World No 1 Pete Sampras crushed his=20 opponent in the Australian Open final with=20 enough certainty to bode well for Paris
TENNIS:Stephen Bierley
IT WAS perhaps inevitable, once Pete=20 Sampras had won his second Australian Open=20 with consummate ease against a=20 disappointingly ineffectual Carlos Moya=20 last weekend, that thoughts should turn to=20 the next Grand Slam event at Roland Garros.
During the presentation ceremony Sampras=20 was referred to as the greatest champion of=20 modern times. It was a brave statement to=20 make in the land of Rod Laver but perhaps=20 the Rocket was excluded on the ground that=20 in his prime he only just squeezed into the=20 open era.
Only six players since 1968, the beginning=20 of open tennis, have reached the singles=20 finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments:=20 Andre Agassi and Jim Courier of the United=20 States, Laver and Ken Rosewall of=20 Australia, Ivan Lendl, formerly of=20 Czechoslovakia, and Sweden’s Stefan Edberg.=20 Of these only Laver won the lot.
Sampras’s victory against Moya brought his=20 total of Grand Slam titles to nine, leaving=20 Roy Emerson (12), Laver (11), Bjorn Borg=20 (11) and Bill Tilden (10) ahead of him. The=20 one title to escape Sampras is the French,=20 although last year he went precious close,=20 losing to the eventual winner, Russia’s=20 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, in the semi-final.
The American refused to be drawn into=20 discussing his aspirations for Roland=20 Garros this year but victory in Australia=20 will surely have encouraged him=20 considerably. The slow balls and the=20 intense heat almost simulated clay,=20 something the red-court king Thomas Muster=20 was quick to exploit by reaching the semi- finals before losing to Sampras.
“The balls were as difficult to put away=20 here as at the French,” said Sampras. The=20 fact that he did precisely that, even=20 though his forehand and service power were=20 considerably diminished, will make him=20 believe he can win in Paris in June.
There was brief talk afterwards of the=20 Australian tournament being moved to=20 February or March. “That would suit me fine=20 and give everybody more of a rest,” said=20 Sampras, but there is little or no chance=20 of it happening. Ford, the major sponsor,=20 gets a good crack of the television whip at=20 this time of year; moving the tournament=20 would diminish its impact worldwide.
Sampras usually has at least one poor match=20 during any championship and on this=20 occasion it came in the fourth round=20 against Slovakia’s 19-year-old Dominik=20 Hrbaty, of whom more is likely to be heard=20 this year.
Otherwise the world No 1 offered further=20 proof that he remains the gauge by which=20 all others must test themselves. Spain’s=20 Alberto Costa, still his country’s best=20 player even though Moya has overtaken him=20 in the rankings, pushed Sampras close in=20 the quarter-finals, a match in which the=20 American played some of his best and most=20 determined tennis.
The final was always likely to be one- sided, given that Moya, for all his=20 thrilling tennis against Boris Becker in=20 the first round and Michael Chang in the=20 semi-final, has no experience whatsoever at=20 this Grand Slam peak.=20
Only once, when they exchanged service=20 breaks at the beginning of the second set,=20 did it appear that Moya might break free of=20 the straitjacket Sampras had imposed by his=20 resolute serving and stern returns. The=20 centre court crowd desperately wanted the=20 20-year-old Moya to crackle into life and=20 they cheered like mad when a stinging=20 backhand winner brought him to break point=20 on Sampras’s serve. This he managed, but=20 thereafter Moya’s hands were tied as=20 Sampras, sensing that his opponent was=20 tiring and losing heart, played with total=20 authority.
Not that Moya need be downhearted. This was=20 only his fifth Grand Slam and he had never=20 previously gone beyond the second round. He=20 has a good matchplay temperament and is=20 clearly exceptionally gifted but, as=20 Sampras pointed out, “he will be a marked=20 man now”.