THE SCOOP: SATURDAY, JULY 27

Why Sampras left Jose and hired Annacone
Why the Belgians didn't play Fed Cup

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

What gives with Pete Sampras? First, he let go of Paul Annacone last November, then he hired and fired Tom Gullikson within two months, then he hired Jose Higueras in March and the relationship came to a dead halt after Wimbledon.

Guess who's in? None other than Annacone, the USTA's managing director for the USA Tennis High Performance program, who will coach Pete through the end of the year.

The 31-year-old Sampras parted ways with Higueras just after his stunning second round loss to George Bastl at Wimbledon, apparently because he wanted the legendary coach to travel with him more and Higueras wanted to continue a part-time relationship. Higueras coached Jim Courier and Michael Chang to Grand Slam titles. Sampras' relationship with Higueras lasted just four-and-a-half months.

Higueras, who also works for USA High Performance, told Sampras from the get go that he didn't want to travel full time and when Sampras talked to him after Wimbledon, Higueras offered to have former tour player Richard Smith travel with Sampras when he wasn't available. Apparently, that wasn't good enough for Pete.

Here's the kicker: Annacone won't be able to travel full-time with Sampras either, but the two have a strong enough relationship where Sampras trusts that their goals won't change when Annacone isn't around. Annacone is in Toronto with Sampras right now for the Canadian Open but won't be traveling with him to Cincinnati.

"Both Pete and Jose were happy with the coaching part of it, but Pete felt he needed more stability when he's traveling," Annacone told tr.net. "Everyone realizes what a great coach Jose is, but Pete told me that if he was to go with someone part time, he wanted someone who he has more of a history with. He doesn't know Pete as well as I do. Pete and I have remained very close friends. … Pete's a big boy now, he doesn't need me there every day. He knows what he has to do."

Higueras' close friend, Mission Hills Country Club's Tommy Tucker, said that Sampras made the wrong move in quitting on Higueras.

"Pete thinks he knows what he needs, but if it's a full-time traveling coach, he's mistaken," Tucker said. "He'd be better off with Gil Reyes [Agassi's' physical trainer] than a full-time coach. Having someone watching your matches at smaller tournaments has very little value. He needed someone to get him into tennis shape by putting in enough time on the practice courts during the off weeks and that's what Jose would have done for him. They only had two good weeks together. At Wimbledon, he still wasn't in good enough shape."

SLUMP JUST GETS WORSE AND WORSE
Sampras is in the worst slump of his career, has slid down to No. 13 in the rankings and No. 34 in the champions race and hasn't won a title since taking his seventh Wimbledon crown in 2000. Few people believe that he can get back to the top again, but Annacone isn't among those.

"Getting back to the top is the biggest challenge of Pete's career," Annacone said. "I told him yesterday, 'This is a great opportunity for you to do something that no other player has done before.' Getting back to his old level should be enough to get him fired up and motivated again."

Annacone is hoping that in the next five weeks before the U.S. Open begins, Sampras can regain the confidence that saw him take New York by storm last year, when he took down three former U.S. Open champions in succession – Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin – before falling to Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

"I wouldn't put anything past Pete," said Annacone. "He's the greatest player of all time. You cannot categorize him and say he has no chance to be an elite player again. His emotional disposition has been off for a while, where he's not been able to fight through negative spots in matches. He needs to be more positive and get back to dictating the points again. The tour is so deep now that there are a lot of guys who can hit the ball hard and challenge him. But that doesn't mean he can't raise it up a level."

Annacone said what Sampras really needs is confidence. "Practice can be a little overrated," Annacone said. "Pete needs a lot of of match play, but the only way he is going to get that is to win some matches. He looks great in practice right now and hopefully next week he can carry that into matches and get some wins."

Why the Belgians didn't play Fed Cup

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin – who skipped their nation's Fed Cup loss last weekend to Italy – says that a change in the format is necessary if the Fed Cup is to gain in popularity.

Everyone in the tennis world knows that you can't sell the sport without its stars and a quick look at this year's Fed Cup participants showing a glaring lack of commitment from the top players, including Venus and Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Jelena Dokic and now Clijsters and Henin.

"For Fed Cup to survive, the star players have to play and they have to change the format," said Fed Cup stalwart Monica Seles. "Especially during an Olympic year, we shouldn't be asked to play. Three weeks a year is asking too much from the players."

Both Henin and Clijsters, who lead their small nation to the crown last year, say they love to play. But, they added, the schedule is too demanding and that having a weekend date in Europe just before the U.S. hard court season is impossible for players looking for a successful summer. Henin, who slightly fractured her finger in Palo Alto in her first round loss to Marissa Irvin and is now out until at least the Canadian Open, suggested holding Fed Cup every other year. This proposal has been mentioned many times before but has never gotten the nod from the ITF.

Clijsters, who is the Bank of the West Classic defending champion, agreed and added that a reduction in weeks would be a step in the right direction.

Now that Belgium, the U.S and France are out, where will the Fed Cup final be held? It is certainly not going to be easy for the ITF to find a host nation. Spain is a semifinalist but, after taking a bath in red ink when hosting the '01 final, you can bet it won't return there. Spain's semifinal opponent, Austria, might take a crack at it, as might Italy. It's hard to imagine the tiny Slovak Republic coming up with the funding.

If you are looking for an early pick for the winner, why not take the Daniela Hanthuchova-led Slovaks. They made an excellent addition to their lineup by inserting the rising Martina Sucha into a singles spot. Look for the Slovaks to beat Italy and for Austria and its two swaggering Barbaras – Schett and Schwartz – to take down Arantxa, Marta Marrero and Spain.