Federer defeats Sampras, 6-4 6-3

Today in Seoul, in the first exhibition match of the 3-match series, Federer beat Sampras 6-4, 6-3.

Pete still had that huge serve (IIRC, he served 6 aces) and was very good at the net. But, he was slow near the baseline. He broke Roger once in the first set. Pretty decent stuff from a 36 year old guy;) OTOH, Roger was sloppy throughout the match. There were some pretty good rallies though. Overall, the match was not as entertaining as the battle of surfaces (Federer-Nadal) or the Federer-Nadal Korea exhibition last year.

An article from IHT:

In an exhibition match between the giants of tennis present and past, world No. 1 Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

The match in Seoul is the first of three Asian exhibitions the two legends will play. The pair meet again Thursday in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Macau two days later.

Sampras, 36, retired in 2002, a year after the only previous meeting between the pair at Wimbledon 2001.

Federer won that fourth round match in five sets. If the Swiss star — who lifted his fourth Masters Cup title Sunday in Shanghai — expected an easier ride against the aging American he was in for a shock.

Sampras brought cheers from the crowd at Seoul’s Olympic Tennis Arena as he fired down two fierce aces in his first service game.

The balding Sampras proceeded to break his opponent’s serve and then moved 4-2 ahead courtesy of a delightful drop shot.

“I feel pretty good,” Sampras told Korean television after the game. “I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me.”

Federer was equally happy with the workout.

“Pete was one of my idols growing up and it’s great to play him,” Federer said. “It wasn’t easy for me, it wasn’t easy for him as he’s been retired five years. I am number one and everyone expects me to win.”

All the familiar trademark volleys and serves were on display but Sampras, who has won 14 Grand Slams to Federer’s 12, was slower around the court than in his 1990s heyday and made a number of unforced errors.

Federer took advantage of those to break the serve Sampras and take the first set 6-4.

Apart from three successive lobs that Federer served up to his opponent in the second game of the second set, the game was a competitive, though light-hearted affair.

By that time, Federer was hitting his stride and took the second set with a minimum of fuss.

“I have no plans to come back from retirement,” said Sampras. “You have to come back for a reason. I just stay home and watch Roger win on television.“

Australian Open Courts to Speed up in 2008

While all the surfaces (including Wimbledon) are being made slower and slower every year, Melbourne courts will be made faster next year. Australian open courts are being revamped right now. The courts will be colored blue (similar to US open courts??) and a new surface, plexicushion replaces the Rebound Ace.

From The-Age:

TENNIS Australia officials believe the new surface for the Australian Open is set to provide a faster, more attractive tournament in January.

The tournament will be played on new blue plexicushion courts, which have replaced the green Rebound Ace courts that were criticised by Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who argued for a faster and more consistent surface.

Tournament director Craig Tiley said Tennis Australia tests have shown that the courts already were faster than the old Rebound Ace courts.

Tiley said the courts would get even faster by January 14, although they would still be slower than Wimbledon and the US Open.

“Our plan has been to be in the medium to medium-fast pace range. On the ITF (International Tennis Federation) scale, that’s about 34 to 38, and we’re very pleased to be able to tell everyone that scientific testing has got us right smack bang in the middle of that, which is where we want to be,” Tiley said.

“It’s going to get quite a bit of playing time and environment over a period of time, so we expect them to increase in speed by a couple of points.

“So from a scientific point of view, it has worked out great, and so far the player perception has been great but not everyone has hit on them. So once you’ve got 500 players hit on them, there’ll probably be a range of perceptions, but we know scientifically now that at least we can back ourselves up with these tests.”

He said the new surface would be more durable under heat stress than Rebound Ace. The remaining few courts at Melbourne Park will be completed by mid-December.