| | Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England -- Grass may turn out to be Pat Rafter's best surface. Just not as long as Pete Sampras is around.
|  | | Patrick Rafter just couldn't hang on after a good start Sunday. |
After winning the first set of Sunday's Wimbledon final in a
tiebreaker and going up 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak, Rafter
admitted he succumbed to nerves.
The Australian lost five straight points -- three on his own
serve -- and began to sense he couldn't keep Sampras from his
seventh Wimbledon title and record 13th Grand Slam.
He was right as Sampras won the three-hour match 6-7 (10), 7-6
(5), 6-4, 6-2.
"I was struggling with my rhythm and getting up to serve at
4-1, when you're not doing something very well, you're a little bit
tight. The errors will start showing up. That's what happened,"
Rafter said.
One of tennis' best athletes and a great volleyer, Rafter found
it almost impossible to get a passing shot by Sampras -- partially
because his serve never put the American under pressure.
Sampras racked up 27 aces to 12 for Rafter. More telling, the
American hit 13 passing shots by Rafter, while the Australian got
only two past Sampras.
It was a long way from the near-perfect semifinal the
12th-seeded Rafter played to beat Andre Agassi, a combination of
baseline tennis and grass-court serve-and-volley.
Sampras and Rafter have feuded in the past, but in their first
Wimbledon final against each other they had only kind words.
"Pat is a great player that is going to be in contention here
every year he plays," Sampras said. "It really is a matter of a
couple points. ... That's grass-court tennis."
Sampras, who has a 10-4 edge on the Australian, was sympathetic
with Rafter's nerves in the second set. He had them, himself, in
the first set when he failed to convert four break points and three
set points and dropped a set he should have won.
"We all choke," Sampras said. "No matter who you are, you
just get in the heat of the moment. You know the title could be won
or lost in a matter of a couple of shots."
Rafter, who has made a remarkable comeback after undergoing
surgery on his right shoulder in October, said he got more than he
expected. He returned to play in February and won the last
grass-court warmup for Wimbledon two week ago.
"I wasn't expecting anything this year and anything that came
round was just a bonus. This is one lovely big bonus for me," he
said, crediting his doctor for aiding his comeback.
"You know, I've been talking to my doctor a lot," he admitted.
"She's just sort of guided me through it."
Rafter also gave Sampras a vote as the greatest of all time --
with one condition.
"I mean, it's a great effort, no doubt about it," Rafter said
of Sampras' 13 Grand Slam titles. "You know, for Pete to be the
greatest of all time -- which he probably is but to seal it -- he'd
have to win the French, I think. I think he knows that as well."
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