Focus is on ailing Sampras

The top seed, who advances easily, says he knows he has his doubters but says "the pressure's on them.''

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2000

LONDON -- Apparently, Pete Sampras isn't only playing through pain. He's also playing through paranoia. The question is whether it's his or everyone else's.

Sampras readily understands -- and doesn't mind -- that his rivals are out to get him. He is, after all, only three victories shy of becoming the grandest man in Grand Slam history. It's what happens when he gets them that bothers him. As if he doesn't have enough physical injuries, now his feelings are being hurt.

Take Jonas Bjorkman -- which Sampras did rather easily Monday on Centre Court 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals and staying on course to tie the record for male singles titles here (seven) and break it for Grand Slam prizes (13).

Did you see that handshake after he trounced Bjorkman? The loser looked pretty skeptical, didn't he? That was the handshake of a man who appeared to doubt Sampras' depleted condition: the tendinitis in his lower left leg he suffered before a second-round win over Karol Kucera.

"I can tell the way Jonas shook my hand today that, you know, he was thinking whatever he thinks," Sampras said. "For the first time, the pressure's on my opponents a little bit. They know I'm a little bit injured. The pressure's on them. They're not liking it."

If that's the criterion for this conspiracy theory, then the plot has been thickening for some time. Sampras has suffered back, shoulder, and leg injuries, and now that list of ailments has another entry: He's sick and tired of talking about them, especially this one.

"It is what it is," he said. "I'm going to go out there and try my best under the circumstances. I'm sure there are a lot of cynical players out there reading all this stuff."

Bjorkman said the weak handshake reflected only his own disappointment after going into the match convinced he could win.

"You know, if he felt that I thought he wasn't injured, what should I do?" Bjorkman said. "I'm very disappointed that I lost my match. You know, I shake his hand as I do when I'm really disappointed."

Few of the top seeds could have been disappointed on a day void of major upsets that set up a major showdown.

In today's quarterfinals, top-seeded Martina Hingis plays No. 5 Venus Williams, and No. 8 Serena Williams faces unseeded Lisa Raymond.

The winners meet Thursday, with the Williams sisters hoping to play each other for only the second time in a Grand Slam tournament.

"We'd like to have that opportunity," Venus said. "At least one Williams would be in the final."

As for Sampras, this was not the first time players might have thought he was amplifying an injury or illness. Even when he threw up on court near the end of a four-hour victory over Alex Corretja at the 1996 U.S. Open, Sampras was accused by some players of faking.

"When it's a tough moment, I kind of carry the vomit in my pocket. I explode it," Sampras said, joking. "I've had my moments on the court, of getting sick against Corretja, having pulls here and there. I've always prided myself on getting through whatever I have to get through.

"Athletes are injured, and you play through injuries. That's the bottom line. My opponents should just worry about playing me and not worry if I'm hurt or not."

Jan-Michael Gambill is the next player who has to worry about playing Sampras, but Gambill didn't sound concerned after serving 34 aces and knocking off No. 9 Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the only real upset.

"Right now I'm serving humongous," Gambill said. "I think I hit six or seven second-serve aces. Makes it tough for the guy to know what to do on the return. I'm doing a lot of things right and have a lot of confidence out there."

Gambill didn't count himself among Sampras' skeptics. "Pete's not going to fake an injury," Gambill said. Nor did he think an inflamed tendon would make Sampras more vulnerable on grass.

"Even if he had a broken leg, I wouldn't say the match is won," Gambill said. "He's going to go out there and play amazing tennis."

For Gambill, who beat Sampras when they played at Scottsdale, Ariz., last year en route to his only title, nothing could be better than facing him again here.

"I'd say I'm one of the luckiest people on earth," said Gambill, who had never gone past the third round in 11 previous majors. "I get to go out there in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, play on Centre Court, play Pete Sampras, the king of Wimbledon, the best player to ever play the game.

"I've waited all my life to play on Centre Court Wimbledon. There's really nothing for me to be overwhelmed about."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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