Great article about Sampras and his griefs in the Parisian clay of Roland Garros (in Spanish, translated by me).
For those who want to read it in its original version and know Spanish, I leave the link:
A sus 24 años, Pete Sampras ya lo había conseguido prácticamente todo en el mundo del tenis: improbable vencedor adolescente del US Open en 1990, tricampeón
www.jotdown.es
Guillermo Ortiz:
The Roland Garros of Pete Sampras
Published by Guillermo Ortiz
At 24, Pete Sampras had already achieved almost everything in the world of tennis: unlikely teen winner of the US Open in 1990, three-time Wimbledon champion in 1993, 94 and 95, winner of Australia and the Masters ... and world number one since the beginning of 93, exchanging the position sporadically with Andre Agassi and Thomas Muster, the only thing missing was Roland Garros. What separated him from the greats of all time, capable of winning on any type of surface.
Before the tournament became an obsession, as Wimbledon became for Ivan Lendl in the 80s, the American decided that 1996 was going to be his year: he went unprepared to Australia, where he fell in third round and kept number one ATP with triumphs in US minor tournaments, its private preserve. When spring came, instead of girdling in Monte Carlo, Rome or Hamburg, he decided to rest and train. No three-four-hour marathons against the Rivers, Bruguera, Albert Costa and company. Mentalization and rest.
The fact that he won only two tournaments on that surface throughout his career speaks of Sampras' difficult relationship with clay: Rome, in 1994; Atlanta, in 1998. Two out of a total of sixty-four, that's it.
Even so, his dominance in the circuit was such that no one could doubt that the methodical Pete would end up dropping a Roland Garros if only for consistency. His game of service, right and net was slowed in clay, but what was missing above all was the ability to suffer, patience not to try to finish the point at first and faith in his own ability to endure and trace a match to five sets in the middle of June with 35 degrees in the Philippe Chatrier.
If he wanted suffering, 1996 was going to give him double ration from the beginning. Despite starting as number one seed, his draw was a butcher shop. In the first round, a veteran like Magnus Gustafsson, of those who adapt to all surfaces and who already forced the first tie-break. In second, the two-time champion, Sergi Bruguera, the man who had defeated him in the quarterfinals of 1993 on the way to his first Roland Garros.
Bruguera was going through one of his injury streaks but he was still Bruguera. In addition to being a champion in 1993 and 1994, he had been a semifinalist in 1995, falling to Michael Chang. In Paris it was an eminence. Facing him in the second round seemed like a curse and more when, despite starting winning the first two sets comfortably, the American saw Sergi go back to put two equal and take the game to fifth. If Sampras had decided to rest to keep strength, it had to be seen at that time ... and it was seen: 6-3 for the world number one before an exhausted Bruguera.
It was one of those triumphs that give morals: tight, fought and against a ground specialist. The third round brought him neither more nor less than Todd Martin, another SUV far from his best form but on the ground he defended himself with more solvency than Pete. The duel went again beyond three hours, almost four. Martin won the first set, Sampras the next two, Todd the fourth ... and the fifth, this time 6-2, went to the one in Washington DC, who slipped like that in the round of 16 for the fourth time in his career, after the quarters that will reach in 1992, 93 and 94.
His rival in that round would be Scott Draper, finally a break: after three sets, Sampras reached the quarterfinals, only three games of glory.
The second week of Roland Garros is exhausting. Hours accumulated under the sun and dust, a mental fatigue that competes with the physical ... and the certainty that only the best, the most resistant have got there, that is, after all, you have the worst. Sampras had neither more nor less than Jim Courier, champion in 1991 and 1992, finalist against Bruguera in 1993, also former world number one and a huge fighter, without Pete's class, but with an amazing tenacity. Courier, number seven in the world at the time, appeared as the great rival. The rest of the picture had been shivering: Pioline, Karbacher, Stich, Rosset, Krajicek ... only young Kafelnikov was in the top 10 and his mental endurance was not exactly enviable.
Sampras faced the duel against Courier as if it were a final, too tense: the first set was taken by the redhead in the tie-break, the second even easier: 4-6. Courier attacked with his right on the reverse of Sampras, the unpredictable reverse of Sampras, and knew how to read his service fluently, always keeping the ball in play. Pete was in a mess of the good ones: tracing two sets on clay is hell. Doing it before Courier, a heroic, so it was little by little: the third set took him 6-4. The fourth set, quiet, loose, focused, willing to suffer, 6-4 again. For the third time in what we had in the championship, Sampras reached the fifth set ... and for the third time he won. Can you guess the score? 6-4.
The calm man had won in a calm but impressive way. Pylon hammer, Sampras achieved the most important victory of his career on clay and came for the first time to the semifinals. Two games to get the Grand Slam in his career, something only within reach by then of Laver, Emerson, Perry and Budge! The tactic of resting in April and May had had an effect, that was clear, but how much gasoline was left in the tank to a man accustomed to the points lasting five seconds? Yevgeni Kafelnikov, 22, a semifinalist in the previous edition, was waiting for him in the semifinals. On the other hand, Michael Stich and Marc Rosset played a finalist place.
The easiest thing was already done: Bruguera, Martin, Courier ... the real champions. Next to him, an eccentric Russian, a fast track specialist and the unpredictable Rosset, champion of the Barcelona Olympic Games on clay, but unable to achieve good results in large tournaments. If Sampras beat Kafelnikov, the title was his, and it was undoubtedly the favorite.
It could not be.
Sampras fought like a soap during the first set, which was decided in the tie-break. That was his swan song. Visibly injured, with tears in the face of pain, exhausted by the tension of the two weeks, the American took a rosco in the second set and could barely add two games in the third. At least he had the courage not to withdraw and not dirty the victory of the Russian, which, as expected, won the final Michael Stich, not without having to fight, of course (7-6, 7-5, 7-6).
Sampras' career was joined by many victories, totaling almost 300 weeks as world number one, 14 Grand Slams, 5 Masters and several Davis Cups. He retired big time, with 31 years old, defeating his nemesis, Andre Agassi, in the final of the US Open 2002. However, he never approached Roland Garros again. In fact, he did not even beat the third round of any of the big clay tournaments: neither in Monte Carlo, nor in Rome, nor in Hamburg, nor, of course, in Paris.
Pete, every year, as a grumbling schoolboy stood there because he knew it was his obligation, but without any hope: in 2000, he lost in the first round. In 2001, in second. In 2002, again in first. His legend may have an asterisk forever, but it was a bearable asterisk. Another two weeks with red shoes and sweat stuck to the body for nothing was something that just didn't fit into his plans.
