September 26, 2007
Sampras Victorious In Opener At The Championships At The Palisades
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Pete Sampras returned to action on the Outback Champions Series tennis circuit Wednesday, defeating Sweden's Mikael Pernfors 6-0, 6-2 in the opening night of play at The Championships at The Palisades at the Tim Wilkison Signature Tennis and Sports Complex. The Championships at The Palisades is the fifth of seven events on the three-year-old Outback Champions Series, a collection of tennis events around the world for champion tennis players over the age of 30.
Sampras, 36, had little trouble with the 44-year-old Pernfors, the French Open runner-up in 1986, winning the first set in 22 minutes with a flurry of aces and forehand winners. Pernfors finally got on the scoreboard when he won the first game of the second set, but subsequently lost six of the last seven games of the match.
"It doesn't really matter how well I play, he's just that much better," said Pernfors of Sampras. "He's got so much pace on the ball. He's just that much better of a tennis player than I am. I am just hoping to hit the ball and not look like an idiot."
Sampras ended his five-year hiatus from competitive tournament tennis in May when he debuted on the Outback Champions Series at the Champions Cup Boston. Sampras went undefeated in Boston, winning all three of his round robin matches before defeating Todd Martin in the championship match. Sampras then won the Champions Cup Athens also in May, again winning his three round-robin matches before beating Martin in the final.
Despite being undefeated in his two Outback Champions Series events, Sampras still trails Martin by 400 points in the latest Stanford Champions Rankings. In addition to his runner-up finishes in Boston and Athens, Martin won the title at the Gibson Guitar Champions Cup in Newport, R.I., in August to move ahead of Sampras in the rankings with 2000 points. Sampras, and his 1600 points, is in second place, just ahead of John McEnroe, who is in third place with 1400 points.
Wayne Ferreira, ranked No. 4 in the Stanford Champions Rankings with 1250 points, won the opening match of Wednesday's night session, defeating Anders Jarryd of Sweden 6-2, 6-4. Ferreira, who won the opening event on the 2007 Outback Champions Series in Naples, Fla., in March, will next face Sampras on Friday evening in one of the event's most highly-anticipated match-ups. In their 13 career meetings on the ATP Tour, Ferreira defeated Sampras six times. The two also met earlier this year at the Champions Cup Athens, with Sampras winning a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (1) round-robin match victory.
Against Jarryd, Ferreira played aggressive from the baseline, controlling most of the points, while Jarryd used crafty slices and drop shots in an attempt to get the South African out of his rhythm.
"Wayne was much better than I was tonight and I never had a chance to break him," said Jarryd. "There are so many great champions out here, you really have to play well."
Said Ferreira, "I feel good. I'm in good shape and I'm working out a lot. I really enjoyed the last year in these tournaments with these guys. We get along very well, but it's tough tennis in these tournaments."
September 26, 2007
Generation Gap, Even On Senior Circuit
By Rick Bonnell
Sampras, 36, has no problem against 44-year-old Pernfors
You know you're in a beat-down when you're reduced to lobbying the umpire to call one of your own serves out.
That's how desperate Mikael Pernfors grew Wednesday, trying to deal with Pete Sampras. Down 5-0 in the first set, he argued that a first serve he'd hit was out, after Sampras cranked back that serve for a winner.
Predictably, Pernfors lost the argument and the match, falling 6-0, 6-2 during the opening night of the senior men's tennis tournament at The Palisades.
Sampras might be a senior by age (36), but Pernfors (44) knows a kid when he sees one. Former world No. 1 Sampras plays with a level of power and spin Pernfors never envisioned when he played the main tour.
"Here I am, struggling to win a game and looking like an idiot,'' Pernfors said, laughing at the futility.
"He can take a little bit of pace off (his normal) ball and it still doesn't make any difference," Pernfors said, "because this guy puts so much spin on the ball."
