Pistol Pete sets sight on fourth title

Since then, though, after three disappointing Grand Slam appearances, his crown has slipped a little and some are suspecting the one-time invincible Pistol Pete has started to miss-fire.

A fourth round defeat at the US Open last September, a quarter-final loss at the Australian Open in January and a devastating second-round defeat in the French Open last month have dented the world number one8217;s confidence coming into Wimbledon which starts on Monday.

And the 26-year-old American seeded number one here for the fifth year running knows it is time to put things right. 8220;Everyone knows I put a lot of emphasis on the majors,8221; he said. 8220;I8217;m just not playing wellthis year plain and simple.

8220;A lot of athletes go through periods where they don8217;t play well. But they bounce back and that8217;s what I have to do at Wimbledon.8221;

Sampras should be helped in his quest to bounce back by the lack of grasscourt players in the top half of the draw. The first seed he could meet would be French Open semi-finalist Felix Mantilla.

The Spanish 16th seed will do well to even reach the fourth round, though, falling in the first round last year in his first visit to the premier grasscourt event.

French Open runner-up Alex Corretja, even less inclined to go to the net than Mantilla, and out-of-sorts Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov are the other seeded players in Sampras8217;s quarter of the draw.

It is the non-seeds in that section which are likely to cause all the trouble. Sampras could meet 1996 runner-up MaliVai Washington in the second round and London grasscourt championships winner Scott Draper the round after that.

Also lurking in that quarter are a trio of dangerous Australians,Mark Woodforde, who beat Sampras at Queen8217;s last week, 1996 semi-finalist Jason Stoltenberg and big serving Mark Philippoussis, Queen8217;s champion last year.

World number two Marcelo Rios is seeded second for the championships, but it is a brave man who would back the Chilean to win his first Grand Slam title.Volatile and highly gifted, left-hander Rios has won four ATP Tour events already this year including the prestigious Italian Open on Rome8217;s clay courts.

He was runner-up to Petr Korda in the Australian Open at the beginning of the year and went on to depose Sampras from the number one spot for four weeks.

But the 22-year-old crashed out in the first round of the Nottingham Open 8212; his first grass court warm-up match and admitted: 8220;I was not feeling very good on the grass8230; I am not really well prepared mentally.8221;

Third seed Petr Korda may be playing his last season and would love to add Wimbledon to the 1998 Australian Open he took in January.

But the Czech left-hander is in a tough quarterwith a resurgent Andre Agassi, British hope Tim Henman and US Open champion Pat Rafter, of Australia, the other seeds.

Joining Korda, Kafelnikov and Rafter as players with one Grand Slam title going into Wimbledon are Carlos Moya, French champion earlier this month, and Richard Krajicek, winner here in 1996.

Of the two, Krajicek is by far the most likely to add to his tally. His incredible serve may be a big factor in him going further than the fourth round his ninth seeding suggests.

Moya, on the other hand, is predominantly a baseline player and the quick conditions at the all England Club will not suit the Spaniard.

Fourth seed Greg Rusedski could pose Britain8217;s best chance of winning the men8217;s title since Fred Perry in 1936, but the Canadian-born star picked up a nasty ankle injury at Queen8217;s Club last week.

His devastating left-handed serve, officially timed the fastest in the world, can be too much for anybody to handle and there will be a few sighs of relief if the 24-year-old is forced towithdraw.