Sampras Struggled with Rookie

An escape from a calamity or an inauspiciousness omen!

`Mister Major` Pete Sampras (U.S.) has been called as `the emperor on the grass court`, winning 7 titles in total the Wimbledon Championship.

Although top-seeded Sampras is regarded as a strong candidate for the title, actually he has been told that his prime time has already passed because he has not recently performed well.

In the second round of the Wimbledon Championship yesterday, Sampras had to struggle through five sets of two hours and 52 minutes before defeating the wild seeded player Barry Cowen who is ranked 256th place in the world, 3-2 (6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3).

Sampras easily earned the first and second sets, which foreshadowed his painless victory. But as he lost the third and fourth sets by lefty Cowen`s furious counterattacks with the strong service and volley, he encountered the critical moment.

However, as Sampras was leading the final set by 4-0 with the experienced game management, he was able to heave a sigh of relief. This game could have been a shameful event for Sampras who has possessed the marvelous record of 53 wins and 1 loss in overall since 1993, but had to struggle to beat the unknown player who has recorded just 5 losses in the Wimbledon Championship.

Sampras told that ``this game could have been recorded as an extraordinary event of the century. His ranking was not crucial. I had a tough fight because of his excellent service and the management ability``.

Meanwhile, Andy Roddick of the U.S (18), `the second Sampras`, defeated eleventh-seeded Thomas Johansson (Sweden), 3-1 (7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6). Fouth-seeded Marat Safin (Russia), who won the title of the U.S. Open Championship last year, defeated Daniel Nestor (Canada) who gave up the game in the tied situation of set score 1-1.

In the women`s singles, fourth-seeded Jennifer Capriati (USA), who attempts at third consecutive major titles, continued the smooth progress defeating Francesca Schiavone (Italy), 2-0 (6-3, 6-1).

Kim Jong-Seok kjs0123@donga.com