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Serious fortitude Sampras' fight through pain displays character
Posted: Monday July 03, 2000 01:03 AM
Pete Sampras smiled a wry smile and said, "I'll do whatever it takes to defend my title." The Wimbledon champion is hurt. Tendon trouble in his foot and shin had him hobbling around after his second-round match against Karol Kucera . He wasn't 100 percent for Saturday's third-round encounter with fellow American Justin Gimelstob . But with anti-inflammatories coursing through his veins, he battled through in four sets. Remarkably, he hadn't picked up a racket in two days. Sampras needs just one more major title to break Roy Emerson's all-time men's Grand Slam singles record of 12. He expected it would come on these hallowed grounds this fortnight. Then came injury. Not his herniated disc. Not a flare up of hip flexor trouble. No. This was a new test of Sampras' character -- a painful problem which could have forced less driven men to pull out of the tournament. The Gimelstob match was scheduled for late on Friday. Rain fell, then darkness. Sampras had a reprieve and another day to ice his pain. But on Saturday, he was first on Centre Court.
There had been no miraculous cure. Sampras was sore and, in the first set, was more sore still. Gimelstob won it 6-2. The six-time Wimbledon champ was hanging his head at changeovers, staring down at the grass he normally dominates, wondering if this was the end of his record-breaking dream. But Sampras dug deep, found his service rhythm and began to move less tentatively. It was enough to beat Gimelstob and carry Sampras into the last 16. Only afterwards, though, did he show a greater insight into that steely grim determination. I asked him what could he take, what could he do, to ease the pain and keep his championship quest alive? Then game that grin and that knowing look and those few little words. Sampras is going to do whatever it takes to get him out on court and hold onto that coveted crown. Then he added that even at 80 percent fitness he could possibly go all the way. "Even at 70 or 80 percent I can move better on grass than most guys," he said. It's difficult to disagree. Gimelstob later said he'd rather play a fully fit Sampras than a wounded one. "Have you ever seen Sampras lose hurt?" he asked me. Well, yes, at this year's Australian Open in the semis to Andre Agassi . But I knew what he was getting at. Sampras rises in the face of adversity. Another day off before his contest with Jonas Bjorkman on Centre Court on Monday is just what the doctor ordered. But no medic can help when it comes to sheer guts and willpower. You've either got it or you don't. Sampras has it in abundance. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International. Jones is part of the World Sport crew that is in England covering Wimbledon.
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