| Deep Satisfaction for Pete and Venus | |
Dateline: 07/10/00
Pete Sampras defeated Patrick Rafter Sunday 6-7 (12-10), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2 to win his seventh Wimbledon and a record 13th Grand Slam singles title. He and Roy Emerson had shared the previous record at 12. Sampras's other six Grand Slam titles consist of four US Opens and two Australian Opens.
As expected, Sampras's serve was the biggest weapon carrying him to victory. Rafter had only two break opportunities in the entire match, neither of which he could convert. In the first two sets, neither player was broken, and both tie-breaks came down to a net difference of just one mini-break (losing one point while serving). Patrick was up 4-1 in the second set tie-break, but showed what could have been some nerves as he let Pete back in to win the set. Sampras was able to break Rafter in the following two sets.
Pete's return of serve, while not among the very best, is better than Patrick's, and his serve is widely considered to be the best overall in tennis. Sampras hits most first serves in the 120s to low 130s, which is plenty fast, even if not quite as hard as Philippoussis's or Rusedski's. He also places the serve extremely well and backs it up with a second serve only slightly less aggressive than the first.
Rafter's serves are, on average, 10-15 m.p.h. slower, with more of his swing energy going into spin. He likes to serve and volley behind a heavy twist (kick) serve that makes the ball jump up high on Sampras's backhand. Patrick is the best volleyer in men's tennis, but the ball doesn't jump as high on grass as on the other outdoor surfaces, and this helped Pete's return. Rafter's kick serve was a key to his victory over Sampras at the 1998 US Open, but the grass at Wimbledon took some of the kick out of that serve while at the same time making Sampras's serve, which relies more on speed, more potent. Pete has a lot of reasons to like the grass.
The Wimbledon grass made Venus Williams pretty happy this weekend, too. On Saturday, she defeated defending champ Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to take her first Grand Slam title. She was also the first African-American woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958. It wasn't a great match, but it was a great display of power, versatility, and speed from Venus. Lindsay couldn't set up well enough on Venus's shots to execute the lethal power and accuracy that are her main weapon, and even when she did nail a ball into a deep corner, Venus often had the speed to run it down. Venus takes huge swings at the ball, and those swings can sometimes go a little wild, but they were connecting well on Saturday. As a result, the match became a contest between two equally powerful players, but with one covering the court much better than the other. Lindsay, at her best, is nowhere near as fast as Venus, and she seemed to be further slowed by lingering injuries. Venus was in command throughout. She played with confidence and intelligence, using a nice mix of power groundstrokes, short angles, finesse drop shots, and volleys.
Venus probably made quite a few new fans Saturday, not only by the win itself, but also by the way she joyfully bounded around the court celebrating match point, then by her charming and funny comments as she was interviewed during her trophy acceptance. Wimbledon broke with tradition this year, having the players interviewed so that the crowd could hear their thoughts. They chose a good year to start this new tradition, because Venus was so much fun to hear. Among the several comments that drew a good laugh from the crowd was this: "It's strange. I always dream I win a Grand Slam. When I wake up, it's a nightmare. Now that I've got it, I don't have to wake up like that any more."
The doubles events had some historic significance, too. Venus and Serena Williams became the first sisters to win the women's doubles title, defeating Ai Sugiyama and Julie Halard-Decugis, 6-3, 6-2. Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge beat Paul Haarhuis and Sandon Stolle, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 for their sixth Wimbledon doubles title and a record 60th career title. They are one Grand Slam shy of the record 12 held by John Newcombe and Tony Roche.
In mixed doubles, Don Johnson and Kimberly Po prevailed in a tough match against Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
Stop by the forum and let us know, "Did Venus Win You Over?"
