Date:09/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/09/stories/2008030955941800.htm

Sport - Tennis

Slumping Federer faces Sampras

WASHINGTON: Pete Sampras was hardly at the height of his powers when he ceded the stage to Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon, losing their only head-to-head encounter that counted.

Sampras would go on to win only one more match at the All-England Club after that 2001 defeat, never coming close to adding to his seven championships at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Federer, a decade younger, would go on to supplant Sampras at No. 1 in the rankings, assume his status as a perennial power at Wimbledon with five consecutive titles there, and begin to chip, chip, chip away at his record for major trophies.

So perhaps its fitting that Federer is on a rare losing streak heading into Monday’s latest exhibition match against Sampras at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

The Swiss was upset in the Australian Open semifinals in January — preventing him from adding to his 12 Grand Slams, two shy of Sampras’ total — and then in the first round of a tournament in Dubai this month.

“I think it’s a cause of concern for Federer, to be honest,” U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said. — AP