Sampras serves a warning

Wimbledon, July 3: Swede Jonas Bjorkman kept glancing at the sky as if for looking some kind of divine intervention, during his match on C...

Wimbledon, July 3: Swede Jonas Bjorkman kept glancing at the sky as if for looking some kind of divine intervention, during his match on Centre Court. Unfortunately for him, God was on the other side of the court on Monday. Even two Bjorkmans may not have been enough to deal with Pete Sampras. The defending champion was in devastating form and clearly out there with a purpose 8212; to scare the living daylights out of Bjorkman and all those potential opponents who might be watching; and while at it, get through to the quarterfinals. Sampras won 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in just over an hour-and-a-half.

The scoreline may not reflect the Swede8217;s effort, but he did try his best, moving to the net from game one. One may have expected the man who beat Andrei Medyedev, Slava Dosedel and Neville Goodwin on his way to making the fourth round, without dropping a set, to be a difficult customer for anyone. His bad luck was running into Sampras.

How much Sampras wanted this match in his pocket and quickly, can perhaps be gauged by his uncharacteristic 8220;aaarghhhquot;, clenched fist and his turning to look at fiancee Bridget Wilson after breaking Bjorkman in the third game of the second set.

Sampras8217; form was reflected in his serve and volley percentage today, an unbelievable 100 per cent. He dished out 17 aces to the Swede8217;s five. That is something unusual for the big-serving Bjorkman, but from the moment the match began, Sampras seemed to have decided to gun for Bjorkman8217;s service. A banner in the crowd read 8220;Smokin8217; Sampras8221;. It wasn8217;t too far from the truth. He broke Bjorkman in the sixth game itself with a backhand crosscourt pass followed by a return winner in the sixth game and that was just the norm for the rest of the match.

He broke for 2-1 in the second set with another of his backhand crosscourt passes, and then again for 4-1 in similar fashion. In the final set, Bjorkman8217;s serve cracked when it mattered, as he double-faulted to give Sampras a 6-5 lead. The American then served out the match, ending with a volley. He was obviously very relaxed after the match. 8220;I felt better about the way I played. Other day, I was very rusty, today, I was comfortable and was happy I got it over with before the rains started.8221;

Sampras, saying his body language was pretty poor against Justin Gimelstob in the previous match, said he had been told by his coach and others 8220;to step it up8221;, if not for himself then for his opponent. 8220;This is my biggest tournament,8221; said Sampras, 8220;And I8217;m going to do everything to be there at this weekend.8221;

Meanwhile, in the fourth round8217;s first upset, Belarussian qualifier Vladmir Voltchkov took out South African Wayne Ferriera 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 0 to reach the last eight. He will meet probably another man from the African continent in Zimbabwean Byron Black. Black, after a slow beginning, had almost made it past the oldest man in the event, 35-year-old Italian Gianluca Pozzi. When rain, appearing from nowhere on a hot, summery day, stopped play, Black was serving for the match at 4-6, 7-6 5, 6-2, 5-4.

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Martina Hingis and Venus Williams set up an intriguing rematch of last year8217;s US Open semi-final, with Hingis definitely looking the more consistent of the two despite the fact that both took some time in closing out their respective matches. Hingis beat Anke Huber 6-1, 6-2, only having a minor hiccup at the end, when she let go of a 4-0 scoreline in the second set. She was broken for 1-4, broke back for 5-1, was broken again for 2-5 and held to take the match. Venus showed Belgian Sabine Appelmans the exit door, winning 6-4, 6-4. Venus8217; sudden difficulty in closing out the match was more inexplicable, because her opponent was not doing anything extraordinary all of a sudden.

Serena meanwhile, played a complete power game to blow the lone remaining Asian in the draw, Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn, out of the Championships 6-1, 6-1. The affable Thai didn8217;t stand a chance against Serena, who, on current form, looks good to add the Wimbledon title to her US Open crown. She next plays compatriot Lisa Raymond who beat Belarussian Olga Barbanschikova 6-4, 6-2 to make, at 27, her first Grand Slam last eight appearance. Serena should beat Raymond, who Indian fans may recall, partnered Leander Paes to the mixed doubles title here last year.

In a nice, gentle match that had lots of volleys, lobs and Indian viewers, Vijay and Anand Amritraj beat the Aussie combination of Fred Stolle and Ken Rosewall 6-2, 6-3 in the over-45 invitational doubles.