ROME – Pete Sampras blamed
illness and a lack of clay court preparation as he fell in the
first round of the $2.95 million Italian Open on Tuesday.
The defeat leaves him short of tournament practice before
the French Open gets underway in three weeks.
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Agassi, Sampras combined in 2001 |
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Clay
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Hardcourts
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Win-loss
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0-3
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31-7
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Sets W-L
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1-6
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76-29
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Titles
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0
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3
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The holder of a record 13 Grand Slam men's singles titles,
Sampras lost 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 to little-known Israeli Harel Levy in a
rain-delayed match played over two days.
"Lack of matches a little bit," he said when asked why he
had lost. "Sure the clay is difficult, but I'm also sure I can
hold my own against anyone out here.
"It is disappointing. I would have loved to have played a
little bit better here. It's been a while since I played well
here."
Third-seeded Andre Agassi also suffered a
surprising 6-3, 6-3 first-round defeat against Spain's Alex
Calatrava .
Agassi, leader of the ATP Champions Race and one of the
favorites for the tournament, made 35 unforced errors.
|  | | Once again on clay, things didn't go well for Pete Sampras, who lost to Harel Levy 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 at the Italian Open.
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Agassi is still likely to be regarded as a leading
contender for the French Open.
Top seed and the world's No. 1 ranked player, second-seeded Marat Safin, Gustavo Kuerten, seventh seed
Lleyton Hewitt and ninth seeded Briton Tim Henman halted the
decline of the seeds.
Brazil's Kuerten, the reigning French Open champion and
winner of the Rome title in 1999, endured a torrid time against
Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic before prevailing 6-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Kuerten's next match is an intriguing contest with 1989
French Open champion Michael Chang. Chang, of the U.S., beat
Spain's Fernando Vicente 6-4, 7-5.
Safin was also stretched, with the Russian downing Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
Australian Hewitt also showed inconsistencies but called on
his reserves of determination at the perfect time to triumph
6-1, 2-6, 7-5 over the Czech republic's Bohdan Ulihrach.
Henman said he could "not have executed the first set any
better" against Spanish clay court specialist Albert Costa.
Costa capitalized on typical negligence from Henman in the
second, but the world number 10, who is showing signs of
mastering clay, regrouped to claim a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Sampras, the fourth seed, won the Italian Open in 1994, beating Boris Becker in
straight sets in the final, but hasn't made it beyond the third
round the past three years.
"He played very well ... but it is disappointing for me,"
Sampras said afterward.
"I felt good coming in to the tournament, and now I have to
start again."
This year he changed his training schedule in the build-up
to the tournament, running more and working on his stamina to
get used to the demands of the grueling clay court surface.
"I was doing a lot of training, probably too much, and I got
sick from it," he said.
The illness caused him to miss the Monte Carlo Open, a
traditional clay court season starter.
Sampras now will play clay court tournaments in Hamburg and
Duesseldorf before heading to Roland Garros.
He added: "It would be nice to go into Paris having played
more. That's why this is disappointing."
Technically, his game was fine, he said, but he still needs
to find patience on clay.
"I need to be able to stay back, not rush things... because
when I play on anything but clay, it's really natural."
Asked if he had considered getting a dedicated clay court
coach, Sampras, who is working with former professional Paul
Annacone, was wary.
"It's kind of a sensitive subject, but I'm confident with
who I'm working with. It's fine."
Sampras resumed the match Tuesday, which was held over
from Monday because of rain, trailing Levy 7-5, 1-3, but Sampras comfortably closed out the second set to force a
decider.
Levy, ranked 46 in the world, refused to
wilt under Sampras's aggressive start, however, and broke serve
in the first game of the third set to lead 1-0.
Sampras began to struggle with the conditions and had to save
further break points in the fifth and ninth games before Levy
claimed victory on his first match point.
In other first round matches, Spanish 10th seed Alex
Corretja rallied to beat compatriot Carlos Moya 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 and
sixth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov advanced to the second round when
opponent Andrei Pavel of Romania retired through injury with
the Russian leading 7-5, 3-1.
Corretja avenged his defeat to Moya at the Barcelona Open
last month.
Moya broke in the 10th game of the first set to take
control, but Corretja, champion here in 1997, established a 4-0
lead in the second set and never looked back. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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