Sampras Decides It’s Best to Skip Australian Open

Pete Sampras’ bid to tie the all-time Grand Slam singles title record will have to wait a little longer.

Sampras pulled out of the Australian Open on Friday, citing fatigue from a relentless schedule that allowed him to remain No. 1 for a record sixth consecutive year. He played seven tournaments in Europe during October and November.

“He obviously had a very long end of the year and he’s worn out and needs to take a rest,” said tournament director Paul McNamee, who was informed of the decision by Sampras’ manager. “It’s disappointing and was a very big decision for Pete. It means he misses the opportunity at the Australian Open to equal Roy Emerson’s record of 12 Grand Slam singles victories.”

Sampras, a loser in the quarterfinals last year, has two Australian Open titles, in 1994 and 1997, among his 11 Grand Slam championships. He won Wimbledon for the fifth time in the past six years, but otherwise struggled last year, winning only three other singles titles.

The last time Sampras failed to play a Grand Slam event was the 1992 Australian Open, and his decision opens the way for several players to take his top ranking.

One is Marcelo Rios of Chile, whom Sampras narrowly beat for the top ranking in 1998. The others include Patrick Rafter of Australia, last year’s U.S. Open champion, and Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja of Spain.

“It opens up the race for No. 1 right at the start of the year,” McNamee said. “There’ll be a lot of players thinking they have a chance.”

Sampras’ next opportunity to tie Emerson’s mark will be at the French Open, beginning May 24. Sampras was upset last year in Paris by little-known Ramon Delgado in the second round.

The Australian Open, which was won by Petr Korda last year, begins Jan. 18 and ends Jan. 31.

Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat of France also has withdrawn from the tournament.

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Mark Philippoussis of Australia says he is ready to replace conflicts that have marred his career with new confidence gained by working with former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

Philippoussis clashed with Australian Davis Cup coaches Tony Roche and John Newcombe, and also threatened to pull out of Wimbledon as his form slumped last year.

However, encouraging words by Cash turned his year around and Philippoussis advanced to the final of the U.S. Open before losing to Rafter.

“It’s great that Cash came on the scene, and that’s made me more positive,” Philippoussis said. “I’m enjoying myself a lot more than I had been, I’m enjoying the challenge a lot more, and hopefully it’s going to be a good year.”

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France earned the remaining place in the Hopman Cup draw when it defeated Zimbabwe, 2-1, in a qualifying round at Perth, Australia.

Under the Hopman Cup format, each matchup consists of a men’s singles and women’s singles match as well as mixed doubles.

Sandrine Testud rallied to overcome Cara Black, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Guillaume Raoux clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Wayne Black.

In the mixed doubles, Zimbabwe won, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).

Teams are split into two groups in the round-robin competition. Group A consists of South Africa, Australia, Spain and France.

Group B has the United States, Switzerland, Sweden and the Slovak Republic.

Australia plays South Africa to open the tournament today.

Winter Sports

Anita Wachter led Austria’s turnaround in the giant slalom after Germany stole the show in the super-G at Maribor, Slovenia.

Three hours after Hilde Gerg and Martina Ertl swept the top two positions in the super-G, Wachter skied a flawless second run to come from behind and win the giant slalom by nearly a second.

Switzerland’s Sonja Nef finished second and Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister was third. Kathleen Monahan of Aspen, Colo., was the top North American, finishing 12th.

“I am incredibly happy with my victory,” Wachter said. “But I think I had an advantage on the others because they were tired from the super-G.”

In second place after the first run, Wachter finished with a total time of 2:15.66 to win her second consecutive giant slalom in less than a week. Her victory in Semmering, Austria, on Dec. 27 was her first in nearly three years.

Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria, who has already won five races this season, finished 1.23 seconds off the pace in the super-G, placing ninth.

American-record holder Casey FitzRandolph swept the men’s 500-meter and 1,000-meter races, and Christine Witty won both women’s events as the U.S. Sprint Championships began at Roseville, Minn.

The skaters battled pounding snow, a fierce wind and temperatures in the teens at the outdoor oval.

FitzRandolph was timed in 38.29 seconds in the 500-meters and in 1:17.82 in the 1,000. David Cruikshank, husband of Olympic speedskating champion Bonnie Blair, was a surprising second in the 500 at 38.34.

Witty won the women’s 500 in 42.67, and the 1,000 in 1:23.00. Olympian Becky Sundstrom was second in both events.

Miscellany

A winter storm forced the postponement of several sports events Saturday, including a Big Ten basketball game--No. 16 Minnesota at No. 11 Purdue, which was rescheduled for tonight.

Other college basketball games postponed included Houston-DePaul, Villanova-Notre Dame, Wright State-Loyola, Butler-Illinois Chicago and Northern Illinois-Ball State.

The weather also forced the postponement of thoroughbred racing at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., an Ontario Hockey League game between Windsor and Sarnia, and Minnesota’s wrestling match in Minneapolis against Iowa State.

Million Wolde, Ethiopia’s new long-distance star, outsprinted Kenya’s Thomas Nyariki to win the nine-kilometer Great North Cross Country run at Durham, England.

Wolde, 19, who acted as pacemaker when countryman Haile Gebrselassie broke world records for 5,000 and 10,000 meters last year, raced away from the Kenyan to clock 27 minutes, 2 seconds--winning the race by two seconds with Britain’s Jon Brown third in 27:05.

Britain’s Mike Golding, front-runner in the Around Alone around-the-world yacht race, has pulled out of the second leg after hitting a sandbank, but could still compete in the next two stages.

Golding’s yacht sustained major damage to its keel and structural damage to the hull after hitting the sandbank Friday night off the northernmost tip of North Island, four miles off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand.

Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, who recently returned to college football as head coach at South Carolina, has been named 1998 man of the year by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.