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Sampras, Hingis want French crown
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 08:49 PM
Martina Hingis and Pete Sampras have one major thing in common, aside from their extraordinary talent. Neither has ever won the French Open. "Ever" for Hingis is only a couple of years, of course. She's still only 18. But for a player raised on clay and who had won two junior titles at Roland Garros before she turned 14, it remains something of a curiosity that she's won the other Grand Slam events but has yet to triumph on terre battue. It is an altogether different story for Sampras. It really isn't any great surprise that none of his 11 Grand Slam singles crowns have come on clay. It's alien territory for the American. Both players want to complete their major championship set -- but only one of them fully expects to do it in the next couple of weeks. Hingis, a finalist here two years ago and semi-finalist last year, was given a kick to the backside by the loss of her U.S. Open title and world No. 1 ranking to Lindsay Davenport late last year. She admits: "I needed that. I learned from that. But if you are a champion you find your way back." The Swiss youngster did just that, winning the Australian Open for the third time in January and regaining top spot from Davenport. She's won four events this year and, in spite of a potential second-round encounter with rising French star Amelie Mauresmo and a possible quarterfinal showdown with Venus Williams, is confident of making up for previous French Open disappointments. "I love the game right now. I'm playing better than ever. Hopefully you can see that at this tournament," declared a bubbly Hingis, seemingly relishing every moment of her reclaimed superiority. Should Hingis come up short again, you have to believe she will get it right one day and complete her Grand Slam collection. But with Sampras deep into the second half of his career, time is fast running out for him. But it is refreshing to hear he has made an attitude adjustment. After finishing the year as world No. 1 for a record six straight years and moving to within one major of Roy Emerson's all-time Grand Slam singles record, Sampras is taking a new approach to the game. Yes, he would love to win the French. But no longer is he piling the weight of expectation on his shoulders to win the elusive Grand Slam crown, as he once did. "I'm not in the top five favorites ... I'm an underdog, and that suits me fine," said Sampras. He still has enormous talent and is ranked second in the world, despite an indifferent year that has featured a lengthy sabatical and mediocre form. If everything clicks, he knows he can make a run at the title. However, he is no longer prepared to run himself into the ground trying. Taking time off at the start of the year -- "I was fried and needed the break for my own well being" -- has helped him re-evaluate. After so many sacrifices in the last decade, he decided it was time to live a little. Six-in-a-row had been accomplished on the rankings front. That will stand for an age. Now was time to stay at home, sleep in the same bed for an elongated spell, play the games and enjoy the kind of mundane home rituals the rest of us take for granted. His return to the competitive courts has hardly met with staggering success. Sampras, though, is at peace with it all. "I wanted to take a step back," he explained, "and just enjoy life. I want to play tennis for some years to come and enjoy the game. By playing the events I really want to play rather than the ones I have to for ranking purposes, I can do that." Sampras also pointed out that he'll try to impose his style of play on the clay, not attempt -- as he has in the past -- to try to become a clay-courter. "At least if I go down I'll go down playing my way." And who knows, the low key approach may just pay dividends. Plus, serve-and-volley man Patrick Rafter has shown recently that players don't have to grow up on clay to impress on that surface. Sampras and Hingis may or may not complete their quartet of slams this year, but they will have fun trying ... and that's a refreshing attitude from two of the sport's greatest role models.
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