Sampras May Be at a Loss, but He’s Still Top Ranked

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. —  So, Pete Sampras can rest easy.

The most recent threat to his No. 1 ranking was a one-night thing. A little more than 14 hours after Sampras exited Indian Wells, so did Petr Korda.

And with Korda’s quarterfinal departure went his chance to eclipse Sampras. Korda, the Australian Open champion, needed to win the tournament to take over the top spot.

Thomas Muster, for one, did not think Sampras was showing signs of vulnerability, with one title in four tournaments.

“He’s one of the best players we’ve seen maybe forever,” said Muster, who defeated Sampras on Thursday. “You can put him in the category with [Rod] Laver, [Bjorn] Borg, [Jimmy] Connors, [Ivan] Lendl, all these guys.

“Just because he didn’t have a good start this year, maybe [he] is a little shaky with his confidence. I don’t think there’s anything slipping away from him.

“Maybe he will be off [the top spot] for a week, two, three, four, whatever. But at the end of the year, it might be Pete Sampras again. If I would have one dollar--I don’t have one--I’d put it on him.”

Sampras used one word to describe his first quarter of 1998.

“Mediocre,” he said.

On the prospect of losing the top spot, Sampras said: “How do you think I feel? It’s a challenge. It’s not frustrating. It’s a long year. Maybe I’ll lose this battle, but hopefully I’ll win the war at the end of the year. That’s when it really counts. It’s much more important to be No. 1 in December, not March.”

THE DOCTOR IS IN

Muster may have had the quote of the tournament after his victory over Sampras.

He was asked about Steffi Graf’s comeback. Muster has had his share of serious injuries--and a controversy broke out when an Austrian Davis Cup doctor suggested he retire. One problem, the doctor had not examined Muster recently.

“Well, I don’t know,” Muster said of Graf’s strained left hamstring. “I’m not a doctor. Some doctors even call you dead when you’re still alive.”

CORNER KICKS

Boris Becker played soccer as a youngster, and so did many of the European players on the tour, the sport clearly helping with footwork and leg strength.

Graf did not. Graf has followed the German club team Bayern Munich but is starting to prefer Schalke 04. She laughed when asked if she played when she was very young.

“I was taken out of playing soccer,” she said. “Especially if you play with boys you don’t want to be in the middle of it. With me, for me, any sport is dangerous. The way I work, I hurt myself doing anything.”

QUESTIONS . . . AND ANSWERS

Andre Agassi’s news conference after his second-round victory over Sergi Bruguera took a turn toward the twilight zone.

Question: Who is your favorite player you would like to play?

Agassi: Steffi Graf, in a pair of high-heel shoes.

Question: And from the men?

Agassi: Pete [Sampras]. I wouldn’t mind playing him in some high-heel shoes either.

[Sampras, luckily, did not have a scheduled chat with reporters that day].

Question: What do you do on long flights?

Agassi: Do you work on these questions? I just sleep, eat. I don’t know. That’s it.

And that, mercifully, was it.