|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Hanover hopefuls Semifinals set at ATP Tour World Championship
Posted: Friday November 26, 1999 08:15 PM
HANOVER, Germany (AP) -- His game still nowhere near where he wants it to be, Pete Sampras struggled into the semifinals of the ATP Tour World Championship on Friday by beating Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5). "He really made me work hard," said Sampras, who has dropped to No. 5 in the rankings. Sampras actually needed to win only one set to advance, and he admitted he didn't know that was all that was required of him in the tournament's complicated tiebreaking mechanism. "I didn't play great but I got through," he said. "That's the bottom line." Coming off a three-month layoff because of hip and back injuries, Sampras joins Andre Agassi, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Nicolas Liefner in the semifinals of this $3.6 million season-ending tournament. Kiefer, inspired by a boisterous, hometown crowd, hit booming winners from all over the court in beating Kafelnikov 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. "It's a great experience I am having at the moment, 14,000 spectators behind me and cheering the whole time," Kiefer said. Although Kiefer upset Kafelnikov both still moved on. Agassi was idle Friday and already had qualified in this round-robin event. In the semifinals, it's Agassi vs. Kafelnikov and Sampras vs. Kiefer. Kafelnikov, ranked No. 2, was assured of advancing even before he played Kiefer, who is ranked No. 6 and reached the semifinals in his first appearance in this tournament. Under the tiebreaking formula, Todd Martin and Thomas Enqvist were eliminated. Lapentti and Gustavo Kuerten also failed to advance from the eight-player field.
Sampras, supplanted at No. 1 this year by Agassi, is making his 10th straight appearance at the ATP Championship and has reached the semis the last nine years. Ivan Lendl made 12 straight semifinal appearances, ending in 1991. Sampras had a tough time with Lapentti. The Ecuadorian saved three set points in the 12th game, two of them on errors by Sampras. Sampras lost the first point of the tiebreaker but won the next six. He wasted one more set point before firing an overhead smash. Sampras failed to convert 11 break points. He also played sloppily in the second tiebreaker but set up a match point with his 11th ace. He closed the match with a forehand winner. "Tomorrow is a new day, the tournament starts again," Sampras said. Kafelnikov was undone by two straight double-faults in the fourth game of the final set that gave Kiefer a 3-1 lead. "I forced him into making errors," said Kiefer, who has beaten the Russian the last two times they have played. Kafelnikov finished with 45 unforced errors, while Kiefer had 28 and 11 aces. "My dream is to get into the final against Andre," Kiefer said. "I think I can win tomorrow because I am playing good tennis and I have enough confidence." Earlier, Martin beat Enqvist 6-4, 6-1, a result that qualified Kafelnikov but did not help Martin. Kiefer and Kafelnikov finished with 2-1 records in the White Group, while Martin and Enqvist ended 1-2. The tournament features the world's top eight players. They were split into two groups, with the top two from each group going on to the semis.
Agassi completed the round-robin portion of the tournament without dropping a set. He is assured of finishing the year at No. 1 and already has received the ATP trophy honoring the top-ranked player.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
