| | Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England -- Jan-Michael Gambill pulled off the
biggest upset of Wimbledon so far with a straight-sets victory
Tuesday over Lleyton Hewitt, who was regarded as a strong threat to
Pete Sampras' title.
|  | | Gustavo Kuerten had to overcome his temper for a first-round victory. |
The seventh-seeded Hewitt beat Sampras in straight sets in the
final of the Wimbledon warmup at Queen's Club. Sampras, as well as
other top current and former players, had anointed the gritty
Australian as the next big star and a possible Wimbledon champion.
But, in his first appearance on Centre Court, Hewitt came out
flat, and Gambill, a 23-year-old American, outslugged him from the
baseline 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Andre Agassi advanced after an injury to his opponent on Centre Court.
Agassi dropped the first set 6-2 to 19-year-old American
qualifier Taylor Dent, but won the next two, 6-3, 6-0, and was up
4-0 in the fourth when Dent retired with a knee injury.
Dent, whose father, Phil, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in
1977, played spectacular tennis in the first set to raise the
possibility of a huge upset. But, from 5-3 in the second set, he lost 11 straight games. He
called an injury timeout at 5-0 in the third set and had his right
knee sprayed and taped by a trainer. The trainer came out two more
times, and Dent, clearly hobbling, gave up at 4-0.
Agassi commiserated with Dent, then performed his traditional
bows and kisses to the fans.
Gambill, ranked No. 49 in the season-long points race,
overwhelmed Hewitt in the first two sets. The Australian began to
find his game in the third set, racing to a 5-2 lead and looking
like he might produce a five-set comeback.
But Hewitt squandered three set points, and Gambill stormed
back. At 5-5, Hewitt served his eighth double fault at deuce and
was broken on the next point when he hit a backhand long.
With Gambill serving for the match, Hewitt had two break points
to even the set at 6-6. But Gambill saved the first with an ace and
the second with a service winner. He converted his first match
point with another big serve.
"There's nothing I can do about it," Hewitt said. "I have to
get it out of my mind as quickly as possible."
It was the second big upset by an unheralded American in two
days. On Monday, Vince Spadea snapped his tour record 21-match
losing streak by beating 14th-seeded Greg Rusedski in five sets.
"I was very pumped," Gambill said. "I was excited to go out
there and have a good battle. I played really well. I know he's a
fiery player. I know how he's going to play. He's been great this
whole year. He's just proved time and time again how fierce and
tough a competitor he is. That's the way I want to be out there.
This match means a lot for me confidence wise."
Gambill, of Colbert, Wash., came into Wimbledon with a career
record of 7-11 in Grand Slam tournaments. Named after actor
Jan-Michael Vincent, Gambill was known as much for his good looks
as his game -- he was featured as one of People magazine's 50 most
beautiful people this year.
"What this match proves to me is that I can play against the
top guys," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, French Open runner-up Magnus Norman
eased into the second round when Mark
Woodforde quit with a back injury in the third set.
The third-seeded Swede was leading 6-4, 6-2, 2-0. It was
Norman's first match since his loss this month to Gustavo Kuerten
in the French final. Despite his high seeding, Norman has yet to
advance past the third round at Wimbledon.
Woodforde entered the singles as a wild card. It wasn't
immediately known whether the Australian's injury would force him
out of doubles, where he and Todd Woodbridge are seeded No. 1.
The "Woodies" won the Wimbledon doubles title five straight
times from 1993-97. They completed a career Grand Slam by winning
the French Open doubles this month.
Fourth-seeded Kuerten served 29 aces while posting his
career-best 14th straight victory, beating American Chris Woodruff
6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Kuerten overcame a highly disputed call that cost him the second
set. With the Brazilian serving for the set at 5-4, a Woodruff shot
that appeared long was called in. Kuerten argued vehemently with
chair umpire Jorge Dias and proceeded to lose the set.
Kuerten said the call destroyed his concentration for 30
minutes.
"One call like that can change the match," he said. "I was
sure that the umpire saw it and he didn't call. I don't know why."
But Kuerten regained his composure and took the next two sets in
impressive fashion, proving he can adapt his clay-court prowess to
grass. Rather than stay anchored to the baseline, he won 24 of his
33 approaches to the net.
"I'm very confident," he said. "I think I can play even
better."
Fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a first-round loser twice in
the past four years, advanced by beating Switzerland's Roger
Federer 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (6).
Australia's Patrick Rafter, a semifinalist last year and seeded
No. 12, beat Britain's Jamie Delgado in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6
(7), 6-1. Michael Chang, who has lost in the first round here four
times, swept to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Argentina's Gaston Gaudio.
Later Monday, No. 2 Andre Agassi, the 1992 champion, plays American qualifier Taylor Dent. | |
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