from Former Official Website
November 1997
 What a Year!

One more week to go to cap off a terrific year!

I just returned from the ATP World Championships and am thrilled with the week. I started off slowly, losing to Carlos Moya. Fortunately, it is a round robin format, so I was still alive in the competition.

I played better and better as the week went on. I beat Greg Rusedski in my second match and going into the final match of the round robin, I knew I had to beat Patrick Rafter to qualify. I played very well and got through to the semifinals.

In the semifinals I beat Jonas Bjorkman in straight sets. Jonas has had a terrific year and finished 4th in the rankings after starting the year around No. 70.

The draw didn't get any easier, I knew I had to play well to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final. Yevgeny had won in Moscow the week before and was playing great tennis. This may have been my best performance in winning in three straight sets.

To finish off the year with a win in Paris and also winning the World Championships against the year's best eight players was a great way to cap off an already successful year.

It is too bad that our World Championship gets such a small amount of coverage back in the U.S. It is truly a great event that the people of Hannover, Germany, do a great job in supporting. To have the year's best eight players come together to battle it out for the years final is a special week, and I for one would love to see a little more coverage at home.

All in all, I am pleased with the result and look forward to a vacation after the Davis Cup next week.

It's back to Sweden for the Davis Cup Finale next week. Just enough time to come home and rest and re-pack. I'm looking forward to a good match in Sweden and I'm sure the U.S. Team will be really prepared for a battle. This week it'll be a small amount of hitting just to stay sharp then back over and a few days of preparations in Sweden.

Thanks to everyone for your support and have a happy healthy holiday season!
-----Pete Sampras