SAMPRAS FORCED TO GO THE EXTRA MILE.

Byline: Steve Wilstein Associated Press 

Pete Sampras choked. He knew it. The crowd saw it. Goran Ivanisevic celebrated it.

The moment passed in embarrassment for Sampras, and he played an extra set he didn't need and most certainly didn't want two days after throwing up and nearly fainting on court.

Yet when he walked off after the third semifinal on Semi-Super Saturday, he held up his arms in triumph, a U.S. Open finalist again in defense of his title.

Sampras, who will go for his fourth Open championship today against Michael Chang, wound up with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (11-9), 6-3 victory over Ivanisevic.

To absolutely no one's surprise, defending champion Steffi Graf will play Monica Seles for the women's title in a rematch of last year's final.

The Sampras-Ivanisevic match lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes - about 40 minutes longer than it would have if Sampras hadn't done the unthinkable. Sampras wanted this match to be over as quickly as possible. He just couldn't quite do it when he first had the chance with four match points in the third set.

Leading 6-3 in the tiebreaker, needing two serves to put the match away, Sampras watched one backhand go by him for 6-4, then double-faulted to 6-5, both serves clipping the net cord and popping out.

``I basically choked on the second serve,'' Sampras acknowledged. ``Then I was waiting for him to miss, and you can't do that.''

Ivanisevic didn't miss the rest of that tiebreaker, closing it out with an ace as a jet roared overhead.

``The first couple of games in the fourth set, I couldn't believe I was still out there,'' Sampras said. ``I wasn't mad at myself. I was a little bit rattled. I couldn't believe what was happening. I needed to regroup and regain my composure.''

That's exactly what Sampras did, settling down, waiting for his chances, finally gaining a break to 5-3 with the help of a fan. At deuce in that game, Ivanisevic was about to hit a forehand when a fan yelled out in the silence, ``Whooo

'' Ivanisevic turned, took his eye off the ball, and netted it. The point lost, he scowled up into the crowd, but knew he could do nothing. Sampras closed him out in the game with a backhand return.

``It's frustrating, but what can you do?'' Ivanisevic said. ``I can only jump from the bridge on the way to the hotel.''

In Chang's semifinal against Andre Agassi, Chang's 16th ace - as emphatic as an exclamation point - knocked his opponent out on a half-cloudy, half-sunny day.

``Everything clicked,'' Chang said of his surprisingly quick 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 rout over Agassi. ``Even though Andre's dropped in the rankings, today I was the underdog. I think people expected him to win.

``I was playing some of my best tennis, for sure.''

Chang, ranked No. 3 but seeded second, can jump up to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career if he wins in his first trip to an Open final.

``I never could find my rhythm,'' said Agassi, the 1994 champion and 1995 runner-up. ``He was serving big. He got on top of me, and I never could quite get out of it.''

The sixth-seeded Agassi, at times the best returner in tennis, never broke Chang in the match, and never got even a break-point against him in the first and third sets.

Graf kicked off the day, coming back from a night of rain to dismiss talented and tempestuous Martina Hingis 7-5, 6-3.

The only surprises in Graf's victory were how long it took and how difficult it was against the 15-year-old Swiss girl, who has blossomed into a serious threat to all the top players.

AT A GLANCE

Today's finals: Men - No. 1 Pete Samprasvs. No. 2 Michael Chang. Women - No. 1 Steffi Graf vs. No. 2 Monica Seles. Television coverage begins at 11 a.m. on Channel 2.

Saturday's results: Men's singles, semifinals - Sampras beat No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic; Chang beat No. 6 Andre Agassi. Women's singles, semifinals - Graf beat No. 16 Martina Hingis.

Stat of the day: Agassi had only three-break point opportunities, all in the second set, and converted none in his match against Chang.

Quote of the day: ``I knew he was going to be strong. He had one day to recover. He just threw up, he didn't die.''

- Goran Ivanisevic, discussing the physical condition of Pete Sampras, who became sick just off the court during his quarterfinal match Thursday against Alex Corretja.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO Steffi Graf beat 15-year-old Martina Hingis to a dvance to today's final vs. Monica Seles.

Associated Press

Box: AT A GLANCE (see text)