BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Patrick Rafter runs down a short drop from Sampras during Sunday's match.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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MASON -- It was, as usual, a week of highs and lows at the Great American Insurance ATP Championship.
From the first round through the Sunday's final, there was much worth remembering.
BEST DRAMA:
The third-set tiebreaker between Andre Agassi and Vince Spadea in the second round. Spadea prevailed 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (7-2) to eliminate the popular Agassi. After breaking Spadea's serve, Agassi led 5-4 and was serving for the match. But Spadea broke Agassi back to tie it, then went on to win.
BIGGEST UPSET:
Qualifier Jerome Golmard bounced No. 4 seed Carlos Moya, the French Open champion ranked No. 5, in the second round. Moya had a first-round bye and is 0-1 in his career here. He never got to play on Center Court.
BEST COMEBACK:
Petr Korda, down 5-2 in the third set in the round of 16, won five straight games to defeat Goran Ivanisevic.
BEST TIEBREAKER:
Daniel Vacek saved two match points and rallied to a 10-8 third-set tie-breaking victory in the first round over Jason Stoltenberg. It became the most important tiebreaker because Vacek went on to upset No. 1 Marcelo Rios in the second round.
MOST DISAPPOINTING:
The Spanish contingent had a rough week. Five players, all ranked in the top 20, went a combined 2-5. Moya lost to qualifier Golmard. No. 15 Felix Mantilla and No. 15 Alberto Berasategui lost their first-round matches. No. 12 Alex Corretja and No. 14 Albert Costa won first-round matches in three sets, then lost in the second round.
BEST GAME:
Jan-Michael Gambill and Cedric Pioline battled through 12 deuces before Gambill won the third game of their third set to go up 2-1. The 21-year-old American went on to win the second-round match.
BEST MATCH:
Factoring in importance and name recognition, Spadea's victory over Agassi may have been just a touch ahead of the field because of the third-set tiebreaker. There were other matches worthy of consideration. Such as:
Sunday's final could easily top the list because of what was at stake. Patrick Rafter came back to beat Pete Sampras 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 for his first victory over Sampras in five years.
Gambill's second-round 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over 16th seed Pioline.
Scott Draper's second-round upset of No. 9 seed Corretja that ended 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Korda's 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Kafelnikov.
Tommy Haas' 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) first-round win over Jim Courier. Corretja's first-round victory over wild card Alex O'Brien, 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7).
WORST DAY:
It was a dog day afternoon for Kafelnikov on Saturday. He was ahead 5-4 in the first set of his semi-final against Rafter, then lost nine straight games to lose that match. After a brief break, he and Daniel Vacek played a semi-final doubles match. They lost to Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 6-2, and during one stretch, Kafelnikov had lost 19 of 21 games. The fans, taking pity, started rooting for him.
WORST MOMENT:
Rios pulled out of the doubles competition (with Korda) because of tendinitis in his left middle finger.
MOST ABUSIVE:
By our count, Ivanisevic and Murphy Jensen threw their rackets to the ground most often.
BEST PLAYFUL MOMENT:
When a man fell asleep in the stands during a doubles match Thursday, two of the players -- David Roditi and Michael Tebbutt -- started lobbing tennis balls into the seats in the man's vicinity. They were so careful not to hit him, he didn't even wake up -- until a little later.
BEST GESTURE:
Rafter and girlfriend Lara Feltham were leaving the ATP Tennis Center on Friday and were already in the parking lot when Rafter heard that a little girl, about 5 or 6 years old, was crying because she couldn't get his autograph. Rafter turned around, came back inside the gate and called out to the girl. He signed for her and a few others before taking off again.
