Sampras Bows Out Of Wimbledon Krajicek Storms To Semis; Graf-Date Match Tied

Pete Sampras’ three-year dominion over Wimbledon ended with the longest and most frustrating match of his life, a 30-hour affair that left him looking hopeless and haggard on the court he thought was his home.

Two sets down when he took the court after a restless night and a second day of rain, a gaunt and unshaven Sampras lasted just 23 minutes Thursday against boyish-faced Dutch giant Richard Krajicek before falling 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Krajicek, a first-round loser the past two years at Wimbledon, closed out another in a stunning string of upsets at this year’s tournament when he cracked his 29th ace and a service winner that Sampras barely touched with his racket frame.

One of the most bizarre Wimbledons has a men’s semifinal lineup of Krajicek vs. Australian Jason Stoltenberg, and Todd Martin vs. fellow American MaliVai Washington. Martin, at No. 13, is the only seed among them, and a No. 13 seed has never won any Grand Slam tournament.

Only one of the women’s finalists was certain by nightfall - last year’s runner-up Aranxta Sanchez Vicario, who beat Meredith McGrath 6-2, 6-1.

Steffi Graf’s rule as women’s champion hung in abeyance in the dusky evening as she split sets in the semifinals against Japan’s Kimiko Date. Graf won the first set 6-2 and held a 2-0 lead in the second set before Date swept six straight games to even the match in the fading light. They’ll finish up today, weather permitting.

Sampras, who had won so many close matches during a run of 25 victories at Wimbledon, knew he was probably headed for defeat when he left Wednesday night after 7 hours of going on and off the court. He knew it more certainly when he was serving at 3-3 in the third set Thursday and Krajicek mis-hit a forehand that clipped the net cord and landed inches inside the line for a winner that gave him a break point.

It was the kind of lucky shot, combined with Krajicek’s unflinching returns and serves, that Sampras couldn’t overcome. When Krajicek followed that shot with a superb backhand pass for the critical break, Sampras realized his reign would be over quickly.

“I just felt like it was slipping away, that maybe my time had come,” said Sampras, whose eight aces were offset by eight double faults. “It’s so hard to accept sometimes. Some of the line calls and the bounces, things don’t happen for you every time you walk out there, and it definitely didn’t happen for me.

“It’s tough with all these rain delays. You really never feel like you’re into the match. You just feel like it’s so sporadic that you don’t feel like you have any rhythm. But my hat is off to Richard. He played flat-out better than I did the past couple of days. He seemed a lot more relaxed than I did. I was a little more uptight and felt the pressure more. It’s tough to swallow.”

Sampras, who had been chasing Bjorn Borg’s Open-era record of five straight Wimbledon titles, measures his success by the majors he wins. By that standard, his year has been a wreck so far, with losses in the third round of the Australian, the semis of the French, and now the quarters of Wimbledon. Yet all that pales against the pain he’s been carrying over the death two months ago of his coach and friend, Tim Gullikson.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Sampras said. “Emotionally, it’s been sad in a lot of ways. I’ll just try to move on.”

Krajicek was elated to move on to the semifinal, though he tried to contain himself.

“I’m not unbelievably excited yet because I’m still in the tournament,” he said. “But it is maybe a proud feeling that I’m the first one in four years to beat him at Wimbledon, also on Centre Court, where he had his great successes.”

Goran Ivanisevic, the No. 4 seed, had a hard time swallowing his 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) upset loss against another unseeded player, Stoltenberg. That match had been suspended by darkness Wednesday night with Stoltenberg leading two sets to one.

Stoltenberg, who lost to Krajicek in the first round of the Australian Open this year, will play him Friday. In 31 Grand Slam tournaments over the past 10 years, Stoltenberg had never gone beyond the third round.

“It is amazing just how the tournament has opened up,” Stoltenberg said. “From the very first day of the tournament, you could tell it was going to be one of those years. I feel like today I beat one of the best grass-courters in the world. He has been in two finals here. It is just a matter of believing in myself.”

For the first time in the Open era, only one seeded man will be in the men’s semifinals.

In a match delayed a day and interrupted four times by rain, Martin beat Britain’s Tim Henman 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

“It’s a difficult situation to be in,” Martin said of the many downpours. “I don’t remember ever being in a similar one, where there were so many rain delays. But I felt like the timing of the rain delays didn’t affect the flow of the match.”

Martin will play Washington, who came back from two match points in the fourth set and survived a barrage of 32 aces to beat Germany’s Alexander Radulescu 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

“It’s huge for me,” said Washington, who hadn’t gone past the second round in his six Wimbledons. “Making the quarterfinals was nice, and if I had happened to lose the match today I wouldn’t have gone home very happy, even though I would have had my best Wimbledon. But making the semifinals, that’s pretty big. Especially fighting through a match like I did today. It adds a little something to the victory.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: At a glance Results: Men’s singles, quarterfinals: Richard Krajicek beat No. 1 Pete Sampras; Jason Stoltenberg beat No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic; No. 13 Todd Martin def. Tim Henman; Malivai Washington def. Alexander Radulescu. Women’s singles, semifinals: No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario def. Meredith McGrath. No. 1 Steff Graf and No. 12 Kimiko Date were tied after two sets when darkness halted play. Quote of the day: “I just felt like it was slipping away. I just felt that maybe my time has come.” - Sampras. Today on Centre Court: Steffi Graf (1), Germany, vs. Kimiko Date (12), Japan, continued. Todd Martin (13), Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., vs. MaliVai Washington, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Richard Krajicek, Netherlands, vs. Jason Stoltenberg, Australia