Sampras Still Going After Rocky Day

INDIAN WELLS —  Pete Sampras, a seeded survivor, found himself in an exclusive group when the dust settled after a tumultuous turn of events Wednesday. He is the only one of the top four seeded players to survive the first two rounds.

Only five other seeded players joined the second-seeded Sampras among the remaining 16 players: No. 6 Magnus Norman of Sweden, No. 8 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, No. 10 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, No. 12 Mark Philippoussis of Australia and No. 14 Albert Costa of Spain.

“You can’t look ahead in the men’s game,” Sampras said. “That’s the kiss of death.”

Sampras certainly was not doing that against his second-round opponent, Wayne Ferreira of South Africa. Before Wednesday’s match, Sampras was 5-5 against Ferreira and had never won a tiebreaker against him, going 0-4.

He needed two this time, defeating Ferreira, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), in a 2-hour 10-minute match. Sampras survived, despite 12 double faults and 42 unforced errors.

“The forehand definitely kind of saved me today,” Sampras said.

The matchup wasn’t easy, nor were the conditions. The on-court temperature reached 101 degrees.

“He’s a very talented player, a great shot-maker,” Sampras said. “He believes he can beat me. He’s done it before. Wayne has got as much talent as anyone on the tour. Mentally, he has his ups and downs. He seems very positive when he plays me.”

Ferreira nearly pulled off another upset, leading, 4-2, in the third-set tiebreaker before Sampras rallied.

It was a day when it seemed as though another seeded player departed every hour. Qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus dispatched No. 15 Greg Rusedski of Britain in the morning, 6-4, 6-4. Next to go were No. 16 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and No. 11 Tim Henman of Britain shortly after lunch. Qualifier Byron Black of Zimbabwe beat Hewitt, 6-3, 7-6 (5), winning the final seven points of the tiebreaker, and Sebastien Grosjean of France defeated Henman, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

“I haven’t had a match like that for awhile, where I was down 5-0 in a tiebreaker, especially against a guy like Lleyton, who fights for every point,” said Black, who will play Sampras next. “I don’t think you could ever predict anything like that.”

By mid-afternoon, No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was gone, and No. 5 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil and No. 7 Marcelo Rios of Chile were dispatched by dinner. Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands beat Kafelnikov, 7-5, 6-2, Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Kuerten, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1), and Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina beat Rios, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Rios won the Indian Wells event in 1998.

And, of course, the evening session ended with one final upset, as Alex Corretja of Spain defeated No. 13 Patrick Rafter of Australia, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-2, in a 2-hour, 36-minute match.

Today’s Featured Matches

STADIUM COURT, STARTING 10 A.M.

* Nicolas Escude, France vs. Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador

* Byron Black, Zimbabwe vs. Pete Sampras*

* Mariano Zabaleta, Argentina vs. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden*

* Tommy Haas, Germany vs. Mark Philippoussis, Australia*

NIGHT SESSION, STARTING 6 P.M.

* Lindsay Davenport vs. Elena Dementieva, Russia.

* Match will not start before noon