Friday, August 11, 2000
Minus Sampras, field wide open
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pete Sampras lost in the third round Thursday night.
(Jeff Swinger photos)
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MASON — Four upsets Thursday — including the ouster of defending champ Pete Sampras — put a new face on the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati. Of the top six seeds, only No.4 Gustavo Kuerten reached today's quarterfinals.
Tim Henman, the 15th seed, rallied from a 3-1 first-set deficit to beat Sampras 6-3, 6-4. He had been 0-6 against Sampras prior to Thursday.
“It's my top individual win,” Henman said. “It's a long time coming.”
Sampras said he was off his game, and he took medicine during the match for a headache. “I wasn't at my best, but he had a lot to do with that,” Sampras said. “He got on a great roll. He's got a complete game, and when his game is on, he's tough to beat.”
Only four seeds are left in the field: Henman, No.4 Gustavo Kuerten, No.7 Thomas Enqvist and No.13 Franco Squillari.
Today's quarterfinals pairings:
• Kuerten vs. Todd Martin at 1 p.m. followed by
• Henman vs. Fabrice Santoro
• Enqvist vs. Fernando Vicente at 7 p.m. followed by
• Squillari vs. Arnaud Clement
Kuerten got fired up after a run-in with a chair umpire in a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback victory over Stefan Koubek.
The seventh seed, Thomas Enqvist, playing with a bone chip in his foot, had to win two matches Thursday because of a rainout Wednesday.
Santoro, who also had to play two matches Thursday, played with a broken middle finger in his right (racket) hand. He upset No.8 seed Marat Safin.
Clement stunned fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-1, and Vicente rallied to beat No.16 Mark Philippoussis 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4).
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