SIXTH A CHARM ON THE FOURTH; HISTORIC VICTORY FOR SAMPRAS IN ALL-AMERICAN FINAL.Byline: Robin Finn The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times 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. waved his racket like Merlin's wand and, in one brash swoop, made Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. disappear - and made history, twice over - in an all-American finale Sunday on Centre Court at Wimbledon. Contrary to Agassi's prediction that this revival of a long-dormant rivalry between the top two talents of this generation had the makings of a marathon, all the holiday fireworks fireworks: see pyrotechnics. fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to belonged to Sampras. Less than two hours after another Californian who grew up in the South Bay, 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. , won her first Wimbledon title, Sampras completed an American sweep by humbling Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Sampras, the two-time defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del título defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre , passed Bjorn Borg, who won five Wimbledon titles, to become the only man in this century to accumulate six. And Sunday's bravura bra·vu·ra n. 1. Music a. Brilliant technique or style in performance. b. A piece or passage that emphasizes a performer's virtuosity. 2. A showy manner or display. adj. 1. outing earned Sampras his 12th Grand Slam singles crown, matching Australian Roy Emerson's record. Sampras, the 27-year-old classicist clas·si·cist n. 1. One versed in the classics; a classical scholar. 2. An adherent of classicism. 3. An advocate of the study of ancient Greek and Latin. Noun 1. whose game on grass has evolved to a level that admits no peers, dominated on a gray afternoon when the men's and women's finals shared the sport's most storied court for the first time since weather forced a similar pileup in 1989. Perfection was Sampras' goal and, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the top-ranked Agassi, he attained it. Ruthlessly. ``He walked on water today,'' said the 29-year-old Agassi, the 1992 Wimbledon winner who was coming off a rejuvenating victory at last month's French Open, where he completed his Grand Slam grand slam n. 1. The winning of all the tricks during the play of one hand in bridge and other whist-derived card games. 2. Sports The winning of all the major or specified events, especially on a professional circuit. collection, becoming the fifth man in history to have won all four events. Agassi also had hoped to become the first man since Borg in 1980 to collect the Roland Garros Roland Garros may refer to:
Instead it was Sampras - packing the same eviscerating punch as a human buzz saw, as Agassi saw it - who did the record-breaking. In addition to four titles at the U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
``Sometimes I feel like I was born to win here, I really do, and today was one of those days,'' said Sampras, now 46-1 at Wimbledon in the last seven years. ``In the middle of the second set, I was on fire, you know, from all aspects of my game. From serving to my ground strokes, I was playing in the zone.'' ``It was as well as I could play, plain and simple,'' said Sampras, who has turned the art of winning Wimbledon into a simple science. ``It's all about my second serve and my return. That's it, that's grass-court tennis.'' Sampras - now ranked third despite his successful title defense - broke Agassi's serve three times and tormented him with powerful second serves. ``Every time it was 30-30, if he didn't hit an ace on the first serve, he was hitting his second serve 109, 111, sometimes 119, 122 (mph),'' Agassi said. ``I think he hit one second serve the whole match that was only 100 miles an hour.'' Sampras, who switched to a one-handed backhand at Fischer's behest, the better to create a bolder, modern-day version of his stylistic role model, Rod Laver Noun 1. Rod Laver - Australian tennis player who in 1962 was the second man to win the Australian and French and English and United States singles titles in the same year; in 1969 he repeated this feat (born in 1938) Laver, Rodney George Laver , continued to stake his claim of being remembered as the greatest player to grace the game in this or any generation. ``I'm still spinning a little bit,'' said Sampras, who had not known what to expect when he took to Centre Court against the player he had described as the hottest on the men's circuit. