| Davenport, Sampras Win Wimbledon | |
Dateline: 07/06/99
Lindsey Davenport defeated Steffi Graf 6-4, 7-5 Sunday to win her first Wimbledon singles title and reclaim the number one WTA ranking. After years of feeling awkward on grass, a fitter and quicker Davenport adjusted to the low bounces and speed of the court and overpowered each opponent on her way to the title. Graf was unable to hit her slice backhand with the same pace and depth she used against Martina Hingis in the French Open final a few weeks ago, and even Graf's huge forehand was matched by Davenport's power on both sides. Clearly discouraged, Graf announced minutes after the match that she would not play Wimbledon again.
The earlier women's rounds were full of interesting surprises, the biggest of which was Jelena Dokic's victory over top seed Martina Hingis in the first round. After a long slump, Mirjana Lucic recaptured the power and confidence that had made her a top young prospect, reaching the semifinals against Graf, while the other semi featured the even more surprising Alexandra Stevenson, the first qualifier ever to get so far.
On the men's side, the surprises were fewer. The hot streak that carried Andre Agassi through the French Open final did not cool at Wimbledon, but Pete Sampras was simply unbeatable in the final, overwhelming Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Agassi's unrivaled returning abilities proved too much for every opponent on the way to the final, including second seed Patrick Rafter, whom he met in the semifinal, but Sampras served both first and second serves with too much accuracy and power for even Agassi to handle. In the other semi, Sampras had dashed England's best hope for a long awaited singles title, defeating their Tim Henman. With his victory, Sampras becomes the first player in this century to win six Wimbledon singles titles, and he ties Roy Emerson's record of twelve Grand Slam singles titles. With these records in hand, winning a French Open is the only major accomplishment missing from Sampras's career.
In doubles, Davenport teamed with Corina Morariu to defeat Mariaan de Swardt and Elena Tatarkova 6-4, 6-4, while Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes took the men's doubles 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 over Paul Haarhuis and Jared Palmer.
