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Sampras celebrates birthday in style

A 6-4, 6-2 win was all the birthday present -- his 27th -- that Pete Sampras needed, his opponent Martin Damm being pretty much a spectator as the world number two moved his game up several notches.

Andre Agassi, consistent only in his inconsistency, spoilt a dream run over the last four weeks that saw him climb back into the world top ten rankings, falling in a third-set tiebreaker to 44th ranked Vince Spadea 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (6-2) at the ATP Championship.

Agassi, whose lip has never been slow to function -- remember, he was the guy who famously said of Pete Sampras, 'Anyone who looks like he just swung out of a tree has no business being world number one' -- labeled his conqueror a "tour journeyman" and said he was embarrassed by the defeat.

"It's not an insult, it's a matter of fact," said Agassi, noting that the 24-year-old Spadea just cracked the top 50 last month. "You're still pretty good. There's only 50 people better than you.

"It doesn't speak for his potential, just his results," Agassi added.

Spadea preferred not to take issue with Agassi over the tag. "I'm not a confrontational kind of person," said the player, after completing his third win over a top 10 player in his career.

In a high profile championship that has nine of the top ten seeds figuring, nine of the 16 seeds have been dumped at the end of two rounds.

Leading the parade of exiting stars was fourth seeded Carlos Moya, and fellow Spaniards Alex Corretja, seeded ninth, and 12th-seeded Albert Costa.

Sampras said he planned a quiet birthday celebration with his actress girlfriend Kimberly Williams -- a dinner out and maybe a little dessert for a treat.

He could, however, be giving himself a substantial gift if he advances to the finals. Getting to the title game will give him enough bonus points to recapture the number one ranking he lost to Marcelo Rios -- who, incidentally, was dumped in the very first round here.

External Link:
Pete's Place: Official home of Pete Sampras.