In Case You Missed It

Normally the summer months bring a distinct lull to the sports world. This is, of course, due to the dormancy of the three "N's": the NFL, NBA and NHL. Recent years have brought a growing disinterest in baseball. This summer was even bad for golf as a bunch of no names dominated the majors.

This summer I expected to be different. The Olympics were coming to Atlanta and should have been the event of the summer. However, a great first week of coverage was overshadowed by the bombing and a monotonous second week.

In spite of all of this, I always look forward to the summer, because I am part of a seemingly dying breed: the tennis fan.

For the tennis fan, the summer brings Wimbledon--the only justifiable reason to order HBO--and the U.S. Open--New York at its finest. These are the two most important events of the year and basically define the year in tennis.

Much to my surprise and dismay, Wimbledon was an absolute abomination. Pete Sampras, going for a fourth consecutive title, was ousted early in the running, at least for him. The men's final pitted Dutchman Richard Kraijcek--a big server with untapped potential--and Malavai Washington--a mediocre American.

Don't get me wrong, I like the underdog, but this wasn't exactly like the unseeded Boris Becker taking the title by storm. The women's draw was and will continue to be the Steffi Graf show. Even the criminal activities of her father have ceased to be interesting.

So the U.S. Open was really the last chance for the tennis year to come together--and it did not disappoint.

Again, the women's draw was a chance to see Graf prove herself to be the most dominating figure in the game. When she waxed Monica Seles--then co-ranked number one with Graf--7-5, 6-4, there were no questions to ask, except, who will be next?

The tournament pointed to a possible answer to this question as Martina Hingis gave Graf her toughest challenge. Hingis, who is 15 years old, appears ready to be the leader of the next generation. Her rise and the inevitable arrival of Venus Williams, another 15-year old, may bring interest back to the women's game.

The real story was the men's tournament. From the beginning it had everything a good U.S. Open should have: some controversy, an honorable farewell, an epic match, a great champion.

The U.S. Tennis Association was accused of rigging the seeding system to create an Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras final. One player walked out, and the threat of a boycott circulated. It wasn't exactly having Kevin Curren suggest that an atomic bomb be dropped on New York, but it did start the tourney with a bang.

The farewell was to Stefan Edberg, a past champion playing his last Grand Slam tournament. Edberg honored the game of tennis not only with the most graceful serve and volley tennis of the past decade but with his personality.

Year after year Edberg has won the season-ending Sportsmanship Award until they were forced to name it after him--before he retired. In an age where Dieon Sanders, Shaquille O'Neal and Andre Agassi are being glorified, Stefan Edberg stepped out of big-time tennis as quietly and gracefully as he came in, more the champion than either of those three could imagine.

The successor to Edberg's unassuming legacy is Pete Sampras. His story is what defined the Open.

Sampras is the best player in the world--if there were doubts before, there could be none when the tournament ended. Sampras utterly dominated the second-ranked Michael Chang in the final 6-1, 6-4, 7-6. Pete played so well, it was impossible to believe that Chang would have become number one with a victory.

However, the fact that Pete had made the finals was the real miracle. The greatest moments in sports are when an athlete's spirit drives him or her beyond all physical expectations. Of course, we have had Kerri Strug rammed down our throats since the Olympics.

That was a glorious moment, but I'll take Pete's moment any day.

In case you missed it, Pete played a man named Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals. Corretja isn't exactly a household name, but he just happened to play the best match of his life. Corretja went up two sets to one behind the strength of a rocketing forehand. Pete battled through the draining heat to win the fourth set and then the match.

In a nutshell, Pete had nothing left. He was dehydrated and having stomach problems. The television audience could see the indigestion welling up as the set wore on. Sampras was supporting himself on his racket, slouching even more than usual. However, Pete hung tough and Corretja could not break serve. This forced a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Pete now looked green, much like the court surface. There was no doubt that he was in serious trouble. At 1-1 in the tiebreaker, Pete prepared to serve. Then he backed off, and through the magic of television, we got to watch him dry-heave a couple times before finally throwing up on the court.

As one of the ball boys cleaned up the yak, the chair umpire gave Pete a delay of game warning. There is no sympathy in tennis for booting during a match.

Pete then stepped up to the baseline and threw in a puff-ball serve with no juice on it. When he won the point, it became a legendary moment. Simply winning a point after something like that is huge. It was not over.

Serving at 6-7 down--a match point against him--Sampras serve-and-volleyed, a surprising strategy for someone barely mobile. When Pete stretched impossibly far to volley a cross-court passing shot from Corretja for a winner, the place erupted.

As I watched Pete lean heavily on his racket, I was sure he was done. There was no physical way for him to recover. When his first serve on the next point was hit with no speed by a man who looked barely able to lift a racket, there was little doubt.

The serve landed out, which on the one hand did not allow Corretja to hit it for an easy winner, and prolonged the match which was now difficult to watch Pete looked so bad.

Then Pete did something unbelievable. He cracked a second-serve ace wide to the deuce court to set up a match point. Boston Globe sportswriter and general tennis guru Bud Collins described it as the single greatest swing of a tennis racket he had ever seen. It was one of those moments in sports that brings you out of your seat, no matter where you are or when you see it.

Sampras' victory was what sports is about; we watch games in hope for a moment like this, to see someone or some team defy everything that stands in its way. Muhammed Ali defeating George Foreman. Team USA's "Miracle on Ice." Dare I say, Kerri Strug.

Everyone has heard the saying before: sports is like life. Many people laugh at this as ludicrous, but I believe it.

When someone performs like Pete Sampras did at the U.S. Open, it is not about what a great athlete can do, but about what a person can achieve when he or she wants to. This makes sport, at any level, the glorious thing that it is.