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Feet of clay Sampras struggles on red dirt
Updated: Friday May 25, 2001 5:30 PM
Not even an eternal optimistic who's the head of his fan club could talk up the chances of Pete Sampras at Roland Garros. Two matches on clay this year have resulted in two miserable defeats. If Sampras can't beat Alex Calatrava and Harel Levy on red dirt, how will he fare against the likes of Gustavo Kuerten, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andre Agassi? The truth is that Sampras' best chance to win the French Open has come and gone. It passed about five years ago when he was in the prime of his career. Flicking through the TV channels the other day, I came across what is probably Sampras' greatest moment on clay on a sports nostalgia channel.
In the 1995 Davis Cup final, Sampras almost single-handedly took the United States to victory against Russia. Playing indoors on a painfully slow surface in Moscow, Sampras won all three of his matches -- including Saturday's doubles -- to give the Americans a surprising 3-2 victory against a strong Russian team. He showed incredible courage in a hostile environment, playing every match despite collapsing in agony with severe cramps after Friday's marathon opening singles. The year before he won the Italian Open, also on clay. And at the 1996 French Open, he achieved his best-ever result in the year's second Grand Slam: making the semifinals before losing to the eventual winner, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. But the video highlights from those tournaments show a player who is vastly differently to the man who will enter the Stade Roland Garros this year. In the mid-1990s, Sampras was noticeably thinner and faster. He hadn't suffered the series of injuries that has shackled his body in recent seasons. He also seemed more patient and consistent, willing to wait for the right moment on the long points to attack. But most significantly, the Sampras of the mid-1990s had an aura of invincibility. Even on clay, players would be in awe of the American who seemed to own the world No. 1 ranking. Today, Sampras is no longer unbeatable. He is fair game. And journeymen like Calatrava and Levy significantly lift their performances for a chance to beat the man described by some to be the greatest player of all time. Sampras' hopes of winning the 2001 French Open are slim at best. But if he were hoping for a miracle, this is what he might be asking for:
Sampras doesn't turn 30 until August, but the extra demands of tennis today mean that his body would feel much older than that. If Pistol Pete could somehow win the 2001 French Open, there would no longer be any doubt in my mind: he'd unquestionably be the best player tennis has ever seen. However, in reality, this is no more likely than 3-time runner-up Goran Ivanisevic lifting the Wimbledon crown this year. Australian-born Jason Dasey is co-anchor of World Sport, a 30-minute sports highlights and news program shown daily on CNN International and CNNSI.
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