Queens Gazette

Sampras, Williams Take Open




Pete Sampras, the 2002 US Open Men's Singles Champion.   Serena Williams, the 2002 US Open Women's Singles Champion.  Photos by Jonathan Fickies/usopen.org

Pete Sampras, the 2002 US Open Men’s Singles Champion. Serena Williams, the 2002 US Open Women’s Singles Champion. Photos by Jonathan Fickies/usopen.org



Once again, Pete Sampras and Serena Williams are champions of the US Open. Both players put the finishing touches on the 2002 grand slam tennis tournament over the weekend in front of sellout crowds at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. For Sampras, it was his fifth US Open title, the first since 1996. It took him just under three hours on Sunday to outmaneuver longtime rival, Andre Agassi in four sets (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4) in men’s singles action.


Sampras versus Agassi was a rematch of sorts. The thirty-something duo met in last year’s quarterfinal event, which Sampras narrowly won in four high-intensity sets, all tie breakers. But on Sunday, Agassi lacked the fire that was expected of him. It might have been because he spent a grueling semifinal match with Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 Open champ, on Saturday. “I just was flat,” said Agassi. "I tried to get myself into the match and had to work pretty hard to give myself a chance. It just was never quite enough.”


 

 

Agassi had a hard time getting on to his serve and making any sort of impact, though he did make a strong showing in the third set. “He started picking it up, especially his return of serve,” Sampras said about his opponent. “He made me work real hard, then broke me.” At about that time, Sampras himself began to feel the wear and tear of the many matches he played over two weeks time in New York City. "I was definitely feeling a little bit of fatigue,” he said. "I just hung in there the best that I could at the end and got it done.”


During the first two sets and into the third, a clearly energized Sampras covered the entire court executing searing forehands and sharp volleys. He had four break point conversions, 44 winners, 33 aces, and his intimidating serves averaged 115 miles per hour; one was clocked at 132 mph.



Williams handled her older sister, Venus, with relative ease in Saturday’s women’s singles final 6-4, 6-3. Serena first captured the title in 1999, and between then and now, Venus held that honor. The talented siblings are ranked as the top two women players in the world, but Serena feels no pressure regularly battling against her sister for a championship. "I prefer to play Venus because that means that we have reached our maximum potential and that we’ll both go home winners,” she said in the stadium interview room, with her trophy prominently on display. Venus clearly was not maximizing throughout the final match. She looked tired and unsure of herself. She struggled with her range committing ten double faults, along with 33 unforced errors. Meantime, Serena appeared confident and focused, taking control of the court with massive forehands and violent backhands. Her serves and ground strokes were too much for her exhausted sister.


Shadisha Robinson of South Ozone Park made it to the Junior Girls Doubles final match at the US Open. Photo juniortennis.com

Shadisha Robinson of South Ozone Park made it to the Junior Girls Doubles final match at the US Open. Photo juniortennis.com

Rahn Robinson of Wilson, North Carolina, watching the games from the stadium’s promenade level, picked Serena as his favorite of the Williams sisters. “She’s in better shape,” he said. “Serena is tougher than Venus, stronger physically and mentally.”


Thomas Egan, who lives in Kew Gardens and attends Queens College, said he has seen enough Williams finals. “It’s beginning to get boring,” Egan said. “I’d like to see different match ups.” Kwame (no last name given), from Harlem, sees Serena and Venus as less like sisters and more like competitors. And he had two words for the women tennis players who cannot keep pace with the sisters: “Give up.”


Hours before Sampras and Agassi met on the main stage, a finalist from Queens was battling away on Court 7. Shadisha Robinson, from South Ozone Park, along with her girls’ doubles partner Tory Zawacki, made a valiant attempt at winning a championship in the junior division. But their opponents, Elke Clijsters and Kirsten Flipkens, dominated in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in a match that lasted only 50 minutes. “We didn’t play our game today, all around,” said the 17-year-old Robinson, who attended John Adams H.S. before joining the International Tennis Federation. “But I’m happy I did well and got to the finals.”



The tall southpaw began playing tennis at the age of seven under the guidance of her father, Charles, and by the time she was nine, was competing in a Mayor’s Cup tournament at Ashe Stadium. Last year Robinson won her first title in Evansville, Indiana. Now it is on to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where she and Zawacki will attend the Vandermeer Tennis Academy.


Prize money for the Open was divided as follows: Sampras and Serena Williams, $900,000 each; Agassi and Venus Williams, $450,000 each; men’s doubles winners, Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi, $350,000; women’s doubles winners, Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez, $350,000; mixed doubles winners, Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan, $130,000.



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