Sublime Serena, Stunned Sampras The Lipton, Monday, March 23 By Ed Toombs

"I had it in my hands..."

  Pete Sampras to serve against Wayne Ferreira. Match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break, after having won the first set 6-0. Pete had just netted a forehand on his first match point, but that was on Ferreira's serve. No problem, right? We've seen it so often, and know what to expect. Boom, a big ace or service winner, shake hands with the beaten adversary, thank you very much, next victim please.

  But that was a different Pete Sampras than the one we see now. Today, Pete Sampras double-faulted on match point, perhaps the first time in his career he has done that (he wasn't sure). Worse yet, he brooded about the gaffe for the entire third set. His South African opponent capitalized, sealed a 0-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 third-round upset, and wrote another chapter what is at best a severe crisis of confidence, and at worst, a key stage in Pete's decline.

  How shaky has Pete been this year? Sampras has now failed to pass the quarterfinals of the three most important tournaments so far this season, the Australian Open, Indian Wells and now the Lipton. His sole tournament win of the year was over a weak field in Philadelphia. This year's Sampras, generally regarded as being in a class by himself as recently as last November, is now clinging by a thread to his number one ranking, which next week could well be in other hands than Pete's for the first time since Thomas Muster's five-week reign in March-April, 1996.

  After the match, Sampras seemed devasted, admitting to be "sitting here in shock". He used the phrase "I had the match in my hands" six times during the post-mortem press conference. Completely baffled at why he has lost his ability to rise to the challenge and dig his way out of tough situations. "I just got a bit more down on myself as the third set went on, it showed in some errors I put in there." A lot of errors in fact, particularly off the backhand side.

  Of course, there was an opponent on the other side of the net, and a talented one who should be given credit. The freckled, 36th-ranked Ferreira has now defeated Sampras in their last three encounters. Wayne was a top-ten player in the mid-1990s, reaching a high of number 6 in the spring of 1995, but racquet problems and ankle surgery sent him plummeting to #43 at the end of last season.

  But Wayne did not delude himself into thinking he beat Pete because of any brilliance on his own part. "He missed a lot," said Ferreira. "I can't honestly sit here and say that it was because of my great tennis." Ferreira now looks a likely semi-finalist, as he will face qualifier Steve Campbell in the quarterfinals. Campbell, who had already upset Mark Philippoussis on Saturday, continued his fine roll with a third-set tie break thriller over Todd Martin.

Serena: Simply Smashing!

  A happy contrast to the tortured Sampras was youthful Serena Williams, who is carefree, loving life, and playing inspired tennis. Today she faced a stiff test against that other Swiss girl, 19-year-old Patty Schnyder, who has rocketed to #17 this season on the strength of titles in Hobart and Hannover and a 16-2 record. Serena beat back the challenge in a third-round match filled with reversals of fortune, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.

  Serena was as dominant in the first set as the "bagel" suggests. Blasting winners off both sides and running down everything in sight, Serena was on fire: "I think that was the best set I ever played," she gushed. But when Venus's little sister came back to Earth in the second set, Schnyder was ready for her, and started to serve and strike her smooth left-handed groundstrokes with authority. What impressed me about Serena is that when she realized that the magic had gone, she didn't panic as some youngsters might. She saw she was going to be in a dogfight, stopped going for the flashy winners and settled down, applying herself to what was now a grind-it-out match.

  The turning point of the match came in the third set when Williams broke Patty to take a 5-3 lead, on a botched forehand volley by the Swiss. Serving for the match, Serena showed remarkable foot speed to get to some penetrating Schnyder drives which would have been winners against almost anyone else. At 15-15 in the final game, Williams followed several frenzied side-to-side sprints with a sweet cross-court forehand passing shot, and went on to close out a narrow but well-deserved win.

