Sampras

NEW YORK - Andy Roddick, 20, shook his racket and squawked at the umpire. He cursed himself and finally threw his racket. All of it before the end of the second set. None of it made any difference to Pete Sampras, age 31, who was in the midst of playing an overwhelming match in the U.S. Open men's quarterfinals last night. When the man and the man- child came into Arthur Ashe Stadium, the place rocked to "Glory Days." Did Sampras hear it? Certainly he must believe these are those days.

NEW YORK - Andy Roddick's back hurt, but he served at 139 mph. And his foot was so badly inflamed he needed a 10-minute medical timeout to have it patched, padded, sprayed and wrapped. It was shortly after Roddick's foot repair at the start of the second set that his opponent, Juan Ignacio Chela, ran him from one end of Queens to the other on a single point. The idea was to make Roddick's foot hurt more. But No. 11 seed Roddick turned into Superman. He recovered from being pulled far right of the court and then far left.

NEW YORK - Pete Sampras went onto Arthur Ashe Stadium Court last night and painted an illusion that No. 3 seed Tommy Haas could not penetrate. Sampras, playing his storied serve-and-volley game as if he were 10 years younger, upset Haas, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5, to move into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open at the USTA National Tennis Center. "Given the year I've had, these are big matches," said Sampras, who has not won a tournament since Wimbledon 2000 and not been this far in a Grand Slam tournament since this time last year.

NEW YORK - Pete Sampras brought his happy heart and big serve into the third round of the U.S. Open last night, hoping for a bit of the old magic. He told everyone early on here that he still has the game at the age of 31 to win another Grand Slam. It would be No. 14, should he get it. Last night, under the lights at Louis Armstrong Stadium, he met No. 33 Greg Rusedski, a determined Brit who didn't believe it before the match and still didn't believe it afterward. Together, in front of a Sampras-partial crowd, they tangoed into a fifth and deciding set, Sampras rolling his shoulders between points and Rusedski touching his socks for luck after every point.

NEW YORK -- At the end of a long, rainy afternoon, No. 1 seed Serena Williams strolled onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court in her baby-pink and black tennis outfit. She brightened the day for fans, who had hung around for 7 1/2 hours hoping to see some tennis. Williams started strong, breaking Daja Bedanova in the first game and going on to win, 6-1, 6-1. It was the only match that was finished before rain returned to the National Tennis Center. Out on Louis Armstrong Stadium, No. 17 Pete Sampras and No. 33 Greg Rusedski were engaged in a competitive match.

NEW YORK - The body is strong and, if the fates are willing, Pete Sampras says he has a shot at this U.S. Open and his 14th Grand Slam title. Is it just talk? Sampras hopes not. While Wimbledon has been the sweetheart tournament of his career, bringing him seven of his record 13 major titles, some of his most impressive performances have come here at Flushing Meadows, where he has won four times. Who can forget the dramatic win over Alex Corretja during which Sampras threw up into a courtside flowerpot?

WIMBLEDON, England -- It was over, and he wouldn't leave yet, adjusting racket strings as sweat poured down his face and the English summer sun shimmered on a bandbox called Court 2, graveyard of champions. Finally, he raised himself and trudged across the scarred grass, head down, heavy black equipment bag hanging from a shoulder, a half-hearted wave to acknowledge the cheers, and then he was through a door and into the crowd, another Wimbledon done for Pete Sampras. The best tennis player there ever was on grass lost a second-round five-setter to some 27-year-old Swiss journeyman named George Bastl yesterday, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4. Four-all in the fifth, Sampras time, and the seven-time Wimbledon champion was beaten, out-muscled in five minutes of tennis fury by an ex-hockey player with bow legs and a big forehand.

WIMBLEDON, England - They're in their 30s, the tennis twilight, the last three ex-men's champions left standing at Wimbledon. But yesterday, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Richard Krajicek managed to remind the tennis world that they're not old, just older, winning their opening-round matches on an opening day unlike any other in recent memory at Wimbledon. Usually the reigning men's champion plays the first match on Centre Court, pulling up the first divots on the emerald lawn. But for the first time since opening day 1946 - when the tournament resumed after stopping during World War II - the men's finalists from the previous year were missing.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon opens today with new questions in the struggle for old tennis glory. Can Pete Sampras, who is nursing a rib injury, find his form? Can Tim Henman end Britain's long title drought? And can anyone push reigning women's champion Venus Williams, other than her younger sister Serena? The questions form the backdrop to one of the more open and captivating Wimbledons in years, where just showing up may count for a lot. The beauty of Wimbledon is that no matter the state of tennis, the tournament manages to create its own drama, such as last year when Goran Ivanisevic gained a wild-card entry and won the men's title in a scorching final against Pat Rafter.