TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Easily Defeats Becker for Italian Title

Pete Sampras defeated Boris Becker in straight sets Sunday to win the Italian Open in Rome and establish himself as the favorite in the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament played on clay.

The world’s No. 1 player routed the three-time Wimbledon champion, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, in 1 hour 52 minutes and looked completely at ease on the red clay.

Sampras has won 27 consecutive matches and seven titles this year. He heads into the French Open seeking his fourth consecutive Grand Slam event title and the only one that has eluded him.

Rod Laver was the last man to win four Grand Slam tournaments in a row, in 1969.

“It was a combination of Boris not being on top of his game and me playing my best match of the week,” Sampras said. “I never let Boris get into any sort of rhythm. After I broke him in the second game, I felt pretty much like I was in control.”

Said Becker: “I think he’s invincible right now.”

Can Sampras finally win the French Open?

Said Sampras: “I would just like to win in Paris once, whether it’s this year, next year or in five years.”

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Steffi Graf defeated Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, to win her eighth German Open title in Berlin.

Graf, who never lost her service, had trouble with the 11th-seeded Schultz’s 120-m.p.h. serve. But she broke Schultz’s service in the third game of the second set after Schultz missed a backhand slice after a double fault.

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Top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa defeated unseeded Asa Carlsson of Sweden, 6-1, 7-6 (16-14), to win the Prague Open in the Czech Republic.

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Luiz Mattar became the first Brazilian to win an ATP title in the United States, beating Jamie Morgan, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in the America’s Red Clay Championships at Coral Springs, Fla.