Sports Illustrated
July 17, 1995
Quality Wins
By Sally Jenkins

Wimbledon's fractious fortnight drew to a close with order restored
by Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf

If ever a championship should have been shrouded in fog, this Wimbledon was the one. Instead, the sun shone on all of it. Bright rays exposed Jeff Tarango's foolish, balding head. Sunbeams illuminated the interior of Andre Agassi's billowing white shorts, which, accompanied by his head rag and inexplicably subservient play, made him look less like the world's No. 1 player than a domestic.

Exposed to the glare were disappearances and low dramas. Maybe that's what happens when you let guys named Murph through the gates of the All England Club and trick up the balls and dig up the grounds in the name of progress. Thank god for Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf. Otherwise, think of the headlines: CLEANING LADY WINS WIMBLEDON.

Most of the fortnight was dominated by anything but tradition. In 27 Wimbeldons since the open era began in 1968, no player had ever been defaulted; suddenly there were three. A bookie took bets on whether Goran Ivanisevic would smile once during the tournament -- and had to pay one chap $1,700 when he did.

Children and adults strolled the grounds wearing Agassi look-alike outfits, which included a fake goatee, sideburns, hoop earring and a do-rag. A sunstruck goofiness permeated the place as temperatures hit 110 degrees. "I have never seen anything like this in all my years," said Nick Bollettieri, who coached Boris Becker to his first Grand Slam final since 1991. "Everything to anything happened."

But here was the weirdest part: In the end this Wimbledon evolved into a classic. For the first time since seeding began in 1927 the top four players in both the men's and women's draws reached the semifinals. From that point on the tournament provided grand, orchestral tennis, building to a crashing climax in the finals.

Graf defeated Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a women's title match that was simply the best since Margaret Court defeated Billie Jean King 14-12, 11-9 in 1970. And Sampras beat Becker 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to win his third straight Wimbledon crown. "History, baby," Sampras said, exulting afterward in the bowels of the Centre court Stadium. "It's a beautiful day."

Becker, as he lifted the runner-up plate, received a greater roar than had Sampras when he seized his trophy, a reflection, perhaps, of the fact that it was the 10th anniversary of Becker's first Wimbledon title, won at the age of 17. But in the long run this will be remembered as Sampras's day.

Becker, at 27 the oldest finalist since 31-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1984, seemed to be reaching for something that was no longer there. He could not create so much as a single break point against Sampras's 129-mph serve. "You just hope for rain," Becker said. Even more disheartening to Becker was that Sampras committed just seven unforced errors while striking 68 winners. "I couldn't really blame myself," Becker said.

The normally impassive Sampras stripped off his shirt and flung it into the gallery, and followed that with a cup of water. The term "ThreePete" was immediately applied to Sampras's title, but that didn't do justice to his achievement. Sampras became only the third man since World War 1 -- and the first American man -- to win three in a row, joining the company of Fred Perry (1934 to '36) and Bjorn Borg (1976 to '80).

And it was his first Grand Slam triumph in a year. He lost the 1995 Australian Open final to Agassi after his coach, Tim Gullikson, was stricken with brain tumors. Since Gullikson fell ill, Sampras has also struggled with a sprained ankle, the loss of his No. 1 ranking to Agassi and a first-round upset at the French Open. "This is the most emotional one, just because of the way the year has been," Sampras said, dedicating the victory to Gullikson. "There is no better feeling than waking up after one of these. If I ever get to sleep."

For Graf, her sixth Wimbledon title was her hardest-won. She played pumped full of anti-inflammatories to quell the pain of a bone spur in her back. Yet another injury, before the tournament began and prompted her to withdraw at the last minute from the doubles competition, in which she was scheduled to play with Martina Navratilova. "It has been quite difficult," she said. "You can't imagine."

Her fitness didn't seem to be so questionable when, in the final, she outendured the most durable player in the game in second-ranked Sanchez Vicario. And she won arguably the best single game ever played on Centre Court, the penultimate of the match. It was a 32-point, 13-deuce affair that lasted 20 minutes, before Graf broke Sanchez Vicario's serve for a 6-5 lead.

