Annoyed by an out-of-kilter court, perplexed by a swirling wind, and teased by an inspired qualifier slicing, dicing and pureeing him silly, Pete Sampras had a day he'd like to forget at the U.S. Open on Sunday.
Not that he lost. Sampras is so much better than everyone else, he turns heads when he drops a set.He rarely loses his cool about anything, but on this day even the vagaries of the net cord threw Sampras off. It got so frustrating for the defending champion and top seed that at one point he bent down to measure the net with his racket.
Roger Smith, ranked No. 187 from the Bahamas, had just hit a baseline shot that clipped the net and flopped over. Sampras darted in to scoop it up, only to see the ball hit the net cord again and fall back on his side.
Sampras finally asserted himself after losing his first set of the tournament, but never had it easy in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the second qualifier he's played in three matches.
Sampras ripped the condition of the stadium court, saying it wasn't level near the baseline and was making balls skid in that area.
"This is the biggest tournament in the United States, and they should have level courts," Sampras said. "It kind of sucks."
But he didn't use the courts as an excuse for his mediocre performance.
"When I started, I didn't have the timing," Sampras said. "I felt a bit sluggish. I managed to get through somehow. He serves pretty well, and I had a hard time with that. It was a good match to get through.
"This is the first bad match I've played in a Slam in a while. He has a pretty good serve and he massages the ball well. He has that chip backhand that comes back low. I didn't know what was coming. It took me a while to get used to his game."
Smith, who had to win three matches to qualify for the tournament and then won two more matches, fought back from 5-0 in the fourth set, serving at up to 122 mph and mixing up speeds with a slice backhand that died in the wind.
"I didn't want it to end," Smith said. "It was a great experience. It was a great feeling, a great week, I love it all."
Until that match, the crowd ignored singles most of the day and got into doubles. Not just any doubles, but the Jensen brothers, the most entertaining show in tennis.
When the final volley caromed off Luke Jensen's arm, ending his frolic with brother Murphy in doubles, the fun escaped. There will be close matches, upsets and surprises, but nothing like these two.
Fans packed the grandstand for the Jensens two hours early, waiting patiently through Kimiko Date's 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 7-5 victory over Leila Meskhi and virtually ignoring the first two matches in the stadium, Michael Stich's 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Byron Black and Gabriela Sabatini's 6-2, 6-1 win against Elena Likhovsteva.
If the Jensens hadn't lost so quickly, 6-1, 6-2 to Patrick McEnroe and Jared Palmer, the fans would have stayed in the grandstand instead of shifting over to the stadium to watch Sampras and Smith.
In other matches, No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Ann Grossman 6-2, 6-0; last year's men's finalist, unseeded Cedric Pioline, lost to Jaime Yzaga 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4; and No. 14 Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat Carlos Costa 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
On a day when fans were torn between tennis and the opening day of the NFL season on pocket televisions and radios, the Jensens brought their unique brand of merriment - backed up by a quality of play that earned them the French Open doubles title last year.
Fans sighed with disappointment when they departed, still smiling, in their long blue shirts with big white stars, an orange bandana atop Luke's head, his hair down to the middle of his back, a blue sock on one foot, a red one on the other, Murphy looking goofy and happy with his white cap backward.
"They're the only guys with any color in here," said an usher who had to search hard to find seats for McEnroe's parents. "McEnroe and Palmer played the other night and nobody watched."
"Use `The Force," a fan called down to Luke near the end, and he responded by laughing with the crowd, winning the point and waving to the fan in thanks. The Force wasn't enough to save the Jensens, but they showed how tennis can be fun, win or lose.
"You can't deny the fact that they are entertaining," McEnroe said. "The players admit that is good for tennis. Why not? We got a packed grandstand out there for a third-round doubles match. It is great. We were happy to go out there and play in front of a lot of people, and we were also really happy that we showed who the best team was. That is the bottom line."
Palmer also loved the attention the match got from fans.
"I have never seen so many people there for an early-round doubles match," he said. "That can only help the game."
Sabatini, who won her only Grand Slam title here in 1990, is in the quarterfinals and thinks she can win again this year.
"I have been playing great tennis here these four matches," she said. "My tennis is improving in the last few weeks."
When Sabatini won the Open, she did it by charging the net often, showing acrobatic skills when she got there. She hasn't played that way since and has been in a winless slump since capturing the Italian Open in 1992.
That style may actually help her this year, with the courts and balls playing slower and favoring baseliners.