Sampras has little trouble beating Alami
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Pete Sampras' bid to tune up for this month's US Open went much smoother today.
Pete Sampras' bid to tune up for this month's US Open went much smoother today.
A day after the No. 2 seed struggled through three sets to defeat Michael Llodra, Sampras ousted Karin Alami 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the second round of the $2.95 million Tennis Masters Series-Canada at the National Tennis Centre in Toronto.
It was only Sampras' second time on the court since winning Wimbledon last month, his record 13th Grand Slam tournament title. He will now face the winner of the Sargis Sargsian-Simon Larose match on Thursday.
Sampras, the Masters Series' all-time leader with 11 titles, appears to have a good opportunity to go for No. 12 considering how the event's top seeds continue to drop out.
Only two of the series top five seeds - Sampras and No. 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov - remain after top-seeded Andre Agassi and No. 3 Magnus Norman were knocked out in the first round on Monday.
Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten - seeded fourth - was the latest to go, losing 7-6 (4), 6-4 to Canadian Sebastien Lareau on Wednesday. After falling behind 5-2 in the first set, Lareau - a wild-card entry playing before a supportive Canadian crowd at center court - rallied back against Kuerten, who was coming off a Tennis Masters Series win at Hamburg in May.
In other second-round results, sixth-seeded Thomas Enqvist beat Andrew Ilie 6-3, 6-2, No. 8 Marat Safin defeated Andrei Pavel 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0.
Against Alami, ranked 43rd in the world, Sampras looked in control throughout the match, never losing service while recording 18 aces.
Sampras, who said he's over the shin splints that bothered him at Wimbledon, pulled away early in the second set when Alami ran into trouble. Tied 1-1, Sampras broke Alami's service when Alami double faulted.
Ahead 3-2, Sampras then gave up only four points the rest of the way.
In other action, Wayne Ferreira defeated Thomas Johansson 6-4, 6-3 and Marcelo Rios beat Arnaud Clement 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments