After winning his third straight Wimbledon title, Pete Sampras received the ultimate tribute from the man who used to call Centre Court "my living room."
"Unfortunately, he owns the Centre Court now," former three-time champion Boris Becker said. "I used to own it a few years back, but it belongs to him now."Sampras proved himself to be one of Wimbledon's greatest champions Sunday when he served his way to a 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Becker in a brutal exhibition of grass-court tennis.
Sampras is the first man to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles since Bjorn Borg's run of five from 1976 to 1980, the first American man to achieve the feat and only the second man since Britain's Fred Perry won three straight from 1934-36.
Sampras said it was too soon to start thinking about matching Borg's record, but Becker thinks he is capable of doing it.
"He at least has a chance," Becker said. " He's young, he's fresh. Very few people have played like he did against me today . . . He was on another planet."
Even with his new title, Sampras is three Wimbledon championships behind the women's winner, Steffi Graf. The German won her sixth Wimbledon crown Saturday by beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
"It's just a great, great feeling," Graf said of her victory. "I was a little bit tired out there, but it still felt incredible."
Against Becker, Sampras had 23 aces and 22 service winners. He didn't face a single break point and was taken to deuce only twice, while breaking Becker five times.
"He hits those bombs and you just hope for rain," Becker said.
So dominant was Sampras' serve that, during the fourth set, Becker covered his eyes with his hand and handled his racket like a blind man with a cane.
"It wouldn't have made a difference if I had my eyes open or not," Becker said. "He would have hit the line anyway."
Becker said Sampras played on a higher plane than former greats such as John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl.
"Boy, he's playing a different kind of game," Becker said. "With those kind of players, you at least had a chance on the return. When I was playing Pete today, or even Goran (Ivanisevic) a few times this year, those guys just don't give you any chance . . . McEnroe was a genius at the net and he had a great feel for the ball, but he wasn't playing with that kind of power."
The manner of Sampras' victory was similar to his slam-bang defeat of Ivanisevic in last year's final. It will surely reopen the debate on whether Wimbledon is being ruined by the predominance of huge serves.
"People who know the game understand this is really grass-court tennis," Sampras said. "You have to understand when you have two guys that serve extremely big and volley pretty well, you are not going to have long rallies. That's the bottom line. People who know the game really understand that."
Sampras dedicated to his victory to his coach Tim Gullikson, who was home in Illinois watching the match between chemotherapy treatments for brain cancer.
"He's the true champion today," Sampras said. "The way he has handled his treatment is just an inspiration. He gave me the encouragment to go on and put what happened at the French Open (first-round loss) behind me and to win a three-Pete for him."
Sampras still has not fully won over the British fans, who seem numbed by the power and efficiency of his play.
It was Becker who received the bigger ovation Sunday. At the urging of the crowd, he took a lap around the court to show off his runner-up trophy.
"With many things, you just don't appreciate things at the moment," Becker said. "When Pete is going to get a little older and other new players will come, then you would maybe appreciate Pete Sampras more.
"Many people have been talking about a role model with Andre Agassi. If there's one role model in tennis, it's Pete Sampras. He's behaving perfectly on the court. He's a real nice fellow off the court and he's playing great tennis. He doesn't really have a bad shot in his game. I think he's definitely extremely good for the game of tennis."
Sampras said he's not bothered by the lack of appreciation.
"I let my racket do the talking," he said. "I hope people appreciate the tennis I play. I'm not going to throw tantrums or act like a jerk out there. That's the way I was brought up and that's the way I will continue to be."
Graf and Sanchez Vicario battled for 2 hours, 2 minutes on Centre Court. And it all came down to a 32-point game in the decisive third set and the two deadlocked at 5-5.
The 11th game went to deuce 13 times. Sanchez Vicario reached game point eight time and Graf was at break point six times before finally prevailing. She then held her own serve to capture the championship.
Martina Navratilova also went for it and captured her 19th Wimbledon title Sunday, teaming with Jonathan Stark to win the mixed doubles 6-4, 6-4 over Cyril Suk and Gigi Fernandez. Navratilova, who retired from singles play last year, is one short of Billie Jean King's all-time record of 20 Wimbledon titles.
Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won the men's doubles Sunday, outlasting Rick Leach of Laguna Beach, Calif., and Scott Melville of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., 7-5, 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-5).
Other champions include Peter McNamara of Australia and Leif Shiras of Milwaukee, senior men's doubles; Australian Wendy Turnbull and Virginia Wade of Britain, senior women's doubles; Olivier Mutis of France, boys singles; Martin Lee and James Trotman of Britain, boys doubles; Aleksandra Olsza of Poland, girls singles; and Cora Black of Zimbabwe and Olsza, girls doubles.