras serve and volley, netting the forehand volley, Ilie 7-2.

Pleased with the competitive match thus far, loud applause greeted the players as they returned for the third sense. There was still a palpable feel at the stadium that Sampras would win the match. But a rumble started going through the stadium as Ilie reached 30-40 on Sampras's first service game and when that was denied another deuce advantage when Sampras double faulted. But Sampras held and next it was Ilie's turn to get in trouble on his serve. Sampras had two break point chances in the game but the Australian impressively hit three backhand winners down the line in the game, often passing Sampras at the net, to hold for 2-1. After these service game blips, both players held onto their service games with relative ease similar to the second set. The tenth game with Ilie leading 5-4 on serve proved to the stunner. Ilie went up 0-40 on the Sampras serve on three impressive winners. Sampras hit a winning volley on the next point, but anticlimactically double faulted to give Ilie the match at 6-4. All were stunned, perhaps even Illie himself who did not engage in any shirt-ripping after the match.

In his post match press conference, Ilie was equally subdued. The Australian stated that he had waited years and years for a chance to play Sampras. He even admitted to be pleased that he drew the American in the first round saying "I didn't think the draw was rigged like with (Jelena) Dokic." Ilie meets Harel Levy in the second round. With the #1 seed out, Magnus Norman becomes the highest seed left in the top half of the draw that also includes Thomas Enqvist and Tim Henman (an easy winner over Albert Costa in yesterday's night feature match).

On a final note to today's upset, Sampras's new bride, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, was in attendance for the afternoon match. Obviously Bridgette did not get a copy of the rules that celebrity brides are only required to attend weekend/later round matches. Wilson-Sampras lookied just as beautiful as she did in the recent hit movie "The Wedding Planner" starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. She wore her blonde hair conservatively pulled back and wore retro-looking dark blue jeans and a light blue knit top that she peeled off in the fairly scorching afternoon sun to reveal a white Nike tank top.

Pete Sampras goes into the first Tennis Master Series in Indian Wells with not a whole lot of confidence. The American has lost his last three matches to Todd Martin in the fourth round of the Australian Open, Chris Woodruff in the second round of Memphis, and today's loss to Ilie. Perhaps it was not a bad idea to marry a woman who is pulling in a paycheck of her own these days.