Sampras Overhauls Larsson In Five Sets Resurgent American Men Reach New Heights In Australian Open

Two points from defeat in the Australian Open, defending champion Pete Sampras mounted one of his finest comebacks today to lead an American men’s charge into the quarterfinals.

The No. 1 Sampras, whose coach had to watch the game from a hospital bed, played uncharacteristically sloppy tennis while dropping the first two sets to a sizzling Magnus Larsson, then served a flurry of aces to win 4-6, 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Sampras will meet 1992 and 1993 champion Jim Courier, who beat Karel Novacek 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Michael Chang, fifth-seeded and another of the eight American men in the round of 16, also reached the quarters with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Olivier Delaitre of France.

Sampras, who served 13 of his 18 aces in the last three sets to help offset 45 unforced errors, rallied from two sets down for only the second time in his career, and once again in a Grand Slam tournament. In 1991, he did it against Thomas Muster in the first round of the French Open.

With his coach, Tim Gullikson, hospitalized since Friday and under examination for a dizzy spell after suffering two minor strokes in the past three months, Sampras played weakly in the first two sets. He popped the strings on one racket early, fidgeted with others, disliking the way they were strung for the cool, late-morning conditions. Gullikson usually checks over Sampras’ rackets to make sure they suit him and the changes in weather, but this time Sampras was on his own.

“I was thinking about him throughout the match,” Sampras said of Gullikson. “I thought about him quite a lot the last few days.”

Sampras and Gullikson spoke about the match Saturday night, going over details and strategy against the 15th-seeded Larsson, who beat Sampras in the Grand Slam Cup final at Munich last month for his first win in their five previous matches.

“It’s ironic,” Sampras said. “He was in the hospital (with a stroke) when I played (Larsson) in Munich. Magnus is not a good guy in my draw.”

At the same time, Sampras’ girlfriend, Delaina Mulcahy, was wearing a sling on the arm she injured recently in a car accident in Florida. But she was in the stands applauding with one hand against the rail.

Larsson, who came within two points of putting the match away at 5-4 and deuce in the third set, couldn’t have played stronger than he did until then, when he had 13 of his 19 aces. Nor could Sampras have played much worse, timidly approaching the net, his backhand soft and his timing off.

“I can’t play much better than I did today,” Larsson said. “I don’t think I would have lost to too many players. But he’s No. 1 in the world. I don’t know if he was playing badly or not, but I put a lot of pressure on him.”

Sampras finally took control when he broke Larsson to take a 6-5 lead in the third set as the tiring Swede poked two consecutive forehands into the net. Sampras opened with an ace as he served for the set, and took the set when Larsson sent a backhand long.

Sampras got the only break he needed in the fourth set to take a 4-3 lead, and he closed out that set with another ace. The match was never in doubt after that, Sampras getting stronger all the time, Larsson weaker. Sampras put the match away with a high backhand volley after 3 hours, 7 minutes.

“For the first 2 sets, I was just getting outplayed,” Sampras said. “He was serving better, returning better and moving better than I was. He was just playing too good for me. … He was playing flawless tennis for the first, and if he was going to maintain that level, I was not going to win.

“It’s frustrating when you’re playing someone who’s serving huge. I was getting down on myself, and I had to pick up my spirits or I would have been out of the tournament. He’s one of the guys who definitely has the game to beat me. The difference was he got a little tight in the crunch. I was lucky to win. It was a little too close for comfort.”

Wimbledon champion and No. 2 seed Conchita Martinez also reached the quarters with a 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 6-2 victory over Irina Spirlea. No. 4 Mary Pierce beat Anke Huber 6-2, 6-4. Huber’s loss marked the first time since 1984 that no German reached the quarters of a Grand Slam event. No. 1 ranked Steffi Graf didn’t play here because of a calf injury.

Four of the eight American men left have won a dozen Grand Slam titles among them, including five for Sampras, four for Jim Courier, two for Andre Agassi and one for Chang. Sampras won the Australian Open last year, and Courier won it the two years before that.

American women have been less successful, with no current players who have won a Grand Slam title. The three remaining American women in the tournament are Lindsay Davenport, Marianne Werdel Witmeyer and two-time finalist Mary Joe Fernandez. Pierce lives and trains in Florida but plays for France. Angelica Gavaldon lives in Southern California but plays for Mexico.