| | ESPN.com news services
WIMBLEDON, England -- Pete Sampras is stiff and sore, but
the six-time Wimbledon champion expects to play Friday despite what
his coach calls a "mysterious" leg injury.
|  | | Sweden's Thomas Johansson was the surprise victor, defeating No. 5 seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov. |
"As far as I know he's going to play unless he tells me
otherwise later," coach Paul Annacone said, adding Sampras could
have played Thursday if necessary.
"It's a matter of just accepting what's thrown at you and
seeing what you can do. And if he can't do it, he can't do it.
That's just the way it is."
Two more seeded men took a fall Thursday. Fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov lost Thursday to Thomas Johansson 6-1,
7-6 (7-0), 6-4. No. 15 Marat Safin was eliminated by Martin Damm 7-5,
7-6 (7-4), 6-3, leaving seven seeded men in the tournament.
The final match on Centre Court between second-seeded Andre
Agassi and Todd Martin was suspended in the fourth set until Friday
because of rain. Agassi led 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 0-1.
Agassi, playing reluctantly in the rain, took a nasty fall
before tournament referee Alan Mills stopped the match. As Agassi
left the court, he shouted angrily at Mills.
"What are you doing out here right now if you wait until I
fall?" he said. "It's not right."
Annacone described Sampras as "stiff and sore. He can walk but
he's not going to break the 100-meter record today."
Davis Cup captain John McEnroe, who was hoping to have Sampras on the team against Spain next month, said the injury looked serious.
"Serious enough that I'm calling other people about Davis Cup," McEnroe said. "If he's worried about it now, he's going to be worried about it a couple of weeks from now."
Annacone said Sampras apparently injured himself five minutes after
beginning his warmup for his second-round match against Karol
Kucera, which he won 7-6 (9), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The injury began to
show in the third set when he called for a trainer after he began
to limp and favor his left foot.
Though Annacone said the tendinitis was in Sampras' shin just
above the foot, a statement from ATP Tour trainer Doug Spreen said
Sampras had tendinitis in his left foot.
"I know where the pain is in Pete's leg, and the pain is not in
his foot," Annacone said. "In the picture I saw there was a
little bit of inflammation in a tendon that's above the ankle at
the start of the shin. Last time I checked, that isn't your foot."
The injury is the latest in a series for 28-year-old Sampras,
who missed the U.S. Open last year with a herniated disc in his
back.
Sampras, who plays Justin Gimelstob in Friday's third round,
would appear to have a great chance for his seventh Wimbledon
crown. The only other seeded player left in his half of the draw is
No. 9 Thomas Enqvist.
Another Wimbledon win would give Sampras his 13th Grand Slam
title and break the men's record he shares with Roy Emerson.
"When it comes big events and major events he tries to do what
ever he can to play regardless of the situation. And he generally
does that pretty well," Annacone said.
"But he's such a big picture guy that he hates to do something
that may hurt him for the next 12 months."
In other action Thursday, fourth-seeded French Open champion Gustavo
Kuerten won his 15th match in a row, beating qualifier Justin Bower
6-4, 6-4, 7-5. No. 12 Patrick Rafter of Australia eliminated
countryman Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. No. 10 Mark Philippoussis rallied to beat Arnaud Di Pasquale
4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-0.
Kafelnikov struggled with his serve and told Reuters he had been close to defaulting.
After a vain battle against an injury that had been plaguing
him all week, Kafelnikov was knocked out by
Johansson, who has lost 10 times in the first
round this year.
The Russian, forced to retire at Wimbledon last year with a
right hamstring injury, told Reuters this time the problem was "the
muscles between my ribs which were bothering me pretty much."
"I was in so big pain I couldn't lift my arms up," he
said, recalling the moment when he had to call on the trainer at
5-5 in the second set.
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