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 Picture-perfect Pete Sampras eases past Enqvist, has yet to lose a Wimbledon set
Posted: Monday June 29, 1998 01:36 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Defending champion Pete Sampras charged into the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday. In a faultless display on Center Court, Sampras brushed aside 17th-ranked Swede Thomas Enqvist 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) in a match carried over from Friday. He now meets Sebastien Grosjean of France, who upset Spanish 16th seed Felix Mantilla in straight sets. The world No. 1 has not dropped a set in the tournament and varied his game with passing shots off both wings and flawless serve-volley play. Rain again called most of the shots, however, halting play after less than an hour's action on Center Court. The schedule had already been brought forward by two hours on the showcourts after several rain disruptions in the first week. Serena Williams became the second of the new teenage dynasty to pull out of the tournament due to injury following 12th-seeded Anna Kournikova's withdrawal last Monday with a thumb injury. The 16-year-old Williams was trailing Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 7-5, 4-1 when she retired due to a calf injury suffered in the third game of the opening set. "I could have carried on if I wanted to, but I have to think about the future," she said. "I don't want to hurt myself over something silly." Her mother Oracene also hobbled from the court after breaking her ankle in a fall at their temporary Wimbledon home before the tournament. Mantilla failed to recover from an awful start during which he lost the opening nine games to Grosjean. The Spaniard raised his arms in triumph after winning his first game when trailing 6-0, 3-0. He rallied to 6-6 in the second set, but lost the tiebreak before folding again to surrender the deciding set 6-2. French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the women's fifth seed, was also in trouble at the start of her third-round match. The Spaniard was staring at a first-set deficit when she trailed Austria's Sylvia Plischke 5-3. Sanchez Vicario, twice a losing finalist at Wimbledon, held her nerve and fought back to take the next nine games. She finally wrapped up the match 7-5, 6-2. "I realized that I had to start going a little more for my shots, and that's what I did," said the six-time grand slam winner. Sanchez Vicario, undeterred by Plischke's charges to the net, spiced her sharp passing shots with some deftly placed lobs, causing the Austrian no end of frustration. The Spaniard will next meet Belgian 15th seed Dominique van Roost, who eased past compatriot Sabine Applemans in straight sets. A jazz band and John McEnroe entertained the crowds as the rain stopped play for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon. McEnroe, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was back in full voice on Center Court, the scene of so many of his past angry outbursts. He was in good humor, however, as the rain fell, giving an interview and then a tuneless rendition of the American national anthem.
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Defending champion Pete Sampras serves to Sweden's Thomas Enqvist 