MELBOURNE, Australia -- Pete Sampras might not have much
energy left for the tough opponents yet to come in the Australian
Open.
|  | | Pete Sampras keeps advancing, but his Australian Open hasn't been easy. |
The two-time champion survived his third consecutive tough match
Friday, outlasting unheralded Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 4-6, 4-6,
7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Sampras' first two matches took more than three hours, and this
one was even more arduous.
"I'm definitely earning my paycheck this week," he said.
"There's room for improvement, but I'm still in the tournament,
and I've always had a belief I can get my game going at the right
time."
Sampras struggled to hold serve and was slow-footed and sloppy
at the net against Chela, an Argentine who won one hardcourt match
last year.
In the fifth set, the sunny, 90-degree weather briefly seemed to bother Sampras. After breaking serve for a 3-1 lead, he sat down in the shade in a lineswoman's chair for several seconds and wiped his forehead.
Then in the next game, he smacked three aces in a row to hold
serve at love. The third-seeded American closed out the win in 3:08
and improved to 29-12 in five-setters.
"I felt pretty good in the fifth set," he said. "Physically I
feel I'm coming through these matches pretty well. I feel like I'm
pretty fit here. Hopefully I can get through it."
No. 6 Andre Agassi followed Sampras on center court, and he won when David Prinosil retired because of heat exhaustion after just 68 minutes. Agassi, who overcame a 6-2 deficit in the first set, led 7-6 (11), 5-0 when Prinosil quit.
After Prinosil pulled out, Agassi said, "It's always
disappointing when a match ends that way. You don't want anybody to
get themselves in any kind of physical danger."
He saved six set points in the first-set tiebreaker before
pulling away.
The heat was making the ball jump off the racket, causing him
problems at first, but "my game was taking form there so it would
have been nice to finish," he said.
Agassi wasn't expecting Sampras to fade despite his long hours
on court.
"I've seen him win Slams injured. So I don't buy any of it. If he's tired or not, you've got to beat him. If he's injured or not, you've got to beat him. One of the things he has proven over the last decade is that that's not easy to do," Agassi added.
Sampras has won a record 13 titles at Grand Slam tournaments.
Agassi won his first two matches here, against Jiri Vanek and
Paul Goldstein, with a loss of just 13 games in six sets.
About two hours after his match, Prinosil said he felt OK, but
his pulse was racing during the match and the trainer advised
stopping.
Sampras' next opponent will be fellow American Todd Martin, who upset No. 13 Cedric Pioline 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. No. 2 Marat Safin had his easiest match so far, beating Michal Tabara 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.
No. 8 Tim Henman overcame a disastrous third set in which he
served three double faults in a row to beat Australian Wayne
Arthurs 6-3, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2. His next opponent will be No. 12
Patrick Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open winner, who beat Switzerland's
Michel Kratochvil 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.
No. 14 Dominik Hrbaty defeated Christophe Rochus 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
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