Graf then easily held serve for the title, running her match record for the year to 32-0. Afterward she jogged up to the box to hug her family then darted back into a dark hallway, where she let out a shriek of joy that rang throughout Centre Court.

Graf's titles are increasingly precious to her, as her injury-plagued body deteriorates. Two years ago she prevailed at Wimbledon on a bad foot. She has had sinus problems, elbow problems, shoulder problems. Her struggle to recover her health since her back ailment was diagnosed following her loss in the U.S. Open to Sanchez Vicario last September has been a courageous one.

Yet, as gallant as Graf's effort was, it was no more inspired than the performance of Sanchez Vicario, who is determined to make her place among the great players. Sanchez Vicario, clay court born and raised in Spain, reached her first Wimbledon final aided by a simple change of attitude. It was Conchita Martinez's victory last year that suddenly opened Sanchez Vicario's eyes: If her countrywoman and rival could do it, so could she.

That was obvious as she upset Martinez in the semifinals 6-3, 6-7, 6-1. "To tell the truth, I've never really prepared well for this tournament," Sanchez Vicario said. "I never thought about the good things here, only the bad. I was always complaining that grass is for cows. I complained about the bounces. I complained about the weather. It took me longer than most people, but finally I changed my mind."

Perhaps the seminal moment in Sanchez Vicario's career came in that 11th game of the final set. She and Graf seesawed back and forth, Sanchez Vicario holding eight game points to Graf's six break points. A fatal defensiveness finally finished Sanchez Vicario: Given multiple opportunities to close on the net and put the game away, she played from the middle and backcourt.

It was Graf who began encroaching, and a volley by her was the difference in the match. Sanchez Vicario had repeatedly scored with crosscourt forehand passes. On the 13th deuce, she tried the crosscourt again, and it turned out to be once too often. Graf smelled it coming, covered the angle and jabbed a drop volley into the open court. A classic Graf inside-out forehand on the next point ended the game -- and, effectively, the match. In the annals of Wimbledon, only the McEnroe-Borg 18-16 tiebreaker in 1980 could match this for drama and excellence.

The match partly redeemed women's tennis at the moment when it was hardly showing itself to its best advantage. Monica Seles, who has been absent since being stabbed during a tournament in Hamburg in 1993, made a much-anticipated announcement shortly after Graf's victory: She will return to tennis.

It should have been the best possible news for the tour, which has languished without a title sponsor and suffered from lack of depth. Instead the WTA's top players responded less than magnanimously. While they agreed to grant Seles a special co-No. 1 ranking for six events, they could not agree on how to integrate Seles back into the tour for the long term. Unable to come up with a proper formula to do so, the idea was finally tabled without a resolution. "They agree they want Monica back... but," said Navratilova, who has seen it as her chief task to get Seles to return to the court, "they're all defending their own little turf."

That was one of the milder controversies of the tournament. The first player defaulted was Tim Henman of Great Britain, washed out during a doubles match for striking a ball in anger that accidentally hit a ball girl in the temple. Then there was Jeff Tarango, who stalked off the court in the middle of his match against Alex Mronz, charging chair umpire Bruno Rebeuh with corruption; his wife, Benedicte, made it worse by slapping Rebeuh. Tarango was fined $15,500 by the International Tennis Federation and is under further investigation for "conduct contrary to the integrity of the game," for which he could be suspended and fined six figures.

Then there was the case of the disappearing Murphy Jensen. He failed to appear for a mixed doubles match, and it was reported that he might have harmed himself or been snatched. Jensen's family was worried but not unduly so. Murphy had slept through a match a week earlier in Nottingham, and the night before his disappearance he'd had a cheerful dinner with a group of friends at Mr. Chow's Chinese restaurant. According to his mother, Pat, he had gotten stuck in traffic en route to the mixed doubles match at Wimbledon, heard on the radio he was defaulted and then, embarrassed by his gaffe, gone fishing with an old college buddy. "That's Murph," his partner, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy said, and by fortnight's end, Jensen himself had confirmed the tale.

