Safin blows Sampras into history
Whatever happens between now and Sunday, and this tournament has provided a series of shocks and surprises, the Australian Open will have a new champion. In all probability it will be Russia's Marat Safin, who reached the last eight yesterday by defeating Pete Sampras, the winner here in 1994 and 1997.
Safin's win was nothing like as brutal as that in the 2000 United States Open final, when Sampras managed only 10 games during a straight-sets defeat from which he has not entirely recovered. For two sets yesterday the Russian, 22 on the day of the final, had Sampras by the throat but the American staged a spirited recovery before Safin slammed the door in a second tie-break. He won 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in just over 3 hours of enthralling and frequently brilliant tennis.
Asked who he thought might win the title now, Sampras replied: "I really don't care." Then, as a pertinent after-thought, he added: "Whoever doesn't choke." The comment will not have been aimed at his friend Tim Henman but it was a further reminder of the opportunity the Briton missed, not that anybody would have fancied his chances against Safin if they had met in the final. The Russian is a tennis heavyweight, Henman a tricksy lightweight by comparison.
Sampras, without a title since his Wimbledon win two years ago, the last of his 13 grand-slam successes, arrived in Australia brimming with vigour and duly lifted his confidence by beating Andre Agassi in the final of the pre-Open exhibition event here. But he then experienced a tough opening week, including a five-set third-round match against France's Nicolas Escudé which went on into the small hours of Sunday morning.
Since losing that final to Safin the two have met three times, with Sampras winning twice, including last year's US Open semi-final. But 2001 was a difficult year for Safin, a back injury robbing him of form and confidence. Having finished the previous year as the world No2, he drifted out of the top 10 and used the winter months to prepare more assiduously than ever.
He has also surrounded himself with friends, for both comfort and inspiration. Many of his entourage are blondes. "I have an unbelievably beautiful bench," he said beaming after defeating Sampras - Marat's Angels. He has also moved from Spain, where he had spent seven happy and formative years, to Geneva, "where I am a little nearer Russia".
Sweden's Mats Wilander, himself a three-times Australian Open champion, is still coaching Safin but he is not here - hence the need, presumably, for the entourage.
Sampras has acquired a new coach Tom Gullikson, twin brother of his earlier coach Tim who died, together with a new-found zest for tennis life, or so he would have everybody believe. The reality is that Sampras, who turned 30 last year, is not what he was.
The serve has lost much of its bite and his reflexes at the net have slowed enough for him to be beaten for pace during the first two sets, when he could scarcely hit a volley of note.
Sampras's mid-match recovery will give his many admirers hope that he may yet win an eighth Wimbledon title this year, having lost in the fourth round to Switzerland's Roger Federer last time, but his days continue to look numbered. "There has never been any doubt in my mind about carrying on," said Sampras defensively but this may have been his last Australian Open.
In his own fourth-round match Federer, who had a match point, lost in five sets to Germany's Tommy Haas who, at No7, is the top seed left standing. He next plays Chile's Marcelo Rios, a beaten finalist here in 1998, for a place in the semi-finals, while Safin is up against South Africa's Wayne Ferreira, who defeated Spain's Albert Costa in his second successive five-set victory.
Safin holds a 2-0 career advantage over Ferreira, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 1992 as a 20-year-old but had not reached the last eight again. "I'm getting slower but I can last longer," said Ferreira. The same cannot be said of Sampras.