March 21, 2009
Sampras v Rafter in Seniors Los Cabos Final
Pete Sampras defeated Mats Wilander 6-4, 6-0 Saturday advance into a final-round match with Patrick Rafter at the $150,000 Del Mar Development Champions Cup, the third event on the 2009 Outback Champions Series champions tennis circuit. The Sampras-Rafter final will mark the first meeting between the two US Open champions since the 2001 US Open and will mark the renewal of one of the best rivalries on the ATP Tour at the turn of the century.
"The difference between playing now and before is it is not quite as intense and I don't have as much anxiety but I still will play to win," said Sampras after beating Wilander. "Tomorrow (against Rafter) will be fun and a great competition."
Rafter, playing in his debut event on the Outback Champions Series, advanced into the final by defeating Jim Courier 6-3, 6-2 on Friday in the other men's semifinal.
During their ATP careers, Sampras and Rafter played 16 times, with Sampras winning on 12 occasions.
Sampras will be competing in his fifth Outback Champions Series final, having won all previous championship matches --- in Boston in 2007 and 2009, Charlotte in 2007 and Athens, Greece in 2007. The winner in Los Cabos will earn $60,000 in prize money and 800 Outback Champions Series ranking points.
Prior to the championship match Sunday, the two losing semifinalists --- Wilander and Courier --- will compete in the third-place match.
Wilander relished the opportunity to play Sampras again Saturday --- the first time the two former world No. 1 players played against each other since the USA vs. Sweden Davis Cup series in 1995 in Las Vegas. Sampras registered a signature win over Wilander as an 18-year-old at the 1989 US Open when he defeated the then defending US Open champion in five sets in the second round.