Seeding is everything
Injured Agassi avoids Sampras in ATP worlds draw
Posted: Monday November 23, 1998 02:11 PM
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Sampras has five consecutive years of No. 1 finishes, tied with Jimmy Connors AP |
HANOVER, Germany (AP) -- Pete Sampras, trying to retain his No. 1
ranking for a record sixth straight year, will not face Andre
Agassi in his opening group at the season-ending ATP World
Championship.
Agassi, who hurt his back during practice Monday, missed
Monday's draw. He begins play on the hard courts Wednesday in the
round-robin portion of the $3.5 million event, which starts
Tuesday.
Sampras, who leads the Red Group, will face Karol Kucera, Carlos
Moya and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He beat Kafelnikov in last year's
final of this elite tournament featuring the top eight players of
the year.
Marcelo Rios, who is ranked No. 2 and can unseat Sampras from
the top ranking in this tournament, heads the White Group. Rios
will play Agassi, Alex Corretja and Tim Henman.
In one of the closest finishes in recent years, Sampras leads
Rios by just 33 points. For the first time since 1995, the
championship has a bearing on the No. 1 season-ending ranking.
Sampras is tied at five with Jimmy Connors for consecutive years
of No. 1 finishes.
"It's a record that might not ever be broken. It is that hard
to do," Sampras said. "I'll do whatever it takes to do it because
it's definitely up there with the greatest achievements in
tennis."
Winning the championship will clinch No. 1 for Sampras or Rios.
But there are other possibilities.
For Rios to finish No. 1, he has to win at least two matches in
Hanover and win one more match than Sampras.
If Rios fails to win at least two matches, Sampras will finish
No. 1 no matter what he does in the tournament.
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