Hey, Andre, Wait For Me Sampras Makes Stunning Exit With Loss To Slovakian Karol Kucera

If Pete Sampras packs quickly enough, he can catch the same flight home as Andre Agassi.

They can commiserate about the Australian Open that slipped away, the one they were poised to rule until they met in the final. Or so they thought.

Karol Kucera? No way Sampras, or anyone else, figured the Slovakian could beat him for a berth in the semifinals against Petr Korda. Kucera hadn’t beaten anybody in 10 Grand Slam tournaments and had never gone beyond the third round in any of the six others he played.

Yet there was Kucera in the cool, starry night Tuesday, transforming himself into a vision of silky elegance while crafting a 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3 work of art against Sampras, the defending champion.

And there was Sampras, winner of 10 major titles and recently voted by his peers as the greatest player of the past quarter century, looking utterly pedestrian.

Twenty-four hours after little Alberto Berasategui of Spain ran Agassi out of the tournament, Kucera caught the same upset fever.

“He played the match of his life,” Sampras said. “I just ran into a hot player. It must be easy to play me because these guys have nothing to lose, just swing away. And he played great.”

Berasategui’s run ended today. Ninth-seeded Marcelo Rios used his left-handed shots to control the angles and beat him 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.

In the semifinals, Rios will meet the winner of today’s quarterfinal between Nicolas Kiefer and Nicolas Escude, both unseeded.

Kucera, ranked No. 20 and under the tutelage lately of 1988 Olympic champion Miloslav Mecir, has been hot since the start of the year.

He led Slovakia to the Hopman Cup title in Perth, captured a tuneup in Sydney and in the Australian extended his winning streak to 12 matches.

Nothing in the undistinguished way Kucera went about getting to the quarterfinals - he met only one seed, No. 10 Sergi Bruguera, who retired with blisters, and had a tough time in other matches - hinted he was capable of beating Sampras so easily.

Kucera’s two-fisted backhands flicked perfect shots into the corners. His fluid forehands kept Sampras running behind the baseline. He had 18 saves to Sampras’ seven.