British player Barry Cowan stunned the world yesterday when he put Wimbledon number one seed Pete Sampras through a gruelling five-set match, nearly knocking the seven-time All England Lawn champion out in the early rounds of the famed tournament.
The 26-year-old sportsman, as his parents proudly looked on, battled back after swiftly losing the first two sets to Pistol Pete. Ranked 256 in the world, the 6ft 2in left-hander took the third set in a tie breaker before claiming the fourth 6-4. The hometown crowd cheered wildly for Barry, understandably so considering no British male player has taken the title since the 1930s.
“It was undoubtedly the match of my life,” Cowan said on Wednesday evening. “I’ve never played in a capacity crowd like that. I was feeling really good out there in the first two sets, but I had no rhythm on my serve.”
In the fifth set Pete took control, finishing Barry off 6-3. “He was too good,” says the Brit. “He closed it out like a true champion. At the end of the game he came up and said, ‘Well played’. He’s a real credit to the game.”
England still has a shot at the men’s title, however, with Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman each advancing towards the finals. On the ladies side, British fans will have to pin their hopes on next year’s championships.
Karen Cross, the last female British contender, lost yesterday to American Lisa Raymond. After crushing Karen, Lisa attributed her stunning performance to sheer physical strength. With last year’s French Open champion Mary Pierce acknowledging her use of the muscle-building supplement creatine, and Jennifer Capriati’s well-documented weight training making headlines, it seems the physical aspects of women’s tennis are changing.
“God gave me the gift of being strong and I am going to use it,” says the defending champ Venus Williams, echoing the increasing power of female players.
Wimbledon continues, and is scheduled to wrap up on July 8.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