Though Sampras and Pernfors are only eight years apart (Pernfors beat Sampras twice when Sampras was a teen joining the tour), this amounts to a generation gap. The younger players on this 30-and-over circuit --- Sampras, Jim Courier, Todd Martin and Wayne Ferreira --- are used to hitting the ball with a fury.
The difference wasn't quite as pronounced in Ferreira's 6-2, 6-4 victory over Swede Anders Jarryd, but the variance was there.
Sampras, who plays again Friday night and Saturday afternoon in the round-robin format, agrees with Pernfors' conclusion that the difference in their games is almost evolutionary.
"Jim and I worked very hard at our conditioning and it's bigger, stronger guys," Sampras said.
It doesn't hurt that Sampras finally gave up the outdated equipment he used on the main tour. He now uses a racquet with a bigger head and high-tech strings that keep the ball in the court. Courier said that's allowed Sampras to hit backhands more assertively than ever before.
September 27, 2007
Champs Recall Their Sacrifice
By Rick Bonnell
Serves, Pete Sampras knew. Running forehands, Sampras knew. Dating, Sampras didn't know. So early in his pro tennis career, he turned to his buddy, Jim Courier, for a lesson in "Get a Life 101."
"I remember going to Pete's room, helping him select clothes" for a first date, Courier said. "I told him, 'Make sure to pay for the meal and open doors for the lady.'
"You can't worry about going to the prom if you want to be No. 1. You have to put everything else aside at 16, 17, 18, because that's how you become that good."
They were both that good. Courier preceded Sampras as the world's top singles player, holding the distinction for about a year. Then Sampras dominated as no one ever before, holding the top ranking for six consecutive years (1993-98).
Now retired from the main tour, Sampras, 36, and Courier, 37, headline the eight-man field for this week's Outback Champions event at The Palisades development in south Charlotte.
How do you get that good at anything? How do you stay that dominant? And what are the life tradeoffs to be so virtuoso?
"You reduce everything to what's most important," Sampras said of the ordered, Spartan way he lived atop the tennis rankings. "I didn't party, I didn't go out, I didn't chase girls. I have kind of a low-key personality anyway, so that worked for me."
It was life according to tennis, not the other way around. He once joked the best thing about retirement would be expanding his diet beyond the pasta-chicken-fish regimen. There weren't a lot of colors on his palette; whatever worked for his training, he accepted without protest.
"You eat when you're not hungry, you drink when you're not thirsty and you sleep when you're not tired," Sampras said. "I always felt like if I didn't get maximum rest, I wouldn't be ready."
That speaks to the unsettling feeling both had that No. 1 was a narrow ledge. Each used the word "hunted'' to describe how it felt. Courier recalls a friend mailing him a Nerf ball, painted like a globe, with a card reading, "Enjoy this token because you're standing on top (of the planet)."
"But it wasn't all that pleasurable," Courier said, "because you were always trying to defend it."
Each one learned that dominance in an individual sport made for some strange interaction on and off the court.
Courier said being No. 1 meant he got something different from opponents. Either they'd be inspired to play their best or be so psyched out they'd lose mentally before striking a ball.
Sampras' recollection was more about the time between matches. The tennis schedule puts you on the road 11 months a year. Being No. 1 installed a sort of barrier between Sampras and his peers that interfered with normal friendships. "You couldn't really give yourself over" to people, Sampras said about letting down his guard.
Yet both transitioned comfortably when they slipped off the peak. Courier learned in the latter stages of his career to concentrate on improving his game, regardless of whether that raised his ranking. Sampras said slipping from No. 1 to the top five was almost a relief.
"Once I broke (Jimmy) Connors' record of six years (top ranked) in a row, I was tired of being the man," Sampras said.
So they moved on. Courier went into business, as a partner in the senior tour they're playing. Sampras is raising a family and playing exhibitions this fall against No. 1 Roger Federer --- the man best positioned to break his record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Sampras sees himself in Federer --- an even-tempered, humble guy with the self-discipline to excel.
"People want a little more pizzazz; we live in the MTV sound-bite era," Sampras said. "But I think we both understand how to keep things simple and be nice to people."