Sampras on the Threshold 1989
  1. March 1989: Indian Wells Upset
  2. June 1989: Agassi and Chang Breeze Through French Open (Pete content though)
  3. June 1989: Chang Looks at Home in Win Over Sampras
  4. August 1989: Mason, Ohio
  5. August 1989: Sampras Climbing Tennis Ladder
  6. August 1989: McEnroe, Wilander Bounced

1. March 1989 Indian Wells, Calif.
Indian Wells Upset

Two-time defending champion Boris Becker and second-seed Stefan Edberg powered to straight-set victories and wild-card entry Pete Sampras upset No. 9-seed Aaron Krickstein Tuesday in the second round of the $702,500 Newsweek Champions Cup.

The top-seeded Becker, of West Germany, recovering from the flu, defeated unseeded South African Danie Visser 6-3, 6-4. Edberg, the current Wimbledon champion, eliminated Austrian Horst Skoff 6-4, 6-4.

Sampras, a 17-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. chosen as one of five wild-card entries, used a serve-and-volley strategy to pull off the first upset oe tournament. Sampras beat Krickstein 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4).
''I'm trying to win at the net. That's my game now,'' said Sampras, ranked No. 113 in the world.

After dropping the first set, Sampras took a 4-3 lead in a second-set tie-breaker. Krickstein went ahead, 6-4, on successive double faults by Sampras. Krickstein, ranked No. 15 in the world, appeared to have won the tie-breaker and the match with a blazing service ace up the middle. But the serve was called wide.

Krickstein argued to no avail. He then double faulted, putting Sampras back in the set. The teenager went on to take the tie-breaker and the third set in another tiebreaker, 7-4.

''I was pretty fortunate to win the match today,'' Sampras said. ''I think (Krickstein) got discouraged in the third set, but he hung in there. It came down to me winning the big points in the tie-breaker.''

Krickstein said the disputed service call ''was pretty much the match. I would bet my life (the ball) was on the line. Obviously, I was frustrated. I thought the match was over.''

In the final match of the day, Argentina's Roberto Mancini, ranked 44th in the world, beat the tourney's eighth seed, Austrian Thomas Muster, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5.


2. The New York Times
June 2, 1989, Friday
Agassi and Chang Breeze In Paris
By Nick Stout

In a showcase day for young Americans, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang advanced to the third round of the French Open tennis championships today with easy victories on the Center Court of Roland Garros Stadium.

Agassi beat Paolo Cane, a 24-year-old Italian who made a name for himself in the Seoul Olympics, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Chang, ranked 19th in his second year as a pro and seeded 15th, beat Pete Sampras, an old friend whom he grew up with on the junior circuit, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.
And in another all-American affair, Jim Courier, a rising star from Florida, beat Jimmy Brown, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1, to earn a third-round matchup with Agassi.

'Archrival of My Life'
Both Chang and Sampras are 17 years old, and although they have played each other more than a dozen times over the years, this was their first matchup as pros.
''It wasn't like I was playing another pro,'' Sampras said. ''I was playing the archrival of my life.''

Chang, who lost in the third round last year to John McEnroe, was not without sympathy for his occasional fishing companion.
''It was hard for Pete being on Center Court,'' he said. ''He was like me last year when I played against McEnroe. All of a sudden you find yourself playing on one of the most famous courts in the world; it can be nerve-racking. Pete is a better player than what he showed today. If we had played a side court, it might have been a closer match.''

Courier, an 18-year-old ranked No. 47 in the world, was beaming. ''This was the best tennis I've played in a couple of months,'' he said. Courier took Agassi to three sets in the Tournament of Champions earlier this year before losing, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. And he was upbeat about his chance to play Agassi here.

"It has to be exciting for the fans,'' he said. ''I think Andre and I are looking forward to playing each other again. We have similar games and we're going to go out there and duel each other and may the best man win. Hopefully, that will be me.''

