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Monday, 24 June, 2002, 17:11 GMT 18:11 UK
Sampras sweeps past Lee
Sampras came through despite a rib injury
Pete Sampras beat Martin Lee 6-3 7-6 6-3
Pete Sampras secured a place in the second round at Wimbledon with a straight-sets win over Britain's Martin Lee, but struggled to find his best form.
The seven-times former champion came into the match with a rib injury and was clearly hampered on serve. But despite earning an incredible 18 break points, Lee only made the breakthrough once in the third set - and immediately lost his own serve.
The Briton had chances in the first two Sampras service games of the match, missed two set-points in the second set tie-break, and had another four in the third.
The American was able to come up with big serves when absolutely necessary. But his frustration was clear late in the third set when he threw up his arms in relief after finally making a first serve. Sampras will play Switzerland's George Bastl in the second round. Sampras had been scheduled to open the championships on centre court in the absence of defending champion Goran Ivanisevic. However, because of his injury he asked to play later and had hoped that the match against Lee would be put back to Tuesday. Extra rest In the end he was only granted a slight delay but it was enough for the Wimbledon legend. "It was a long-shot asking for the match to be switched to Tuesday and I understand that they wanted to keep all the halves of the draw the same," he said. "But playing third helped me, it gave me more time to prepare and get ready. "The problem is with my ribs but I didn't really feel it today. It's not going to be an issue here." |
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