U.S. OPEN; Rafter Overcomes a Hobbled Sampras
By HARVEY ARATON
Published: September 13, 1998
A muscle in Pete Sampras's tightly wound body thwarted him yesterday, as did the man fast becoming the rival most people have wished for Sampras to have. Hampered by an injury to his left upper leg, Sampras succumbed to Patrick Rafter in a five-set match that had a greater sense of inevitability than a grand sense of climax.
Unlike his quarterfinal here two years ago, when he overcame violent stomach spasms to outlast Spain's Alex Corretja, Sampras was fighting a brave but losing battle this time. The strain of his quadriceps near the hip ultimately kept him from competing on balls hit to his left, and the opponent -- the United States Open's defending champion -- was too much the athletic serve-and-volleyer to let an opportunity like this one slip by. Rafter won by 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
''He didn't look really healthy at all,'' Rafter said. ''I thought he might have been sick, but he was still hitting big serves.''
The serve was Sampras's only chance, but it was not enough to prevent his first loss in six Open semifinals. Rafter moved on to face the hard-serving Mark Philippoussis, who ousted Spain's Carlos Moya, 6-1, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Thus, two Australians will play in a United States Open final for the first time since Ken Rosewell defeated Tony Roche in 1970, while safeguarding Roy Emerson's record of 12 Grand Slam titles from Sampras, at least until the Australian Open next year.
''It's pretty disappointing, but you've got to move on,'' Sampras said after walking gingerly into the interview room. ''This U.S. Open is the last major of the year. I've got to find some motivation to go to Europe.''
Sampras had won the first set in a rousing 10-8 tie breaker, before his net game deserted him and Rafter squared the match. In the first game of the third set, Sampras landed awkwardly after a volley, straining the muscle, an injury similar to one he had had before.
''Things were going pretty well to that point,'' he said. ''It kind of shocked me a little bit.''
After holding his serve for 1-0, Sampras left the court for what was presumed to be a bathroom timeout. But as the set continued, it became apparent that Sampras was laboring, even as he was breaking Rafter in the fourth game on a backhand return down the line off a first serve.
His movement became more and more mechanical, and any sudden turn left seemed to bring a grimace. After Sampras held serve for a 5-2 lead, he went off again, and this time did not reappear until the three-minute waiting period was counted off rather deliberately.
While Rafter was sitting calmly in his chair, Sampras was receiving frantic treatment from Doug Spreen, the ATP Tour trainer. Massage. Heat. A wrap. Stretching. A pain reliever. It all helped Sampras come back out to break Rafter at 15, Sampras going for the bombs, the short points, as much as he could.
''Any weight on my left side, it was giving me problems,'' Sampras said. ''After the injury, I just had to go for it.''
The longer the match went on, the worse Sampras looked. He dropped his serve in the first game of the fourth set, Rafter knowing that just getting the ball in play, keeping it low, would be too much for his ailing opponent. The courts were playing fast enough to allow Rafter to focus on getting his first serves in, getting to the net, keeping his volley angled, not allowing a stationary Sampras to take big swings.
Sampras, whose serving actually improved as the match went on, was unable to win a point against Rafter's serve until the Australian was serving for the set. By that time, Rafter knew all he had to do was to keep his concentration to insure his second straight Open final.
In the fifth set, Rafter again reached break point in the first game, at 30-40, with a backhand pass. Sampras then served out wide, and Rafter sliced his backhand cross court. Not only was he slow covering the net, Sampras did not even bother to step or bend in the direction of a ball he desperately needed to return. The match ended similarly, with an upright Sampras eyeing a Rafter backhand pass up the line.
So the Open final will proceed without its four-time champion, whose only consolation is that he will keep the world's No. 1 ranking. Rafter can pull directly behind Sampras by defeating Philippoussis, whose relationship with Rafter had been strained over Philippoussis' reluctance to play early-round Davis Cup matches.
''We've always been speaking, but, obviously, it wasn't as warm as it was in the past,'' said Philippoussis, who is trying to become the second unseeded player (after Andre Agassi in 1994) to win the Open.
Just when it appeared that Philippoussis' new-found maturity was about to dissipate along with a slew of break-point opportunities, the 21-year-old Australian regained the ability to punctuate his big game with an exclamation point.
Philippoussis, one of three players to have recorded a serve over 140 miles an hour, hit 21 aces yesterday, the first of which whistled past Moya at 132 m.p.h. But the more telling number was the 67 percent first-serve percentage that the 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound Philippoussis got in, winning 63 of those 74 points. He tore through the first two sets in 51 minutes and later admitted he felt like ''no one can beat me.''
''His serve was too good today,'' said Moya, who was the first Spaniard to reach the Open semifinals since the tournament switched surfaces from synthetic clay to hardcourt in 1978. ''The lowest serve is 100 miles, even the second serve.''
In the third set, knowing he had to change tactics, Moya demonstrated that he is more than the standard stay-on-the-baseline Spaniard. He began to attack the net, with success. In the 10th game, after Moya served his way into a 0-40 hole, he managed to save four break points. Philippoussis was clearly upset with himself, and, at 30-30 on his serve, he double-faulted, going for a second serve that was clocked at 117 m.p.h. Then, on set point against him, he went for another big second serve and double-faulted again.
''I'm only 21 years of age,'' Philippoussis said, somewhat sheepishly.
Though Moya ran a string of 10 consecutive break points saved into the fourth set, Philippoussis got the break he needed in the seventh game when he returned a backhand off a second serve down the line, and Moya hit a lunging forehand volley into the net.
All that was left was the wait for Philippoussis to serve out the match, then wait for his mate to join him in the final. For Rafter to defend his title, and Roy Emerson's record, as well.
Edit: I didn't check the date on this thread. 2 years, wow.
