BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pete Sampras dispatched Vince Spadea in 48 minutes.
(Michael Snyder photo)
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MASON -- It was sudden, shocking and controversial. At 7:55 p.m. Friday, nary an hour after taking the court, Pete Sampras exited the ATP Stadium a loser.
Of a remote-control car race.
"Hey, I won," he argued later, playfully. "That kid (his opponent, a fan pulled from the stands) didn't go through the final gate.
"I won't protest. But I want that sweatshirt he got."
Oh well. The tennis portion of his evening went much smoother: a 6-3, 6-2 beating of Vince Spadea in 48 minutes.
Spadea, ranked 44th in the world, had been the week's top story, upsetting ninth-ranked Andre Agassi and eighth-ranked Richard Krajicek on successive days. But Spadea sputtered chasing Sampras serves, and Sampras seized the few chances he needed.
"He wins all those tournaments," Spadea said, "and he showed you how he does it tonight with his serves."
Spadea didn't win three points in any Sampras service game. The three times he won two points, at least one of them came on a double fault.
Sampras landed his first serve 30 times and won 27 of those points. That pulled his percentage of first-serve points won down to 92 percent for the week, the best of any player.
"I knew Vince was on top of his game this week, and that made me focused tonight," Sampras said.
Not that focus had been lacking. Sampras hasn't had his serve broken yet this week. He has won his past eight matches here without dropping a set.
Spadea, 24, won't leave in a funk. He has beaten three Top 10 players the past 10 days, shedding the "classic journeyman" label Andre Agassi gave him five months ago when he was ranked 64th.
"This has been a step in the right direction," Spadea said. "I hope I keep it up."
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