Agassi, seeded fifth, was more realistic when he said bluntly that he expected Courier to be troubled by the slow clay surface here. ''He depends more on winning points on his serve and hitting straight-out winners,'' Agassi said of Courier, ''whereas I work more on tiring out my opponent.''

But Agassi said he agreed that there might be a new wave of American clay-court players: notably himself, Chang and Jay Berger, who beat Jimmy Connors on Wednesday.

''The Americans don't really grow up on clay, so it's very tough for them to come over here and get used to the European mentality,'' Agassi said. ''The Europeans are not comfortable unless they go long, whereas the Americans like to play fast points.


3. June 2, 1989, Friday
Chang Looks at Home in Win Over Sampras
By Thomas Bonk, Times Staff Writer

Michael Chang and Pete Sampras, who live about 30 miles from one another, traveled more than 7,000 miles to play a match in France that lasted less than two hours Thursday.

Youth was served and youth returned serve in a second-round French Open match between two 17-year-olds from Southern California, rivals of long standing. Chang won, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Even though this was their first meeting as pros, it was actually just the latest in a series of confrontations between the former junior rivals, Chang from Placentia and Sampras from Rancho Palos Verdes.

The red clay center court of Roland Garros is a long way from home for two youths who might be cramming for a final exam were it not for their uncanny abilities to swing tennis rackets. If Chang swung his racket better this day,

Sampras said that's the way it goes in his chosen line of work. "I'm a kid in an adult world now," said Sampras, who thought about what things would be like if he led a "normal" life. "It would be ordinary," he said. "I'd go to college, get a degree, just get a job, get married, buy a house and settle down."

Neither Sampras nor Chang has chosen to lead an ordinary life, and their talents suggest that their tennis careers may become something special. Although it may seem that their very youth might set them apart from their tennis peers, Chang said that is not the case.

"No one cares how old you are, they just want to beat your guts out," he said. "I might not feel that way if I would play someone younger than myself, but I never do."
In fact, Chang is getting closer to a possible meeting with Ivan Lendl. Lendl is 29, but the more important number is his No. 1 ranking.

On the fourth day of the French Open, the weather shifted from bright sunshine to gray clouds, and if there was a small chance of rain, there didn't appear to be even a slight chance of Lendl's being upset in his second-round match.
The top-seeded men's player defeated Derrick Rostagno of Brentwood, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Lendl and Chang will meet, should they win their third-round matches.


4. USA TODAY
August 17, 1989, Thursday
Mason, Ohio
BYLINE: Doug Smith

Pete Sampras' name isn't always included in stories about top U.S. teenage pros. Sampras, 18, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., believes it soon will be.

''It's going to take me longer to develop playing my style (serve-and-volley), than it did for Andre (Agassi), Michael (Chang) and Jim(Courier),'' Sampras said. ''They're strong baseliners. It's a lot tougher to learn and feel comfortable playing the way I do.''

Sampras advanced to the third round of the ATP Championship Wednesday, beating Andrei Olhovskiy of the Soviet Union 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. He won five consecutive games in the third set after trailing 0-2. ''My intensity level was up and down,'' he said.

Courier and Sampras, the No. 4-seeded doubles team at the ATP
Championship, quickly have become one of the world's top doubles teams. Courier believes Sampras, No. 94 in the world, soon will have the consistency that will make him a top singles player, too.

''He's got more talent in his body than any of us (referring to himself, Agassi and Chang),'' Courier said. ''He's such a genius with the ball sometimes. He hasn't figured out how to still win when he's playing badly, but that'll come around.''

Developing a friendship with Ivan Lendl, No. 1 in the world, afforded him a glimpse of the pro tour from a different perspective. Sampras spent a week practicing with Lendl at Lendl's Greenwich, Conn., home during last year's Nabisco Masters in New York.

''It was interesting to see his diet and how Ivan prepared each day during a big event,'' Sampras said. ''He was telling me what to do and I realized what you had to do to be No. 1.''