  So having seen both Williams girls, sure, I'll agree with Papa Richard that Serena is the better of the two. At least the more pleasant to watch. Her serve is not as fast but more reliable, her shots are just as hard but more controlled, and her game shows more maturity and variety despite her younger age. Next up for Serena is a slightly better-known Swiss girl, named Hingis, in the quarterfinals...

 Shooting from "The Lip":

 On the men's side:

  Who's number one?: So I hear you cry, "Who has a chance to claim the number one spot this week?" Here's what the ATP tells us: #2 Petr Korda will become the top man if he reaches the semifinals this week. #3 Marcelo Rios will become number one if we wins the title with at least 78 bonus points, or if he wins the title with 55 bonus points and Korda loses before the semis. #5 Rusedski has a slim chance, but it depends on such an unlikely set of events that I won't bother detailing them. And already-eliminated #4 Patrick Rafter has no chance to become number one, at least not as a result of this tournament. There you go.

  Woodstock almost deplumed by Pato: Of the contenders to the throne, Rios has looked sharp this week and is not to be neglected. But Korda, who has the best chance to dethrone Sampras, was given a scare by Spanish spin doctor Francisco "Pato" Clavet before prevailing, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. It is always treacherous to trade groundstrokes with the tricky Clavet, who is one of the few players, or so I am told, who still employs the ancient art of sidespin. The timing of Korda's groundstrokes seemed off. Finally, the Czech figured out he would be better off at the net, and this change of tactics turned the match in his favour.

  Oh yes, the post-match Korda celebration report: Hand-shake and cartwheel. He kept the fans waiting for his scissor-kick, but finally executed one as he walked off the court. Korda's quarterfinal opponent will be Tim Henman, a surprisingly easy 6-1, 6-4 winner over Carlos Moya.

  Mixed bag for Swedes: One of last year's surprise stories, Sweden's seventh-seeded Jonas Bjorkman, continues to have difficulty following up on his career season, losing in straight tie-breaks to rising German star Nicolas Kiefer. Thomas Enqvist redeemed the Swedish nation with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 upset of Karol Kucera, and will now attempt to deal with the cannon serves of Greg Rusedski in the quarters. Another Swedish note: Sampras's loss assures that Stefan Edberg is still the all-time leader in match wins at the Lipton (32) but Andre Agassi could tie the mark with one more victory.

  Greg Rusedski joined his countryman Tim Henman in the fourth round with a straight-set triumph over Marc Rosset. Informed that his chances of being number one this week depend in part upon Petr Korda getting a walkover in one of his matches, Greg quipped, "I have to go and hurt his next opponent." When told that Korda's next opponent is Henman, Greg laughed, "Well, maybe I'll have to call someone up." Rusedski and Henman have been openly feuding in the British press....

  On the women's side:

  As most expected, Anna Kournikova was too much for a distracted and far-from-fit Monica Seles, prevailing 7-5, 6-4. Seles, reduced to part-time action by continuing preoccupation with her father's health, can still hit impressively when she has time to prepare her shots, but if forced to run her sluggish movement is painfully evident. Kournikova noticed this, and relentlessly ran Monica from side to side and up and back. One wonders whether Seles would be better off not playing at all until she can devote the time she should to her athletic career.

  Young Kournikova, a standout here this week, will face Conchita Martinez in the fourth round.

  Three of the quarterfinal matchups are now known. They are: Hingis (1) vs Serena Williams (unseeded); Venus Williams (11) vs Farina (29); and Sanchez Vicario (8) vs Novotna (3). Silvia Farina authored the upset of the day when she pulled away from the sixth seed, a weary-looking Amanda Coetzer, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.

  Sandrine Testud pushed Martina Hingis hard, making her stay on the court for 1 hour and 49 minutes. But the top seed, despite slight cramping in the final stages, outlasted Testud, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, showing that there is a number one who can drop a set and then dig deep enough to mount a comeback...

  Serena Williams saw Marcelo Rios play, and was inspired by his speed and tenacity. "I couldn't believe the balls he got back. I said, 'Serena, you have to get these balls back too.'"
 

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