A Surface-to-Err Miss for Sampras

PARIS —  The doubts started in this place, on this slowest of surfaces, and gradually wormed their way into Pete Sampras’ psyche, creating a crisis of confidence on all surfaces. For almost two years, the man considered by some to be the best tennis player ever has not won a title.

He tried the right things. Making a concession to age, he started training harder at 30. To get wiser, Sampras hired the preeminent mind in the game, clay-court guru Jose Higueras. Those things, however, have not helped him flip the switch at crucial junctures the way he once did--for instance, on break points or in tiebreakers.

Clay and the French Open only illuminate Sampras’ problems, turning concern into anxiety.

Sampras used just that word, anxiety, to describe his Paris experience Monday after another devastating loss. This time, it was oft-injured Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy who dispatched the 12th-seeded Sampras, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3), in the first round at the French Open. Sampras lost the final five points.

The 3-hour 5-minute match was twice delayed by rain--the first interruption lasting an hour and 45 minutes--and finished as darkness fell, when Sampras hit a backhand volley just long at 9 p.m. (Paris time).

Gaudenzi patted Sampras on the shoulder after they shook hands at the net. About 1,500 spectators, the remainder of the rain-splattered crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier, chanted “Sam-pras, Sam-pras” as he walked off, perhaps wondering if this would be his last appearance here.

“I don’t want to say it’s a jinx,” said Sampras, who has never won the French Open, the only Grand Slam title to elude him. “It’s not like I lost four finals here. It’s a question of playing well on clay. But, you know, if Paris never happens over my career, life will go on. But I will come back and try again.”

Gaudenzi had lost to Sampras in three previous matches, twice on clay. He received a significant assist Monday from Sampras, who made 93 unforced errors and converted only three of 17 break-point opportunities. In the seventh game of the third set, after missing another break-point chance, Sampras had a rare display of anger, throwing his racket after a forehand went wide.

Later, in the fourth set, minutes before the second rain delay, Sampras knocked a ball high into the stands after another squandered break-point opportunity and received a code violation warning for ball abuse.

“What can I say? He’s probably the best tennis player who ever breathed,” said Gaudenzi, who is ranked 69th, “[but] you cannot always be at the top and pretending you can win on all surfaces. Definitely his game is not made for clay. It’s so much more difficult for him to play good on this surface.

“It’s quite an honor to play him at the end sometimes. And to beat him is a great thing. I know I’m aware I didn’t beat him at his best, his best surface, so it doesn’t mean a lot.”

Sampras was two points away from sending the match into a fifth set, serving for the fourth at 5-4, 30-15. Three points later, he was broken when he missed an easy overhead, smashing it into the net.

“When I played the high lob, my mind was a little bit already in the fifth set,” Gaudenzi said.

Quite simply, the big points never have fallen Sampras’ way in Paris.

“This match, having so many chances, yeah, I had anxiety,” Sampras said. “I’ve had that over the course of my years here. That’s kind of the word that defines what’s happened here.”

Another member of Sampras’ generation, 30-year-old Michael Chang, who did win the title here once, famously, in 1989, is going through the same sort of confidence crisis, though on a deeper scale. French wild-card entrant Sebastien De Chaunac, who is ranked 173rd, defeated Chang, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round.

“I was able to overcome the idea I was playing Chang,” said De Chaunac, 25. “Now, he’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for him. But I don’t think it’s the same Michael Chang that I would have met some 10 years ago. His results are worse.”

Chang, who has pulled himself together after other tough defeats, sounded like his usual self, saying: “If I got to the point where I don’t have the desire to work hard, then I’ll call it a day.”

And so, Chang and Sampras were gone on the first day of a Grand Slam event, and qualifier Jack Brasington moved on to the second round. How often have you heard that? Brasington defeated Federico Luzzi of Italy, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5, and will play Gaudenzi next. Joining him in the second round was Todd Martin, the marathon man, who beat Argentine qualifier Martin Vasallo Arguello, 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5.

Jan-Michael Gambill was not so lucky in his five-setter. Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, seeded 16th, beat Gambill, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and flexed his arm afterward. Gambill, who has won one match in five trips here, responded with his own gesture, tossing his racket.

There was one minor upset on the women’s side: Paola Suarez of Argentina beat eighth-seeded Sandrine Testud of France, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round. Largely untroubled in the first round were No. 2 Venus Williams, who defeated Bianka Lamade of Germany, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo of France, who beat wild-card entrant Camille Pin of France, 6-4, 6-1.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Day 1 Highlights

Weather: Three rain delays halted play for approximately three hours.

Men’s seeded losers: No. 12 Pete Sampras.

Men’s top-seeded winners: No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 3 Tommy Haas, No. 7 Gustavo Kuerten, No. 9 Thomas Johansson.

Women’s seeded losers: No. 8 Sandrine Testud.

Women’s top-seeded winners: No. 2 Venus Williams, No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 13 Elena Dementieva, No. 16 Barbara Schett, No. 18 Tatiana Panova, No. 29 Iva Majoli, No. 31 Rita Grande.

Stat of the day: Sampras made 93 unforced errors in his first-round loss to Andrea Gaudenzi.

Quote of the day: “He’s probably the best tennis player who ever breathed, [but] you cannot always be at the top and pretending you can win on all surfaces. Definitely his game is not made for clay.” -- Gaudenzi on upset of Sampras.