Section B · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 24, 1998
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Sampras' quest for No.1 hurt by Monte Carlo loss
The Associated Press
MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Looking nothing like a player intent on reclaiming the No. 1 ranking, Pete Sampras was routed 6-1, 6-1 by Fabrice Santoro at the Monte Carlo Open yesterday — his worst loss in eight years.
"I'm pretty stunned," Sampras said. "I really dug myself a big hole. Every aspect of my game was not there. My serve wasn't there. My forehand wasn't there."
It was the third consecutive tournament in which Sampras has lost before the quarterfinals, and his
play does not bodd well for next month's French Open on clay courts.
"It's definitely not great for the confidence," Sampras said. "There is still a lot of room for improvement. All I can try to do is move on and learn from this and go from there."
Sampras, coming off a convincing victory against Andre Agassi Wednesday, dropped six straight games in the first set and lost his serve five of seven times in the match.
It was his worst loss since a 6-0, 6-1 defeat in 1990 to Jonas Svensson of Sweden.
"Just a bad day, and it showed," Sampras said. "I felt out there.
Sampras, ranked No. 2, still has a chance to overtake No. 1 Marcelo Rios. Rios has an injured elbow and is not playing at this tournament, meaning the Chilean will forfeit the top spot.
Clay is a tough surface. It is kind of lonely out there."
However, Petr Korda, ranked No. 3,
could pass Sampras and Riak to take
No. 1 if he makes it to the title match.
The Czech did his part yesterday,
defeating No. 14 seed Albert Costa 5-7,
6-4, 6-4 in another third-round
match. Korda, the second seed,
soundered a 5-4 lead in the first set.
If Korda loses before the final.
"It at this point, sure, it would be nice to get back up," Sampras said. "But I know deep down that it comes down to the end of the year."
Sampras returns to No. 1. Sampras has been No. 1 at the end of the last five years.
Sampras, the top seed, gave away 37 points of the 60 total points that Santoro won. Santoro, ranked 25th in the world, committed just eight errors.
Sampras made less than 40 percent of his first serves, and Santoro matched him in aces at two each. Santoro kept Sampras off balance with angled shots.
"I saw that he had big problems."
Santoro said. "He wasn't able to hit his forehand. This is a handicap for him because he makes most of his points with his forehand. At the end of the first set, I saw that he felt that if he continued that way, he would have no chance against me."
Santoro has made a habit beating Sampras on clay as well as defeating big names at Monte Carlo, Aggasi and Santoro are the only players to defeat Sampras three times on clay.
Santoro defeat Sampras at the Italian open in 1991 and 1995. He also holds victories against Thomas Muster and Sergi
Bruguera at Monte Carlo.
Santoro next faces compatriot Cedric Pioline, Pioline, who lost to Sampras in last year's Wimbledon final.
Semi-retired Boris Becker routed Marc Philippusissi 6-1, 6-1 to move into the quarterfinals against No. 12 seed Alberto Baresateguil.
"Against a player like Philippoussis, I am better from the back-court," Becker said. "I know that if I move him around I have a chance and that's what I did."
It is Becker's first quarterfinal since Wimbledon when he said he was retiring from Grand Slam play.
'Peyton-mania' passed to Colts
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning already is a hit. So is the Indianapolis Colts' Web site which has had a half-million hits since the Tennessee quarterback became the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
Peyton-mania already is in full bloom, and victory-starved Colts fans will get their first look at Manning on Sunday when the team winds up its three-day minicamp at the RCA Dome.
"The interest in the team since Manning was picked has been unlike anything we've experienced previously," said Craig Kelley, Colts director of public relations. "This team has never received the attention we've gotten this week, and I only expect it to grow."
are being swamped.
Meanwhile, the Web site of the Colts and the team's ticket office
"I'd estimate that we've had 500,000 hits on the site since he was drafted on Saturday," director of marketing Patrick Coyle said.
"There were 181,000 hits in the first 48 hours after the
Manning: Colts' draft pick has fans excited about team
selection," he said. "This is a new site (www.Colts.com), and we're real pleased with traffic. It will give displaced fans a chance to get all the news about our team."
The Colts earned the No. 1 pick in the draft by finishing a leagueworst 3-13 last season. Starting
quarterback Jim Harbaugh and backup Paul Justin were traded, and within minutes after the first pick on Saturday, coach Jim Mora awarded the starting job to Manning.
Since then, phones have been ringing constantly in the team's ticket and public relations offices. At Logo Athletic, the local company that produces NFL souvenir jerseys, they are reporting unprecedented orders for a draft pick. However, the jerseys can't be sold until Manning signs a contract or reaches an agreement with the player's union.
"We've already run 3,000 Manning jerseys, and they'll be shipped to stores as soon as an agreement is reached," Logo Athletic vice president Ed White said. "We never had this kind of demand so quickly for someone who hasn't taken a snap in a game."
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — On the same day he faced the third reconstructive knee surgery of his career, Danny Manning of the Phoenix Suns won the NBA Sixth Man Award yesterday.
Manning tore a ligament in his right knee April 7 against Sacramento, ending his season. By then, though, he had done enough to capture the award, which honors the best bench player in the league.
Manning played as a reserve in 59 of his 70 games and averaged 13.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.01 steals. He passed the 10,000-point plateau for his career last Nov. 26 against New Jersey and was 12th in the NBA in field goal percentage at .516 on 390-for-756.
On the Suns,
he was second
in field goal
percentage,
third
in rebounding
and fourth in
scoring.
Manning: Named NBA's best Sixth Man yesterday
The No.1 draft choice, he played just 26 games in his rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, requiring his first reconstruction.
NCAA championship.
Then, in 1994-95, his first season in Phoenix, he suffered the same injury to his left knee and again underwent reconstructive surgery.
He came back last season as the Suns sixth man and continued in that role this season. In the voting by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, Manning received 57 of a possible 116 votes. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was second with 31 votes and Dale Ellis of the Seattle SuperSonics finished third with 21 votes.
Seven players received votes including last year's winner, John Starks of New York (3), Jerry Stackhouse of Detroit (2), Michael Curry of Milwaukee (1) and Tracy Murray of Washington (1).
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