Boring or like a lunatic,” Sampras said Monday.”I’m sure there are a lot of cynical players out there reading this sttis above his ankle. He beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.”For the first time, the pressure’s kind of on my opponent a little bit,” he said “They know I’m a little bit injured. The pressure’s one them; they’re not liking it.”"My opponents should just worry about playing me and not worry if I’m hurt or not. You know, my body has been fragile over the past could years.”—PLAY IT AGAIN Davis Cup captain John McEnroe is still talking about picking himself for doubles. But Todd Martin, among others, isn’t buying it.”Fifth Amendment,” Martin replied when asked about it. “Do they have that over here? I think it’s best if the captain is the captain.

As exciting as that would be for the public and the press, it also takes away from the influence John can have on the rest of the team.”—CHAMPIONS RACE Gustavo Kuerten and Magnus Norman will remain Nos. 1 and 2 when the new ATP weekly ranking race comes out July 10. Kuerten stays on top with 520 points despite losing in the third round at Wimbledon Norman has 493 points. Andre Agassi, fifth in the last rankings on June 26, could move into third place by winning Wimbledon.Only two players are projected to move into the top 20 when the new rankings come out. Wayne Ferreira is expected to move from 22 to 18 and Marc Rosset would go from 25 to 19.—SEMIFINALIST? Wimbledon is assured of having a very unfamiliar name in the men’s semifinals. Because of the way the draw is set up, one of the following will reach the final four: Alexander Popp, Vladimir Voltchkov, Byron Black or Jan-Michael Gambill.

All four won their matches Monday and reached the quarterfinals.. God help Tim Henman, who faces Mark Philippoussis in the last 16 of the men’s singles today, if Boris Becker’s assessment of the Australian is accurate. God help Tim Henman, who faces Mark Philippoussis in the last 16 of the men’s singles today, if Boris Becker’s assessment of the Australian is accurate.
“Boris said he didn’t think I’ve reached 40 per cent of my potential,” Philippoussis said after a recent heart-to-heart with the three-times Wimbledon champion, who is advising him on his grass-court game.”In the past I’ve been lazy,” added the 23-year-old from Melbourne, who has reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club for the past two years, and is one step away from doing so again after his five-hour third-round epic against the Dutchman, Sjeng Schalken, on Saturday.”I’m 23, it’s definitely not too early and it’s definitely not too late to do something,” Philippoussis said. “This is my chance, so why not go out there and do my best? But it’s up to me to work hard I’ve got to do that.”In the past I’ve been lazy I haven’t practiced more than an hour a day, ever. That was always enough and that’s why I had enough energy to go off weight-boarding for two and a half hours and cycling with my friends for an hour I wouldn’t say it was a lack of interest. I just got into a routine ofpractising for an hour.”Philippoussis’s training regime is now supervised by Mike DePalmer – Becker’s former coach – as well as by Philippoussis’s long-time coach, Gavin Hopper.”Boris talks to Mike every day and has told him to do exactly the same as when Mike was coaching Boris,” Philippoussis said.

“The first practice session we had, I was so tired after 20 minutes and it got me thinking that I’ve got to work hard. I’m willing to do it.”Boris said something that really woke me up. He asked me if I really wanted to finish tennis at 32 and be thinking ‘What if this, what if that?’ I’ve got to wake up and one hour a day isn’t enough. I can’t rely on my potential and racket work, I’ve got to be prepared to go out there and sweat for four hours a day.”On Saturday, in the battle against Schalken, the Australian did exactly that, and then some.