Sampras Gets Closer to Holding Top Spot

Pete Sampras got off to a good start Tuesday at the ATP World Championship and, unfortunately for Marcelo Rios, so did Tim Henman.

Sampras and Rios, the top players in the world, are battling for the No. 1 ranking at the end of the year.

Sampras beat Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-2, 6-4, in his opening match, and Rios of Chile was upset, 7-5, 6-1, by the big-serving Henman of Britain.

Sampras leads Rios by only 33 points in the computer rankings and is seeking to become the first man to finish at No. 1 for six years in a row. He shares the record of five with Jimmy Connors.

Rios needs to win at least two matches in the round-robin portion of the elite event to have a shot at dethroning Sampras in the final rankings for the year.

Sampras showed how badly he wants the record by thrashing Kafelnikov.

Rios, meanwhile, faded after falling behind a break in the second set against Henman and never rallied.

“I don’t want to say it was a statement, but I was very focused,” Sampras said. “This is an important week and it showed.

“I hope I can maintain this level throughout the week, which is not going to be easy. But today was a good start.”

Sampras was impressive in the first set with his crisp serve-and-volley game. Kafelnikov gave him a better battle in the second set, but Sampras still dominated the player he beat in last year’s final, when he won the title for the fourth time.

“I had a lot of work to do in the second set,” Sampras said. “I didn’t want to do what I did last year when I lost my first match and played a little flat. I didn’t want to dig myself into a hole, having to win my next two matches.”

Sampras had problems closing the match, needing six match points. He won it when Kafelnikov made two backhand errors.

In another match, Carlos Moya of Spain rallied to beat Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3, for his first indoor victory this year in six matches.