Add to that an architectural debate concerning Wimbledon's decision to dig out a new No. 1 court where there once was rolling lawn. And then there was the great ball brouhaha. Panicked by charges that racket technology was rendering grass court tennis obsolete after last year's final between Sampras and Ivanisevic, which amounted to a monotonous serving contest, Wimbledon introduced a slightly heavier, deader ball.

What did it accomplish? Ivanisevic served 175 aces in the tournament, including 38, four shy of the tournament record, in his semifinal with Sampras. But Sampras was just better than Ivanisevic when the ball was in play, and he wan 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. "I am always unlucky," the morose Ivanisevic said afterward. "I am unluckiest player who ever lived. I was probably born unlucky."

His only bad luck here was that of facing Sampras, whose ability to raise his game as circumstances demand is becoming a trademark. So is his knack for keeping distractions to a minimum during tournaments. He was a virtual shut-in London, mostly staying in his hotel suite and eating meals cooked by his girlfriend, Delaina Mulcahy. "I'm antisocial," he conceded.

His only foray out was to play, practice or frequent a sandwich shop, Crumpets, where he would read papers and discuss the events of the day with Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson, Tim's twin. Tom has been an invaluable substitute companion to Sampras during tournaments, and his frequent cries of "Pistol" during the final were comforting to Sampras. During this fortnight a big evening for Sampras was losing "a few quid" at backgammon to Gullikson. He ended the tournament $500 in the hole.

Meanwhile, Becker defeated Cedric Pioline of France in a thunderous quarterfinal, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7. Then he took down the tournament darling, Agassi. Becker used to strive to be older than his years, but now he seems to be trying to recapture his youth. In Bollettieri he hired a coach known for his motivational skills, which Becker said Bollettieri applied by chasing "me out of bed and onto the practice court." The result was the sort of run that used to be routine for him. When Becker defeated Pioline, he left the court with his finger in the air and a light in his eyes. "If I had lost that one...," he said to Bollettieri. Then he went out and dispatched Agassi.

Normally, Agassi's failure to reach the final would have been viewed as a national tragedy here, such is the British liking for his iconoclasm and star quality. He and girlfriend Brooke Shields dodged the tabloids by dining in their rented home on food catered by Planet Hollywood, or snuck into the restaurant for back room screenings of Crimson Tide and Apollo 13. His baggy garb, shirt and shorts flapping about his knees -- "Nothing fits except his head rag and his shoes," Pam Shriver remarked -- became an instant trend. "Are you aware that your shorts are see-through?" one tabloid reporter asked. "Obviously, you are," Agassi said.

But in Becker, Agassi ran into a player who is a bigger Wimbledon icon than he is, and he disappeared from the tournament as suddenly as had Murphy Jensen. Holding a one-set lead with two service breaks in the second, Agassi grew cocksure and let Becker back in. Then Becker slammed the door on Agassi in a pair of tiebreakers, the little chap able to take only one point in each, as Becker ran out the match 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6. "There's life in the big bear yet," crowed Bollettieri, who parted acrimoniously with former pupil Agassi two years ago.

But the emotional and physical toll on Becker told in the final. Heavy in the legs, he committed 15 double faults. There was a time, Becker said, when his competitive rage was such that he might have bumped chests with Sampras in the locker room. Not anymore. Becker once called Centre Court his home, but clearly he has been usurped. "It used to be mine, now it's his," he said.

Here's what Sampras has accomplished at the tender age of 23. With six Grand Slam titles, he is halfway to Roy Emerson's record total of 12 and closing fast on the number won by Connors (eight) and McEnroe (seven). Only two other American men have won as many Wimbledons, McEnroe and Bill Tilden. He has once more made a persuasive case to be remembered as the player of his generation. A trophy in his possession again, Sampras sat in the Wimbledon basement, wired and jiggling a foot. "I can play this game a long, long time," he said.