It was hard to see Pete Sampras make history Sunday.
Under conditions created by rain and the tournament’s traditionalism about starting times, Sampras hit the equivalent of a homer in the gloaming to win a record-tying seventh Wimbledon men’s singles title and a record-breaking 13th Grand Slam tournament title.
It was 8:57 p.m., with the twilight fading, when Sampras finished a match delayed three times by rain with a 122 m.p.h. serve that Australia’s Patrick Rafter needed sonar to locate on Center Court. Rafter’s flailing forehand went wide, making Sampras a 6-7 (10-12), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2 winner.
With seven Wimbledon titles, four U.S. Opens and two Australian Opens since 1990, Sampras passed Australia’s Roy Emerson, who won 12 Grand Slam tournaments. Australian Rod Laver twice won all four Slams–the French Open is the other–in the same year (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
“For Pete to seal being the greatest of all time, which he probably is, he’d have to win the French,” Rafter said. “I think he knows that as well.”
Sampras is tied with William Renshaw for most Wimbledon titles, but Renshaw had to play just one match in five of the tournaments he won from 1881 through 1889.
“Over time, I’ll appreciate it much more than I am right now,” Sampras said. “I’ll look at these two weeks as the most difficult and the most satisfying. The fact that my parents were here, it was a great script that really worked out well for me.”
This was the first time his parents, who live in suburban Los Angeles, had attended one of his Grand Slam victories. They always had been too nervous to come.
At the urging of people sitting in the box provided to the players’ families, Sampras went to find his parents sitting elsewhere in the stands before he received the winner’s trophy.
“They were up in the rafters,” he said.
As they came down, he worked his way up more than 20 rows of seats to embrace his father, Sam, and tearful mother, Georgia.
The parents, who never have wanted to share their son’s spotlight, declined requests for interviews later. They are polar opposites of Richard Williams, who held up signs as his daughter, Venus, was playing her singles final Saturday. He danced on the roof of a TV booth when she won.
“They are very shy people,” Sampras said. “They weren’t the typical [tennis] parents who were with me every week. They always gave me my independence.
“I wanted them to be part of it. As much as I like to say I’m going to be back here every year, there are no guarantees.”
Even with pain from tendinitis in his left shin and foot, Sampras continued to dominate Wimbledon as no one else has. He has won 28 straight matches here and 53 of his last 54. He has not been broken in 87 straight service games. Rafter had only two break points in the match.
“He has an awesome serve,” Rafter said. “You can’t read it and you can’t pick it.”
Facing that serve in daylight is one thing. Facing it in the dusk is nearly impossible. Matches at Wimbledon frequently stretch the bounds of visibility because organizers insist on starting play no earlier than noon, and 2 p.m. for the finals.
“I wasn’t getting his serve back anyway, so I didn’t care whether it was midnight,” Rafter said.
Rain delayed Sunday’s match for an hour and stopped it twice more during the first set, first for 26 minutes after the seventh game and then for 2 hours 31 minutes with the ninth game at deuce. The experience likely will make Wimbledon officials consider earlier starting times or a retractable roof like the ones at four other tennis stadiums, including the Australian Open site.
“It was difficult at the end,” Sampras said. “I mean, I think we only had about 10 minutes left to play.”
Sampras, 28, thought his time was up much earlier in the match.
In his six service games of the first set, Sampras lost just four points, three on double faults. But his serving turned erratic in the tiebreaker, when Rafter won five of his 12 points on Sampras’ serve.
“We all choke,” Sampras said. “The title could be won or lost in a matter of a couple shots.”
Both players continued unbroken through the second set, when Rafter had a 4-1 lead and the serve in the tiebreaker.
“The way the match was going, I thought it was going to slip away,” Sampras said. “I lost my nerve in the first set. He lost his nerve 4-1 in the second tiebreaker. From feeling I was going to lose the match, I felt in two minutes like I was going to win it.”
That was the span in which Rafter lost five straight points to put Sampras in control of the tiebreaker. The critical point was at 4-3, when Rafter missed a short forehand passing shot.
