The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sampras beats Haas in San Jose exhibition

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Sampras beats Haas in San Jose exhibition

— PHOTO: AP

GOT GAME: Pete Sampras beat Tommy Haas — an active top 30 player — rather handily, but was quick to rule out a comeback.

SAN JOSE: Pete Sampras hit back-to-back aces to close out the second game of the second set and draw a plea from Tommy Haas. “Show some mercy, Pete,” Haas yelled across the court. The retired Sampras began to hand his racket over to a ball boy before taking it back. Just as he did so often during his brilliant career, Sampras closed out the match with ease, beating Haas 6-4, 6-2 in an exhibition at the SAP Open on Monday.

It was Sampras’s second straight exhibition win against an active tour player, following November’s straight-set victory over Roger Federer. Yet it’s still not enough to bring Sampras back to the tour after retiring more than five years ago at age 31 with a record 14 Grand Slam titles.

Asked after the match whether he would reconsider his decision and mount a comeback, Sampras initially teased the fans. “All right, I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” he said. “For the fans, I’ll come back.” That generated yet another ovation before Sampras brought a dose of reality to the proceedings. “But for me, I’m happy to be retired,” Sampras added.

“It’s a lot of work to come out of retirement. I know what it takes to win... Not to tease you, but I’m not going to come back.”

Scratchy start

Sampras was erratic at the start, hitting a forehand more than 10 feet long on the first point of the match and double-faulting to open his first service game. But he also showed sharp game as the match went on, even hitting a pair of his signature jump-volley slams to win points. Those shots drew loud applause from an unusually large crowd of 8,812 for the first night of this tournament.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I play so sparingly,” he said. “I just, kind of, toss it up and, kind of, see what happens from there. It took me a little time to find my bearings and get a rhythm out there. The ball was flying a little bit. I hit some pretty good volleys. I returned OK. I think Tommy has more important things to worry about this week besides playing me.”

Haas, who is battling back from shoulder surgery, enjoyed the opportunity to play against Sampras and get used to the surroundings at the tournament. — AP

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