HE'S FRENCH TOAST; SAMPRAS AGAIN FLOPS IN PARIS, LOSES TO NO. 100.Byline: Charles Bricker South Florida Sun-Sentinel The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and all of Broward County. Its main competitor in this area is the Miami Herald, out of neighboring Miami-Dade County to the south. It had the feel of one of those lab experiments in which rats are sent through a maze looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a piece of cheese. They never alter their route and they never get the cheese. Pete Sampras Peter “Pete” Sampras (born 12 August 1971), is a former World No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During his 15-year career he won a record 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles in 52 appearances. Sampras finished as No. is gone again. Stubborn, intransigent, unwilling to adapt, he was flushed out of the French Open for the 10th time on a warm, sleeveless Thursday in a loss to Andrei Medvedev that will go down as one of his most ignominious ig·no·min·i·ous adj. 1. Marked by shame or disgrace: "It was an ignominious end ... as a desperate mutiny by a handful of soldiers blossomed into full-scale revolt" Angus Deming. . Medvedev, the former top-10 player who had fallen off to No. 100 because of a dinged-up right hand, blasted Sampras out of Paris 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. ``There's no question that I'm struggling to really find my game. It's definitely showing,'' said Sampras as he aimlessly aim·less adj. Devoid of direction or purpose. aim  less·ly adv.aim fingered a water bottle at an interview table. ``It will be tough the next four or five days. All losses hurt, especially at Slams. . . . They hurt even more.'' The dialogue sounded all too familiar. This one deserves to hurt the most. Sampras had a dream draw here with not one opponent in the top 50 through the quarterfinals. He never made the third round. This was no classic clay-courter he was battling on the Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (24 May 1899 – 4 July, 1938) was a French tennis player who won 31 Grand Slam titles from 1914 through 1926. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named court. Medvedev hits flat groundstrokes from the baseline and he'd barely nose out your arthritic grandfather over 40 yards. There was a time, perhaps two years ago, when the French, the only Slam to escape Sampras, seemed within reach under the right weather conditions. Now it seems untouchable untouchable Former classification of various low-status persons and those outside the Hindu caste system in Indian society. The term Dalit is now used for such people (in preference to Mohandas K. for him. His game is in clear decline and it no longer seems certain he'll win that record-tying 12th major. Even with Wimbledon coming up. Medvedev advances in a seed-depleted quadrant of the draw that could sweep him to a quarterfinal meeting with No. 8 Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo Kuerten (born September 10, 1976 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina) is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001. . Kuerten defeated Guillermo Canas to make the third round with No. 14 Felix Mantilla. Thomas Enqvist Thomas Enqvist (born March 13, 1974 in Stockholm) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden, who played on the ATP circuit since turning pro in 1991. He announced his retirement from tennis in April, 2006. , the No. 16 seed who was runner-up at the Australian Open
The righthander represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was defeated in the third round by Russia's Andrei , the Norwegian living in Tampa. Third-seeded Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former World No. 1 tennis player. He was twice men's singles champion at the US Open, and twice runner-up at Wimbledon. Rafter was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006. He lives in Bermuda. was leading Nicolas Escude two sets to none and No. 6 Alex Corretja was deadlocked at two sets apiece with Fernando Vicente Fernando Vicente Fibla (born March 8, 1977 in Benicarló) is a tennis player from Spain, who turned professional in 1996. The righthander Vincente has won four singles (1999, Merano, 2000, Casablanca, 2001, Bogotá and 2006, Bermuda) and one doubles title (2004, Casablanca) so when darkness halted play. They'll finish today. On the women's side, second-seeded Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport (born June 8 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 American professional female tennis champion. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments: the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and the 2000 Australian Open. was handed a second-round victory by 16-year-old Belgian Justine Henin Justine Henin; (listen ) (born June 1, 1982 in Liège) is a Belgian professional tennis player from the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium. , who had victory within her grasp but tightened at the end, allowing Davenport to pull out a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory. ``Today, I just feel glad to be still in the tournament,'' Davenport said. ``I knew there was a chance she might get a little tight. I just hung in there, played aggressively. I knew I wasn't out of it.'' Davenport was joined in the third round by No. 3 Monica Seles, No. 6 Steffi Graf Noun 1. Steffi Graf - German tennis player who won seven women's singles titles at Wimbledon (born in 1969) Graf, Stephanie Graf , No. 11 Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born December 14 1978, Basel) is professional female tennis player. She has been playing on the WTA tour since the mid-1990s and is a former World No.7. She has had significant wins over World No. 1's. and No. 16 Julie Halard Decugis and unseeded comeback kid Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Marie