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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sampras Rolls Past Chang To Reach Final

Associated Press

Persevering through another long match, Pete Sampras overcame the physical and emotional strains of the past week to reach the Australian Open final Thursday night.

Sampras, coming off two straight five-set matches, beat Michael Chang 6-7 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over 3 hours of one more test of will and endurance.

The victory put Sampras within one win of capturing his second straight Australian championship and sixth Grand Slam final. On Sunday, he will play the winner of today’s match between Andre Agassi and Aaron Krickstein.

Chang, like Jim Courier and Magnus Larsson before him, gave everything he had and took an early lead, but couldn’t put Sampras away. Not even 20 aces by Chang, seven more than Sampras’ total, could pull it out for him.

Sampras controlled the match from the net, as usual, winning 64 of 94 approaches. Chang, who has been playing Sampras since they were 8 years old, won only 15 of 27 approaches.

Sampras spoke with his coach, Tim Gullikson, before the match. Gullikson returned to the United States for tests at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center after leaving Australia following a dizzy spell related to a grave illness.

In women’s semifinal play, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario put on a show of baseline brilliance and Mary Pierce struggled to keep her temper under control as they took different routes to the women’s final.

Sanchez Vicario, who beat Pierce in the French Open final last year, can claim the No. 1 ranking and her fourth Grand Slam title if she repeats that performance Saturday.

In a match that pitted Sanchez Vicario’s groundstroke grittiness against American Marianne Werdel Witmeyer’s all-court attack, the Spaniard proved stronger and steadier in a 6-4, 6-1 victory to gain her seventh Grand Slam final.

Witmeyer, who played in the first major semifinal of her 10-year career, was a much tougher opponent than the score indicated. She pressed the attack all the way against Sanchez Vicario, equaling her 17 winners. But Witmeyer paid the price of 43 errors for the chances she took, while Sanchez Vicario had only 14.

Pierce, reeling between shows of anger and happi ness, reached her second Grand Slam final a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. Like Sanchez Vicario, who played exactly the number of minutes in the semifinals match, 72, Pierce has not lost a set in this tournament.

“In the French I was playing a lot better tennis. I was just playing unbelievable, the best I’ve ever played. Here, I’ve played really good and not-so-good sometimes.”In a sloppy match punctuated by injuries to both

players, Pierce’s deep groundstrokes and 18 clean winners proved too much for Martinez to handle with a strained tendon under the arch of her right foot.

Pierce, a finalist at the French Open last year, took the first injury timeout after the third game of the match. She had clutched her right arm in the first game after hitting a forehand winner, and WTA Tour trainer Kathy Morton said she treated her for a slightly strained rotator cuff in her right arm.

“It’s nothing really serious or pulled,” Pierce said. “My muscles just get very tight on my shoulders so I needed to get loosened up before it got too late.”

Martinez took an injury timeout after losing her service in the first game of the second set with two more double-faults. Martinez looked slow, but it was her poor serving and wild shots that lost the match for her. She had 32 unforced errors to Pierce’s 26, and never held serve in the second set, losing the match on her fourth break of that set when Pierce put away a backhand approach shot.

Pierce’s emotions were evident on nearly every point as she constantly looked up to her coach, Sven Groeneveld, for approval or sympathy. Pierce has been trying to control her emotions in matches, but they might have cost her this match had it not been for all of Martinez’s mistakes.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with story: Australian Open glance Highlights: Top seed Pete Sampras beat Michael Chang in a men’s semifinal; Aranxta Sanchez Vicario and Mary Pierce won women’s semifinals. Late match: Second seed Andre Agassi played fellow American Aaron Krickstein late. Stat of the day: Pierce converted five of her six break-point opportunities against Martinez, who could manage only one of seven. Quote: “I did everything right, I woke up early and had a good breakfast, blah, blah, blah.” - Martinez, complaining that even after preparing for it, her 11 a.m. against Pierce was still too early.

This sidebar appeared with story: Australian Open glance Highlights: Top seed Pete Sampras beat Michael Chang in a men’s semifinal; Aranxta Sanchez Vicario and Mary Pierce won women’s semifinals. Late match: Second seed Andre Agassi played fellow American Aaron Krickstein late. Stat of the day: Pierce converted five of her six break-point opportunities against Martinez, who could manage only one of seven. Quote: “I did everything right, I woke up early and had a good breakfast, blah, blah, blah.” - Martinez, complaining that even after preparing for it, her 11 a.m. against Pierce was still too early.