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 Costly day at Lipton Moya loses early match; Sampras regains No. 1 ranking
Posted: Monday March 22, 1999 08:49 PM
KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AP) -- American Pete Sampras reclaimed the No. 1 ranking he relinquished last week, winning in the Lipton Championships while Spain's Carlos Moya lost. Sampras advanced to the quarterfinals Monday by beating Spain's Albert Costa 6-4, 6-4. Hours earlier, the top-ranked Moya succumbed to fatigue, nerves and France's Sebastien Grosjean, 3-6, 6-4, 76 (11-9). The results ensure that Sampras will return to No. 1 when the new computer rankings are released next Monday. It will be his 263rd week on top, seven shy of Ivan Lendl's record. Three other top-15 players also lost -- No. 4 Alex Corretja of Spain, No. 12 Karol Kucera of Slovaki and No. 13 Greg Rusedski of Britain. Corretja had a chance at No. 1 until he was eliminated by Sweden's Thomas Enqvist 7-5, 6-3. Spain's Francisco Clavet edged unseeded Vince Spadea 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, leaving Sampras as the only American in the men's draw. No. 7 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands beat Russia's Marat Safin 6-3, 6-1 and will face Sampras on Tuesday. In women's third-round play, American teen star Serena Williams beat Spain's Magui Serna 6-1, 6-0. France's Mary Pierce, Russia's Anna Kournikova and South Africa's Amanda Coetzer also won. Sampras was unhappy about being scheduled to play Costa on the grandstand court, and as it turned out, his complaints were premature. Center court became available late in the afternoon, so officials moved the match there. And Sampras looked right at home, dispatching the dangerous Costa in 80 minutes. At 4-4 in the second set, Sampras delivered the shot of the match -- a lunging forehand winner from 10 feet (3 meters) beyond the sideline. That gave him a break point, and he converted with another forehand winner, then served out the match. Moya, the first Spaniard to be ranked No. 1, squandered three match points in his tense tiebreaker against the unseeded Grosjean. Moya was playing his third three-setter in as many days, and his weariness showed in the late stages of the two-hour, 40-minute marathon. Each player lost his serve three times in the final set, and there were repeated mis-hits and unforced errors before Grosjean closed out the victory with a running forehand winner.
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