Sampras vows to keep coming back

Tony Lawrence

Beaten but unbowed, a defiant Pete Sampras vowed on Thursday to keep returning to the French Open until he wins the one Grand Slam title missing from his collection.

Sampras, who arrived at Roland Garros seeking a French crown to add to his record 13 Grand Slams, again failed to come to grips with the slow Parisian clay as he was beaten 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round by Spain's Galo Blanco.

Blanco,who had lost in the opening round at the French Open in four of his five previous visits, was never troubled by the man many rank as the best player in the game's history, brushing the American fifth seed aside in just over two hours on a blustery Centre Court.

"There's still time," the 29-year-old Sampras said. "There's no reason to think this is over. I've got plenty of years left.

"This is what we play for, the majors and this is the one that is my biggest challenge.

"All you can do is learn from it and come back next year."

Unable to put together back-to-back wins at Roland Garros for the fourth successive year, a disappointed but determined Sampras conceded later he was running out of time and ideas about how to achieve his elusive dream.

Since 1996, when he produced his best French result by reaching the semi-finals, his stays in Paris have become increasingly brief, advancing as far as the third round only once.

MORE DIFFICULT

"I feel like over the course of my career I've done everything I could possibly do to do well here," shrugged Sampras. "I've tried different schedules, tried playing a lot on clay, tried playing less on clay. So far, nothing has happened.

"You need some breaks, you need to be playing well. All you can do is keep trying and come back next year.

"But as the years go by it gets more and more difficult. I'll try to figure it out and maybe try something different.

"I've tried a lot of different things coming in here but nothing has seemed to work."

There were clear signs in Sampras's first-round match that the seven-time Wimbledon champion could be in for another short stay in Paris as he struggled to a five-set win over French qualifier Cedric Kauffmann.

BRILLIANT PASSES

One of only two players to beat in-form No. 4 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero on clay this season, Blanco nullified Sampras's attacking style with a succession of brilliant passing shots.

It was not until the first set tie-break, however, that the Spaniard was able to make a breakthrough, forging a 5-0 lead and holding on to take it 7-4.

The 76th-ranked Blanco carried his momentum into the second set, breaking Sampras at the first opportunity to jump in front 3-0.

An obviously demoralized Sampras could offer only token resistance in the third set, as Blanco broke him twice to sweep the last five games of the match.

"It was very frustrating," said Sampras. "I was putting pressure on him but I have to give him credit. He came out with some good, clean passing shots.

"He played a great tie-break and I got a little careless at the start of the second.

"I didn't play as well as I would have liked and he played great."