| Pete's Pistol Plugged Again by Clay | |
Dateline: 05/29/00
Some consider Pete Sampras the greatest tennis player ever. Among those who disagree, by far the most cited point is his lack of a French Open title. That factor won't be changing this year. "Pistol" Pete lost in the first round today in Paris to Australia's Mark Philippoussis, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 8-6.
On clay, serves slow down more when they hit the service box than on any other surface. For Pete Sampras, this reduces his single biggest advantage. He is solid all around, with among the best forehands and overheads in the game, but when he's in trouble, it's his serve that usually saves him. His first serves have arguably the best mix of power, placement, and consistency in tennis, and his second serves are often as aggressive as his first. Today on the clay though, up against Philippoussis, an even more powerful server, Pete couldn't get enough out of his serve, and perhaps because he was trying for too much, he double-faulted on three crucial break points.
Many fans look forward to clay court tournaments because short, serve-dominated points are less common. Today the crowd was pretty quiet through most of the match, because, despite the clay, most of what they saw was a battle of serves. Even when the receiver returned a serve, the points were quick. With Sampras coming to net or going for power groundstrokes, plus Philippoussis going for even more powerful groundstrokes, the fascinating mini-dramas that evolve during long points that cover most of the court were rare. The biggest excitement in the match developed from its length and closeness, not from the individual points themselves.
Philippoussis was a fairly tough first-round draw for Sampras. He became a national hero last December by winning two crucial matches in Australia's Davis Cup victory over France, an especially impressive accomplishment because that Davis Cup final was played on France's home clay. Normally, a big, power player like Philippoussis would be expected to fare poorly on clay, because the clay neutralizes some of his power. Philippoussis likes meeting the ball up high, though, and the same ball-court interaction that makes the ball slow down on clay also makes it bounce higher.
Sampras is less comfortable meeting the ball up high, especially on his backhand. He's also a couple of inches shorter than Philippoussis, so high balls are relatively higher in relation to his body. Another factor making it tougher for Sampras on clay is the comparative flatness of his groundstrokes. He does hit topspin on both sides, but not nearly as much as a typical clay-court specialist. Lower, flatter groundstrokes slow down relatively more on clay than do those with more topspin, and they don't kick up above the opponent's comfort zone the way higher, heavy topspins do.
Pete Sampras would probably rather win one French Open at this point in his career than any number of other titles, but he'll have to find his consolation for now in the fact that he'll have over a month to prepare to win his seventh Wimbledon. He is currently tied with Roy Emerson for the most career Grand Slams, at 12, so one more would be a huge prize. Pete will have a great opportunity at Wimbledon: Grass is the opposite of clay in every way.
Can any number of Wimbledon, US Open, or Australian Open wins make Pete the greatest player of all time, or must he win a French Open to earn that status? Add your opinion to this forum discussion.
