Sampras, Davenport Advance to Semis
N E W Y O R K, Sept. 7 -- It was a night of paybacks for Pete Sampras andLindsay Davenport, each of them conquering a personal tormentor andedging closer to regaining the U.S. Open titles they once held.
For the four-time champion Sampras, it was the sweet 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-2 defeat Wednesday night of Richard Krajicek, who hadthe best record against him of any active player and was the onlyman to beat him at Wimbledon in the past eight years.
For Davenport, the women’s titlist in 1998, it was a 6-4, 6-2quarterfinal rout of defending champion Serena Williams that endeda string of five straight losses to her over the past three years.
Sampras moved into the semifinals against Lleyton Hewitt, a19-year-old Australian who is seeking to become the youngest winnersince Sampras won his first title in 1990.
Miracle Comeback in Tiebreaker
The 6-foot-5 Krajicek, who beat Sampras en route to winningWimbledon in 1996 and had held a 6-3 record against him, sought toimpose his big serve on Sampras once again. He did just that in thefirst set and wound up with 23 aces, but the match turned on aspellbinding comeback by Sampras from 2-6 in the second-settiebreaker.
Facing four set points, Sampras saved them all. First came aspectacular drop volley that nicked the net cord. Next there was aforehand return that Sampras mis-hit but saw land safely for awinner. He then drilled a perfect backhand pass into the corner andpumped his fist to the crowd.
When he saved number four with an approach shot that Krajiceknetted, and followed it up with a service winner and a sizzlingreturn winner to close out the set, Sampras delivered an uppercutto the air that might as well have been straight to Krajicek’s jaw.
“It was his tiebreaker, somehow,” said Krajicek, who couldn’tfigure out how it slipped away. “It was meant to be that he wouldwin that set. I don’t know.”
‘I Thought I Was Gone’
The match was virtually over right there as Krajicek saggedvisibly and Sampras kept up the pressure.
