Sampras puts pressure on Muster

Tennis

Pete Sampras recovered from losing the first set to beat David Prinosil, of Germany, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 and reach the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open yesterday.

The American world No 2 had difficulty containing the aggressive serve- and-volley tactics of the eighth seed, but raised his game in the closing stages to maintain the pressure on Thomas Muster for the world No 1 ranking.

Sampras, who trails Muster by only 72 points in the rankings, admitted: "I did not really think I was in control of the match at any time. I had a lot of break points in the first set but did not convert them.''

The other semi-final will be between Michael Chang, the holder, and the unseeded Australian Todd Woodbridge.

Meanwhile Muster reached the semi-finals of the Estoril clay-court event in Lisbon after a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain's Francisco Clavet. The Austrian has yet to drop a set in the tournament.