Sampras and Agassi back in the old routine
Despite his claims to the contrary, Pete Sampras is revelling in proving his detractors wrong. He emphatically signalled that he remains a major force by reaching his eighth US Open final last night.
Sampas, four times a champion here, beat the unheralded Sjeng Schalken 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to set up an all-American final today with Andre Agassi. Agassi beat top seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (1-7) 6-2 in a thrilling match.
The popular view was that the 13-time grand-slam champion was washed up; Sampras had lost in the second round of Wimbledon to a qualifier, then early in a warm-up tournament for the final major of the year. Yesterday Sampras won all the key points, even though his second serve did not function with the efficiency of his quarter-final victory over Andy Roddick. But his 13 double faults were easily outweighed by 23 aces and the 31-year-old produced a driven performance. He is delighting in being competitive in a grand slam for the first time in 12 months and he needed to be close to his best because his twenty-fifth ranked opponent was in no way overawed by the occasion.
The opening set lasted 53 minutes and Sampras had to work extremely hard to draw first blood. He won the first seven points of the match, but by recovering from 0-40 in the first grand-slam semi-final service game of his career Schalken settled to his task in impressive fashion. The Dutchman is an undemonstrative and uncomplicated player. It's hard to see how his very upright service action, which belies no apparent shift in weight, can generate any pace. But Schalken can hit the corners of the service box with penetrating accuracy.
No one needed to tell Sampras how important the breaker might prove and he set about securing it with renewed vigour. His bristling aggression brought him the first four points, but he uncharacteristically squandered the initiative. Schalken held set point at 6-5 but, to the delight of the crowd, Sampras saved it with a textbook serve-volley point. He then produced an inspired backhand volley to take a 7-6 lead. He converted the set point when Schalken sent a forehand well beyond the baseline. Given the way that both players were serving it was no surprise that the second set went into a shoot-out as well. Neither player had a break point against him in regulation play but once again Sampras's big time experience proved decisive as he moved to within a set of his eighth appearance in a US Open final.
Schalken struck first in the second set tie-break but when he was leading 3-1 his backhand failed him and he drove the ball long. The error seemed to inhibit him and Sampras had the scent of his vulnerable prey. He played near faultless tennis to win the breaker 7-4.
In the first game of the third set, Sampras informed umpire Javier Moreno that he was talking 'bullshit' when he overruled a call of out from the base lineswoman. Television replays proved the umpire had been wrong to intervene and from 30-all Sampras fended off two break points before holding serve.
The demoralising impact on Schalken manifested itself when Sampras secured the first break of serve of the match to open a 3-1 lead in the third set. Even so, protecting the advantage proved far from straightforward as the underdog refused to yield. Nerves appeared to hit Sampras as he served for a 5-2 lead. He steered a routine forehand volley wide to slip to 30-40 and needed to play a careful overhead to prevent the break back. He then double faulted and saved the second break point with an ace. This time there was no question of the initiative being squandered. He climbed all over Schalken as the Dutchman served to stay in the match. A deep backhand volley brought up match point and another ensured it wasn't wasted. Sampras had rendered his tennis obituaries premature by reaching the final here for the third year running.
It will be like old times in today's final as Sampras meets fellow American Agassi. Agassi goes into the final chasing his third US Open crown against his eternal rival Sampras, who owns four Flushing Meadows titles but has not tasted victory of any description in over two years.
With the Williams sisters Venus and Serena meeting in the women's final, it marks the first time since 1979 that both men's and women's titles will be contested by Americans.
Today's final will also make the fifth time Agassi, the Las Vegas showman, and Sampras, the man rated the greatest to ever swing a racket, have met to decide a grand-slam title. Sampras won three of those four meeting, including the 1995 US Open.
· Iain Carter is BBC Radio tennis correspondent