Sampras, a semifinalist at the USTA Boys 18 Hardcourts in 1987, turned pro last year after defeating Ramesh Krishnan and Eliot Teltscher at Indian Wells, Calif.
''They were top 30 at the time so I felt I was ready to make the switch to the pros,'' Sampras said.

Copyright 1989 The Washington Post


5. The Times
August 1989
Sampras Climbing Tennis Ladder;
After Winning Three TOURNAMENTS, FORMER PALOS VERDES HIGH PLAYER IS RANKED 14TH.
By Stuart Matthews

Almost 19 now, Pete Sampras finds himself each morning facing one of the curses of maturity: the drudgery of shaving.
But even on those days when one of America's future hopes to win Wimbledon decides to skip the razor, a rosy glow still peeks through the stubble. Here, clearly, is a man on the brink who is in the pink. Last week, Sampras showed how rosy his future is -- and how slim the margin is between a hot young talent and a champion.

It happened in a match against Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg, the semifinals of the Volvo Los Angeles Tennis Championships at UCLA Tennis Center. Edberg won it, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, but Sampras left everyone, including Edberg -- the world's No. 2 player -- impressed.

"He's a very dangerous player," Edberg said. "With time and matches, I think he's going to be a top 10 player very soon. He's got all the ingredients to be a very good player if he keeps working."

Sampras showed off all the weapons in his arsenal in Saturday's semifinal, a duel that matched up two of tennis' premier serve-and-volley specialists: Sampras often aced a flatfooted Edberg, blasting his first serve consistently in the 115-m.p.h. range.

He also hung tough against Edberg's high-kicking rocket serve, ripping a series of blistering backhand winners past the onrushing Swede. Sampras hit more winners that afternoon than did Edberg. The difference in the match was experience. For every brilliant shot Sampras hit, Edberg had an even better reply.

"I think I have all the shots I need," Sampras said. "It's just a matter of putting them all together at the same time."
The way Sampras is playing, that time doesn't seem very far away. He has had an outstanding year -- winning three tournaments -- and his world computer ranking has climbed to No. 14.

This week, Sampras was playing in the ATP Championship in Mason, Ohio -- one of a series of hard-court tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open. He has now reached the semifinals of two consecutive tournaments, including the Players' International in Toronto.

As a sophomore at Palos Verdes High, Sampras was unbeaten in 56 sets and captured the Southern Section CIF 4-A title. The following season he turned professional, almost as an afterthought.

In April of 1988, Sampras skipped four days of school and proceeded to knock off two top touring professionals -- Ramesh Krishnan and Eliot Teltscher -- in the Champions Cup at Indian Wells.
He quit the Palos Verdes High team, kept the check for $7,000, and said goodby to amateur days.

Sampras credits his fast start this year to a preseason conditioning regimen. He took on a new coach -- Joe Brandi of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy -- who put him through a weightlifting and running program, in addition to five hours of tennis each day.

It paid immediate dividends. Sampras reached the quarterfinals in Sydney, losing to Mats Wilander, and the semifinals in Milan, where he lost to Ivan Lendl.

Then Sampras started going all the way. He broke in into the Top 20 at the U.S. Pro Indoor Championships in Philadelphia in February, knocking off Tim Mayotte and Andre Agassi on his way to a final against eventual French Open champion Andres Gomez.

Once there, Sampras defeated Gomez in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5, 6-2, winning the same tournament where it all began two years before, when Sampras had battled through the qualifying draw as an amateur.
"The conditioning is the biggest factor," Sampras said. "It's carried me through the whole year to this point."

The week before Wimbledon, Sampras won a grass-court tournament at Manchester, England.
Tennis experts believe that if Sampras can harness the thunder of his attacking game at Wimbledon, he can become this country's best chance to win tennis' biggest prize.

