Sampras Weary Of Sport's Future

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

November 30, 1998 / 7:55 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

Tennis will remain stuck in a rut next year -- the same few players challenging top man Pete Sampras, according to the world No. 1 himself.

Sampras, the best player around for a record sixth consecutive year, said newcomers were nowhere to be seen.

"I think you're going to see pretty much the same guys," he said at the season-ending ATP Tour world championship. "I don't see anyone ranked 40 or 50 that's going to be in the top 10 by this time next year."

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Sampras has not been quite as dominant as in previous years, partly because of injury.

But he still won Wimbledon, his 11th grand slam title, and three other tournaments. Only Australian Roy Emerson has won 12 majors.

"I'm not that old and I've still got plenty to look forward to," said Sampras, 27. "I know that if I'm fit and if I play my best tennis, it's going to be very hard for other guys to beat me."

Obviously, Sampras wants a couple more grand slam victories. With 248 weeks at No. 1, he could also beat Ivan Lendl's record 270.

Sampras fell to eventual winner Alex Corretja of Spain in the semifinals in Hannover, but his only rival in the race for No. 1, Chilean Marcelo Rios, had already pulled out injured.

"I regard this as an ultimate achievement," Sampras said of his record. "I don't think it will ever be broken."

The world's finest player also said he sometimes felt he did not receive all the attention and the respect he deserved.

The

Pete Sampras was stunned in the season finale, but says he has plnty to look forward to in '99. (AP)

fact Sampras, often criticized for his perceived lack of charisma, keeps outclassing the opposition may be a handicap for the sport, but there are others.

Lack of personalities, a complicated ranking system and the high number of tournaments also explain why fans, sponsors and media are becoming tired of men's tennis.

Aware of that, the ATP Tour, which runs the men's professional circuit, is working on a series of measures aimed at keeping everybody interested.

A new elite series comprising the current Super-9 events and the season's finale will be launched in 2000.

The ATP Tour and the Super-9 tournaments -- the highlights of the season outside the grand slams -- have signed an agreement with marketing agency ISL/Octagon to market the rights of the events in the series.

The news practically means the Super-9 tournaments have agreed to keep working together with the ATP Tour and its marketing partner.

The current deal runs until 2000 and rival organizations, notably Boris Becker, together with marketing agency Prisma, had approached the organizers of the most prestigious tournaments, offering to promote their events.

Becker said his proposals were more lucrative for both the tournaments and the players, but ATP Tour boss Mark Miles disagreed.

"To those who say that they can add value to the game, we say that with ISL/Octagon, we have," he said.

Miles said the commercial rights of the events in the new series will be pooled for a long period which has not been determined yet but should run for some 10 years. He said the value of the new package would be around $100 million a year.

Miles also confirmed that from 2000 there will be a 12-month rankings race with all the players beginning the season at zero and accumulating points throughout the calendar year.

Changes could also be brought to the rules to make the sport more exciting to watch, said Miles. He declined to give details.