Capriati (born March 29, 1976, in New York City) is a former World No. 1 women's tennis player from the United States. She won three Grand Slam singles titles (2001 and 2002 Australian Open, 2001 French Open), and the women's singles gold medal at the 1992 Olympic , who beat Lilia Osterloh Lilia Osterloh (born April 7, 1978 in Columbus, Ohio) is a tennis player from the United States, who started a professional career in August 1997. She reached her highest individual ranking in the WTA Tour in April 23, 2001, when she became the number 41 in the world. in three sets. Eighth-seeded Mary Pierce Mary Pierce (born on January 15, 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a French-American women's professional tennis player on the WTA tour and the winner of a total of four Grand Slam titles: two in singles; and two in doubles. Pierce plays for France. , who hasn't made the quarters here since reaching the 1994 final, was tripped by Conchita Martinez. The Sampras loss marked the fifth time in 10 tries that he has gone out in the first or second round at the French. Medvedev is the lowest-ranked player to beat him in a Grand Slam in the 10 years since Sampras won his first major, at the 1990 U.S. Open. Before this loss, the lowest- ranked player to beat him in a Slam was No. 97 Ramon Delgado, who put him out in the second round here a year ago. That's how bad things are going here for him. Sampras has never learned to play on clay and his feet show it. There are times when he looks off balance. There are times when he should slide into balls and doesn't. He has searched for a solution to winning this tournament. He has gone to Paris a week early. He has flown in two days before the tournament begins. He has spent more time at home practicing and less time playing clay-court leadup tournaments. He has played more tournaments and done less practicing. He has played the week before the French. He has taken the week off. This year he hired Aussie fitness trainer Brett ``The Moose'' Stephens to whip him into clay-court shape. He has made all these adjustments but never made changes in his court tactics. ``I know what I need to do. It's just going out there and doing it,'' Sampras said when asked why he doesn't hire a coach who is a clay- court expert. ``When you complicate things, like if I need another guy, or do this or that, play more, play less . . . I just need to play well. And if you don't play well, you're not going to win. And that's what happened today.'' Sampras committed 74 unforced errors in barely winning his first- round match over Juan Antonio Marin. He had 61 unforced errors against Medvedev. ``The key to the match was really from the end of the third to the fourth sets,'' Sampras said. ``I had about 15 minutes of a lapse of concentration. You can't afford to do that.'' DECADE OF DISAPPOINTMENT Here's a look at Pete Sampras' annual frustration at the French Open, the only slam title that has eluded the top American player: 1989 Lost in the second round to Michael Chang 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 1991 Lost in the second round to Thierry Champion 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 1992 Lost in the quarterfinals to Andre Agassi 7-6, 6-2, 6-1 1993 Lost in the quarterfinals to Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 1994 Lost in the quarterfinals to Jim Courier 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 1995 Lost in the first round to Gilbert Schaffer 6-7, 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 1996 Lost in the semifinals to Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-6, 6-0, 6-2 1997 Lost in the third round to Magnus Norman 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 1998 Lost in the second round to Ramon Delgado 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 1999 Lost in the second round to Andrei Medvedev 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 FRENCH OPEN AT A GLANCE Thursday's play in the French Open: Attendance: 31,539 at Roland Garros stadium (31,420 in 1998). Weather: Sunny with afternoon highs of 86. Men's winners: Gustavo Kuerten (8) and Felix Mantilla (14). Women's winners: Lindsay Davenport (2), Monica Seles (3), Steffi Graf (6), Patty Schnyder (11) and Julie Halard Decugis (16). Men's losers: Pete Sampras (2) lost to Andrei Medvedev and Thomas Enqvist (16) lost to Christian Ruud. Women's losers: Mary Pierce (8) lost to Conchita Martinez and Nathalie Tauziat (9) lost to Gala Leon Garcia. Suspended matches: Patrick Rafter (3) vs. Nicolas Escude and Alex Corretja (6) vs. Fernando Vincente. Today's men's schedule: Carlos Moya (4) vs. Sargis Sargsian. Marcelo Rios (9) vs. Albert Costa. Tim Henman (7) vs. Alberto Berasategui. Greg Rusedski (12) vs. Davide Sanguinetti and Andre Agassi (13) vs. Chris Woodruff. Today's women's schedule: Martina Hingis (1) vs. Kveta Hrdlickova. Jana Novotna (4) vs. Silvija Talaja. Venus Williams (5) vs. Alicia Molik. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (7) vs. Irina Spirlea. Serena Williams (10) vs. Mary Joe Fernandez and Barbara Schett (15) vs. Sylvia Plischke. Quote: ``I'm still boring . . . but I was on the edge of breaking a few sticks.'' - Pete Sampras, on his frustration in losing to Andrei Medvedev. Stat of the day: 5 - number of aces Sampras had in his four-set match against Medvedev. - Associated Press CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, 2 Boxes Photo: (1--Color) Allergic to clay, Pete Sampras grimaces after missing a shot against Andrei Medvedev. Michel Euler/Associated Press (2) Patrick Rafter will have to continue his match with Nicolas Escude today. It was suspended Thursday with Rafter leading two sets to none. Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press Box: (1) DECADE OF DISAPPOINTMENT (See text) (2) FRENCH OPEN AT A GLANCE (See text) |
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