Wimbledon was Sampras' biggest letdown of the year, however. He got an unlucky draw -- grass-court expert Christo van Rensburg of South Africa -- and was eliminated in the first round in three tough sets.
"I prepared well for Wimbledon," Sampras said. "I just didn't play well."

He bounced back a week later, however, winning a tournament in Tokyo.
"I don't think it's realistic for me to win Wimbledon yet," Sampras said. "I think I'll play my best tennis in my mid-20s, so I have a lot more chances at it. I don't want to put extra pressure on myself."

That laid-back approach has been the hallmark of Sampras' career -- going back to age 14, when he switched from a two-handed backhand to improve his serve-and-volley game.

In doing so, Sampras was going against the grain of most junior players, who were developing as base-line counterpunchers. Sampras took it a step further by seeking out competition against older, stronger players.

Instead of focusing on winning matches, he honed his aggressive game against the hard hitters, and along the way he learned the fine art of improvisation so vital to attacking players.

"I didn't have a high ranking in juniors," Sampras said. "I was playing to improve my game, and it's really paying off right now. It was a move I made for the long run."

The one-handed backhand -- taught to Sampras by his first coach, pediatrician Peter Fischer -- is also reaping rewards.
It improves Sampras' range and gives him an array of spins -- slice, flat or topspin -- for all situations. It also helps Sampras charge the net quicker on his approach shot.

A six-foot, 160-pounder, Sampras seemingly has only one weakness -- inside his own head. He admits his concentration lags at times.
"If I'm up a service break in the second set, sometimes I'm already looking ahead to shaking the guy's hand after the match," Sampras said. "I've got to constantly remind myself to concentrate on every point."
When Sampras wins the mental battle with himself, his opponents often fall as well.

In last year's U.S. Open, Sampras beat defending champion Wilander -- a crafty base-liner -- in a draining, five-set, second-round match played in sweltering humidity. Sampras' concentration never flagged in that one. At other times.


6. The Washington Post
August 31, 1989, Thursday
McEnroe, Wilander Bounced;
Nos. 4 and 5 U.S. Open Seeds Eliminated in 2nd-Round Shockers
BYLINE: Sally Jenkins

There were bound to be upsets at the U.S. Open but the stunning pair that occurred in the second round tonight could not have been expected. John McEnroe was defeated in four sets by a qualifier named Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands. Defending champion Mats Wilander of Sweden was upset in five sets by Pete Sampras, 18, born in Potomac and ranked 91st.

Sampras broke fifth-seeded Wilander's serve twice in the final set and then held for the match after overcoming four break points and serving three aces. His 5-7, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory was his first over a top 10 player, and a resounding one for the resourceful teenager, who was raised mostly in California.

The last time a defending champion was defeated so early in a U.S. Open was 1973, when Ilie Nastase lost to Andrew Patterson.
"At the start I really didn't believe I could beat Mats Wilander," Sampras said. "But he gave me a couple of opportunities, and I took advantage. It really all depended on how I was playing. I was going to win it, he wasn't going to lose it."

Fourth-seeded McEnroe's season of renewal ended when an old moodiness struck him. McEnroe, 30, had thought he was beyond all this, rising to No. 4 in an extraordinary comeback year. But Haarhuis, a 23-year-old ranked No. 115, accomplished the upset of the tournament, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"I am too disgusted to think straight right now," McEnroe said. McEnroe was given perhaps his first realistic chance of victory since he won his last major championship here in 1984 and was a finalist in '85. But he twitched at his shirt, stalked and circled and argued, but could not gain any consistency. He yielded a crucial service break in the 11th game of the final set with a stunning double fault.

Haarhuis went on to hold serve with ease, building double match point, 40-15, with two service winners. When McEnroe lofted a weak running forehand, Haarhuis slapped an emphatic forehand volley and clenched his fist.