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how I do it, I really don't, to be honest with you. ``But this is the place to do it. I mean, against Andre on the Fourth of July Fourth of July, Independence Day, or July Fourth, U.S. holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebration of it began during the American Revolution. was different than playing anyone else I've played through my career. Andre brings out the best in me; there's no question that he elevates my game to a level that's phenomenal.'' MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT By beating Andre Agassi in the Wimbledon men's final Sunday, Pete Sampras tied Roy Emerson's record for most major singles titles: Player Australian French Wimbledon U.S. Total Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born November 3 1936) is a former Australian tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He is the only male player to have won singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments. 6 2 2 2 12 Pete Sampras 2 -- 6 4 12 Bjorn Borg -- 6 5 0 11 Rod Laver 3 2 4 2 11 Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), often called "Big Bill", was an American tennis player who was the World No. 1 player for 7 years, the last time when he was 38 years old. -- 0 3 7 10 Jimmy Connors James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2, 1952 in East St. Louis, Illinois) is a former World Number 1 American tennis champion who was the top player for 160 consecutive weeks from July of 1974 to August of 1977. 1 -- 2 5 8 Ivan Lendl Noun 1. Ivan Lendl - United States tennis player (born in Czechoslovakia) who won several singles championships; in 1992 he became a United States citizen (born in 1960) Lendl 2 3 0 3 8 Fred Perry 1 13 3 8 Ken Rosewall 4 2 0 2 8 Henri Cochet -- 4 2 1 7 Rene Lacoste -- 3 2 2 7 Bill Larned -- -- -- 7 7 John McEnroe -- -- 3 4 7 John Newcombe 2 -- 3 2 7 Willie Renshaw -- -- 7 -- 7 Richard Sears -- -- -- 7 7 Mats Wilander 3 3 -- 1 7 PAST CHAMPIONS 1877 - Spencer Gore 1878 - Frank Hadow 1879 - John Hartley 1880 - John Hartley 1881 - Willie Renshaw 1882 - Willie Renshaw 1883 - Willie Renshaw 1884 - Willie Renshaw 1885 - Willie Renshaw 1886 - Willie Renshaw 1887 - Herbert Lawford 1888 - Ernest Renshaw 1889 - Willie Renshaw 1890 - Willoughby Hamilton 1891 - Wilfred Baddeley 1892 - Wilfred Baddeley 1893 - Joshua Pim 1894 - Joshua Pim 1895 - Wilfred Baddeley 1896 - Harold Mahoney 1897 - Reggie Doherty 1898 - Reggie Doherty 1899 - Reggie Doherty 1900 - Reggie Doherty 1901 - Arthur Gore 1902 - Laurie Doherty 1903 - Laurie Doherty 1904 - Laurie Doherty 1905 - Laurie Doherty 1906 - Laurie Doherty 1907 - Norman Brookes 1908 - Arthur Gore 1909 - Arthur Gore 1910 - Tony Wilding 1911 - Tony Wilding 1912 - Tony Wilding 1913 - Tony Wilding 1914 - Norman Brookes 1915-18 - Not held, World War I 1919 - Gerald Patterson 1920 - Bill Tilden 1921 - Bill Tilden 1922 - Gerald Patterson 1923 - Bill Johnston 1924 - Jean Borotra 1925 - Rene Lacoste 1926 - Jean Borotra 1927 - Henri Cochet 1928 - Rene Lacoste 1929 - Henri Cochet 1930 - Bill Tilden 1931 - Sidney Wood 1932 - Ellsworth Vines 1933 - Jack Crawford 1934 - Fred Perry 1935 - Fred Perry 1936 - Fred Perry 1937 - Don Budge 1938 - Don Budge 1939 - Bobby Riggs 1940-45 - Not held, World War II 1946 - Yvon Petra 1947 - Jack Kramer 1948 - Bob Falkenburg 1949 - Ted Schroeder 1950 - Budge Patty 1951 - Dick Savitt 1952 - Frank Sedgman 1953 - Vic Seixas 1954 - Jaroslav Drobny 1955 - Tony Trabert 1956 - Lew Hoad 1957 - Lew Hoad 1958 - Ashley Cooper 1959 - Alex Olmedo 1960 - Neale Fraser 1961 - Rod Laver 1962 - Rod Laver 1963 - Chuck McKinley 1964 - Roy Emerson 1965 - Roy Emerson 1966 - Manuel Santana 1967 - John Newcombe 1968 - Rod Laver 1969 - Rod Laver 1970 - John Newcombe 1971 - John Newcombe 1972 - Stan Smith 1973 - Jan Kodes 1974 - Jimmy Connors 1975 - Arthur Ashe 1976 - Bjorn Borg 1977 - Bjorn Borg 1978 - Bjorn Borg 1979 - Bjorn Borg 1980 - Bjorn Borg 1981 - John McEnroe 1982 - Jimmy Connors 1983 - John McEnroe 1984 - John McEnroe 1985 - Boris Becker 1986 - Boris Becker 1987 - Pat Cash 1988 - Stefan Edberg 1989 - Boris Becker 1990 - Stefan Edberg 1991 - Michael Stich 1992 - Andre Agassi 1993 - Pete Sampras 1994 - Pete Sampras 1995 - Pete Sampras 1996 - Richard Krajicek 1997 - Pete Sampras 1998 - Pete Sampras 1999 - Pete Sampras Note: Sampras' six titles is one off Willie Renshaw's record. CAPTION(S): Photo, 2 Boxes PHOTO no caption (Pete Sampras with the Wimbledon trophy) Adam Butler/Associated Press BOX: (1) MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT (see text) (2) PAST CHAMPIONS (see text) |
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