Sampras joins the greats

We were given a glimpse of Andre Agassi yesterday after Peter Sampras out-punched him, out-ran him, out-served him and played perhaps the finest, most complete game of tennis seen at Wimbledon in memory. Afterwards Agassi was first to arrive in to the post-match conference.

"Most players come before Wimbledon and play a grass-court tournament to prepare. Why didn't you think that was important?" he was asked.

"Because I knew I was going to be drunk the whole week celebrating the French (Open)," he replied.

Still the best counter-puncher in the game, Agassi has never found difficulty swimming against the tide. Yesterday doing so at the media inquisition was a cakewalk. It was the game's greatest player, Sampras, with whom the 29-year-old American had no ready answer.

In winning 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, the champion raised his play to an unprecedented level, one which gives him six titles in seven years, making him the most successful player in the modern era. Sampras also triumphantly pulls level with Roy Emerson's record of 12 Grand Slam career wins.

"That's probably the best I've played in years. I couldn't have played better. Plain and simple. I was hitting the ball clean from the back court and serving big at the right time," said Sampras. "There's no question that he elevates my game to a level that is phenomenal."

Agassi, in his disappointment, was equally frank and warmed to the consensus that with Sampras playing with such bewildering precision and power, there is no one to beat him.

"Yes, he's accomplished more than anybody else has, in my opinion, no question about it. The guy's dominated the grass and he's finished the year number one six years in a row," said Agassi.

Typically the match turned on a number of key service breaks. In the first set, the two stood toe to toe at 3-3, before Agassi was able to take advantage of three opportunities to go 0-40 ahead to give himself three break points on the Sampras serve. The Sampras reply was four booming deliveries, two of them aces, and another an unreturnable second serve. In total the winner hit 17 aces to Agassi's five.

It was then Sampras raised the tempo. Sensing that an opportunity was there, he jumped on the Agassi loose serve in the following game, hit him to 15-40, before finally closing out the game for the first service break of the match.

"It was a big game," said Sampras. "I squeezed through and he played a loose game and that's grass-court tennis and that is when momentum can switch in a couple of minutes."

Sampras continued to keep up the relentless pressure, diving at the net for angled volleys, making impossible returns and even outwalloping Agassi from the back of the court. And although the Las Vegan was largely responding to the high tempo of his opponent, Sampras prised open another window at the beginning of the second set, breaking Agassi in the first game and again serving out to win 6-4.

"I was going out there expecting him to be a big pain in the arse," said Agassi. "He's well aware of the fact that one or two huge efforts with a few big shots can turn a match. If he didn't hit an ace, he was hitting his second as fast as 122 mph.

"He's taking chances out there and people think he's walking on water until he starts missing a few. But he didn't. So he walked on water today."

And so Agassi's `miracle' win at the French open was equalled with godly inspiration from Sampras. While the competitive Agassi believed he still had a chance at two sets down, there were few neutrals who could see even his powers of regeneration blanket out an opponent playing so eerily well, or as former winner Pat Cash commented, as close to perfection as you can get.

The points which finally tipped the balance came in the 10th game of the third set, with the winner again pouncing on Agassi's serve to take a 15-40 advantage. Agassi saved one break point but found the net with a return to let Sampras in for the last time. The final game he boomed down a dose of big balls to take the set 7-5 and the match.

"In the middle of the second set I was on fire, from all aspects of my game, from my serving to my ground strokes. I was in the zone. It was as well as I could play, plain and simple," said Sampras.

The Washington DC-born champion, who will be 28 next month, takes home £455,000, about £45,000 more than the women's winner Lindsay Davenport. Loose change compared to the $36 million he has accumulated throughout most of his career as the best in the world. And that is just prize-money. Sampras is one of Nike's biggest names. Holy Grails, not money are now his motivation with the US Open looming in September.

"It's a little overwhelming to win what I have won, to be honest," he said. "I don't know how I do it. I really don't to be honest with you. I'm still spinning a little bit. It's just getting over the match and I'm still spinning."

Much like Agassi no doubt.