“After that, I knew,” Rafter said. “Then I just thought, `Oh, this is going downhill.’ I was really going to find it hard to deal with the nerves.”
After two sets of mediocre service returns, Sampras finally began to pressure Rafter with returns in the third set. He scored the first service break of the match in the fifth game and served out from there, winning the final game of the set with three aces and a service winner.
Rafter appeared to be coming back when he won the third game of the fourth set on a volley that ended a 13-stroke rally, longest of the match. But he lost his next two serves and Sampras served out the match at love.
Then he passed on the love to his parents.
MOST WIMBLEDON TITLES
7: Willie Renshaw, Britain, 1881-86, 1889; Pete Sampras, 1993-95, 1997-00.
4: Reggie Doherty, Britain, 1897-00; Tony Wilding, New Zealand, 1910-13; Rod Laver, Australia, 1961-62, 1968-69.
Sampras’ Wimbledon career results
1989
First round: lost to Todd Woodbridge, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3.
1990
First round: lost to Christo van Rensburg, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.
1991
First round: def. Danilo Marcelino, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Second round: lost to Derrick Rostagno, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.
1992
First round: def. Andrei Cherkasov, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Second round: def. Todd Woodbridge, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.
Third round: def. Scott Davis, 6-1, 6-0, 6-2.
Fourth round: def. Arnaud Boetsch, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6.
Quarterfinals: def. Michael Stich, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Semifinals: lost to Goran Ivanisevic, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.
1993
First round: def. Neil Borwick, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
Second round: def. Jamie Morgan, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4.
Third round: def. Byron Black, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
Fourth round: def. Andrew Foster, 6-1, 6-2, 7-6.
Quarterfinals: def. Andre Agassi, 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4.
Semifinals: def. Boris Becker, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Championship: def. Jim Courier, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
1994
First round: def. Jared Palmer, 7-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Second round: def. Richey Reneberg, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Third round: def. Chuck Adams, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Fourth round: def. Daniel Vacek, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.
Quarterfinals: def. Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
Semifinals: def. Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Championship: def. Goran Ivanisevic, 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.
1995
First round: def. Karsten Braasch, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1.
Second round: def. Tim Henman, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6.
Third round: def. Jared Palmer, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
Fourth round: def. Greg Rusedski, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
Quarterfinals: def. Shuzo Matsuoka, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Semifinals: def. Goran Ivanisevic, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Championship: def. Boris Becker, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
1996
First round: def. Richey Reneberg, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Second round: def. Mark Philippoussis, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Third round: def. Karol Kucera, 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, 7-6.
Fourth round: def. Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Quarterfinals: lost to Richard Krajicek, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4.
1997
First round: def. Mikael Tillstrom, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Second round: def. Hendrik Dreekmann, 7-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Third round: def. Byron Black, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Fourth round: def. Petr Korda, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4.
Quarterfinals: def. Boris Becker, 6-1, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Semifinals: def. Todd Woodbridge, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6.
Championship: def. Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
1998
First round: def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Second round: def. Mikael Tillstrom, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Third round: def. Thomas Enqvist, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.
Fourth round: def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Quarterfinals: def. Mark Philippoussis, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Semifinals: def. Tim Henman, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Championship: def. Goran Ivanisevic, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
1999
First round: def. Scott Draper, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Second round: def. Sebastien Lareau, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Third round: def. Danny Sapsford, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
Fourth round: def. Daniel Nestor, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Quartefinals: def. Mark Philippoussis, 4-6, 2-1, retired.
Semifinals: def. Tim Henman, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Championship: def. Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
2000
First round: def. Jiri Vanek, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Second round: def. Karol Kucera, 7-6 (9), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Third round: def. Justin Gimelstob, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Fourth round: def. Jonas Bjorkman, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Quarterfinals: def. Jan-Michael Gambill, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.
Semifinals: def. Vladimir Voltchkov, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.
Championship: def. Patrick Rafter (12), 6-7 (10), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2.
Matches: 59-5, .922
Sets: 180-41, .814
Games: 1,301-895, .592
