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Sampras' escape act
LONDON -- Pete Sampras, the King of Wimbledon, isn't meant to be so publicly embarrassed by one of his lowly subjects. But Barry Cowan wasn't to know. He just wanted to please Mum and Dad up in the stands. The unknown Brit from the Northern English town of Ormskirk -- ranked 259 places below the seven-time Wimbledon champion -- can't have bargained for becoming a hero not only in his house, but across the land. A nightmare flashed before Sampras' eyes on Court One as Cowan recovered from a two-set deficit to level the match. The American admitted that the thought of defeat crossed his mind and that he could be on the receiving end of the greatest upset in Wimbledon history. That's no exaggeration.
It was the reigning champ's first foray away from Centre Court since 1999, a run of 11 matches. How he wished for some familiar Centre Court comfort at the end of the fourth set, as an increasingly vociferous crowd also sniffed a stunner. We'd have been able to dispense with the David and Goliath cliches and use a few Pete and Barry ones instead. Make no mistake -- Cowan was playing out of his skin after taking that third set tiebreak. For deadly sling and shot, read snarling lefty serve and venomous returns. "I wasn't playing badly out there," Sampras told me. "He was just raising his game. I have to give him a lot of credit. Wow, I had a few nerves there. Even when I was 4-love up in the fifth he wouldn't let go.
"That's when you need to call on your experience. That helped me through. But I had a few nervous moments and was thinking this could be the biggest shock of the century and he's gonna be a national hero." No shock, but some national heroism for Cowan nonetheless -- and deservedly so. Sampras moves onto the third round, but he'll now undoubtedly be dogged by questions as to whether he's sliding off his All England Club throne. Not so, says Pete. "I didn't walk off court feeling I'd played badly," he said. "I played well. I'm still a contender here." But not without a few palpitations against a no-hoper called Barry, who played Liverpool football club's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" in his headphones at changeovers to inspire him. Sampras was walking alone on Court One in the fifth set, but somehow found a way to take an oh-so-precarious step into round three. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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