Sampras gets tough Wimbledon draw
Posted: Tuesday June 16, 1998 09:55 AM
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Sampras will look to rebound at the site of his greatest triumphs (AP) |
WIMBLEDON (AP) -- Defending champion Pete Sampras will play Dominic Hrbaty in the first round of what shapes up as a difficult path to a fifth Wimbledon title in six years.
Tuesday's draw placed the top-seeded Sampras in the top half, with dangerous players such as Yevegeny Kafelnikov, Petr Korda, Patrick Rafter and Andre Agassi.
Sampras has had a disappointing year and is coming off a second-round loss to Mark Woodforde at last week's tournament at Queen's Club.
He opens against Hrbaty, a Slovakian ranked No. 47 in the world. Hrbaty is no pushover, having led Sampras 4-2 in the fifth set before losing at the 1997 Australian Open.
Sampras could meet MaliVai Washington, the Wimbledon runner-up in 1996, in the second round. Talented Swede Thomas Enqvist could loom in the third round and Australia's Scott Draper, winner at Queen's, in the fourth.
If the seedings hold, Sampras would meet No. 7 Kafelnikov, winner at Halle, Germany, last week and considered among the title favorites, in the quarterfinals.
Korda, the Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed, or Rafter, the 1997 U.S. Open champion and No. 4 seed, could face Sampras in the semis.
The top half also includes Agassi, the 1992 champion who is in the midst of a comeback and is seeded No. 13. Agassi opens against 77th-ranked Spaniard Alex Calatrava, but could meet rising German star Tommy Haas next and Korda in the fourth round.
The bottom half of the draw is much weaker, with No. 2 Marcelo Rios of Chile and No. 4 Greg Rusedski of Britain the highest seeds.
Rios is not considered a grass-court expert, while Rusedski is questionable for Wimbledon with a sprained left ankle.
Rios opens against Francisco Clavet and Rusedski faces a qualifier.
The prospective quarterfinals in the bottom half have Rios vs. France's Cedric Pioline, the 1997 Wimbledon runner-up and No. 8 seed, and Rusedski vs. Carlos Moya of Spain, the French Open champion and No. 5 seed.
The most enticing first-round match pits Kafelnikov vs. Australia's Mark Philippoussis, one of the hardest servers in the game. The Australian, however, has played poorly in recent months and even considered withdrawing from Wimbledon.
On the women's side, defending champion and top seed Martina Hingis drew a tricky first rounder against American Lisa Raymond. No. 2 Lindsay Davenport will play Florencia Labat.
Hingis could face No. 3 Jana Novotna, the woman she beat in last year's final, in the semis. Davenport would meet No. 4 Steffi Graf in the other semifinal.
Seven-time champion Graf, continuing her comeback after a long injury layoff, opens against Gala Leon Garcia. No. 6 Monica Seles, in Graf's half of the draw, plays Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo.
But the most interesting section of the draw has the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, grouped together with fellow teen-age stars Anna Kournikova and Mirjana Lucic.
Venus opens against Jana Nejedly of Canada, while Serena plays Laura Golarsa.
The Williams sisters could meet in the fourth round, but Serena would first have to get past Lucic in the second round and Kournikova in the third.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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