"You're always excited to play somebody like John McEnroe," he said. "I'm in the underdog position. I qualified and I won one round. So I can just go out there and have no pressure and play. I have nothing to lose."

Defeat was a far from an unusual sensation for Wilander, who has been mysteriously unambitious ever since he captured the No. 1 ranking with his victory here last year, and so was seeded only fifth.

He has been unable to make a Grand Prix final and has achieved just two semifinals all season as he has dropped to No. 5. He lost in the second round at the Australian Open, in the quarterfinals at the French and in the quarterfinals to McEnroe at Wimbledon.

"It was disappointing to be playing that badly. I've lost in all of the Grand Slams. So that doesn't matter. But the way I was playing, I was disappointed. It was like a 0-0 soccer match. Terrible."

So Wilander probably was ripe for such a defeat, and Sampras was just the player to give it to him. Sampras turned 18 only earlier this month, but has for some time been regarded as a coming player, perhaps behind only Andre Agassi and Michael Chang as an American prospect. He reached a quarterfinal and a semifinal last year. He has a well-rounded game, adept at the baseline but also possesses an array of canny volleys, which he used to Wilander's endless frustration.

"I don't know if he had the desire to win," Sampras said. "I don't know. "It's hard to say what's going through his head. I expected him to play
better."

Wilander tried desperately to prevent Sampras from serving out the match. In the final game he had a total of four break points, including 15-40. But Sampras killed the first with a service winner and the second with a magnificent ace down the middle. Wilander got another break point with a nailed forehand return at the teenager's feet, but Sampras smothered that with a huge forehand angled winner, and then delivered another ace down the middle for match point.

And then he double faulted. Wilander used the reprieve to hurl a backhand at Sampras's oncoming feet for his fourth break point, but gave it away with a forehand wide of the line with all kinds of open court available. And Sampras then served his third ace of the game, for match point again. Wilander's next return of serve was a drifting forehand wide, and Sampras leaped into the air.
"If there's a time to play Mats, it would be this year," he said. "He's kind of struggled."

Perhaps there was someone somewhere who had heard of Haarhuis, who in January was ranked 460th. Certainly the Netherlands is not known for its tennis. "Internationally, we are not existing," he said.

This was just the most recent of McEnroe's series of early upsets on what are deemed by many his home courts, growing up scant minutes away in Douglaston, N.Y.

In 1986 he was defeated in the first round by Paul Annacone. In 1987 he was a quarterfinalist, but a fragile one. Last year he was a second-round victim of Mark Woodforde. He periodically had been absent from the game, a victim of exhaustion and his own temperament.

It will be a duller Open without McEnroe, who finally had seemed to overcome his torments and whose surge this year was a marvel. He made the semifinals of Wimbledon and had lost just five matches before tonight, all to players ranked among the top three. He twice lost to top-ranked Ivan Lendl, once to No. 2 Boris Becker, and twice to No. 3 Stefan Edberg, including that Wimbledon semifinal when he struggled with an injured shoulder.

"I had just played so well, and I had a good year," he said. "I just
let the conditions and the situation affect me too much.... There is really not much there right now. It's not something I care to share with the world press, to be perfectly honest. "To lose to a guy I hadn't even seen before is pretty bad."

Haarhuis turned out to be a smooth, elegant player with some strokes. Statistics indicated McEnroe played less than his most elegant tennis. He won only 59 percent of his approaches to the net, considerably under the 70 percent or so he usually does, with the finest volleying in the world.

"I don't have an explanation," McEnroe said. "I don't need to say how big a tournament this is, but I just could not get it going. I couldn't get into it."

There is no worse opponent for a seeded player in the early rounds of an Open than a fearless one. Haarhius was certainly one of those, and another was Derrick Rostagno, who swept the first two sets from second-seeded Becker with shocking ease. But Becker was just as reluctant to be beaten, and profited from a touch of luck when he killed two match points in their fourth-set tiebreaker to emerge by 1-6, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 in 4:26.