Home » Sports » Men's Tennis » Rankings race intensifies

Rankings race intensifies

© Joel Hunt

The battle for the number one spot at the end of the year has intensified this past fortnight. Pete Sampras has so far staved off the challengers, picking up the title in Vienna along the way. Marcelo Rios has gained ground by winning the Singapore Open, moving past Pat Rafter to the world number 2 position. Rafter has meanwhile fallen into a slump since winning the US Open, failing to pass the quarter-finals of any tournament since then. He has freely admitted to being exhausted at this stage of the season. Of the challengers, Rios now looks the more likely to overtake Sampras; particularly given his own good form indoors.

Another player with a chance of gaining the number 1 spot is Andre Agassi, who has returned to form this year. This time last year he was ranked below 140, and appeared to have lost interest in the game. Many blamed his marriage to Brooke Shields for this. Certainly it was easy to believe that Agassi couldn't come back from such a low position. However this year he has shown that when he has a hunger to win, he's still capable of beating the best. In 1998 his record against Sampras is 2-1, and against Rafter it is 1-0. Agassi has very little points to defend due to his poor results last year, and as a result has been able to leap frog to the number 5 position. He has under-performed in the grand slams, but the year end number 1 ranking could provide him with more than a reasonable consolation.

Tournament News

Rios emerged the winner in Singapore from a field which included Michael Chang and Goran Ivanisevic, both finalists in the Salem Open in Beijing the previous week. Surprisingly both Chang and Ivansevic were eliminated before the semi-final stage, and 34 year old veteran Mark Woodforde was Rios' opponent in the Singapore final. Rios was to powerful and consistent for the Australian, winning by 6-4, 6-2.

In the Czech Open in Prague, Andre Agassi defeated Jan Kroslak 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to win his first title since Los Angeles in July. This win gained Agassi a place in the ATP Tour World Championships in Hannover, in which only the top 8 players for the year take part.

Pete Sampras won the Vienna Open in Austria, beating Karol Kucera by 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. After surviving a scare in the early rounds against Todd Martin, Sampras won comfortably in the final. This title has helped him to prevent Marcelo Rios from usurping his number 1 position for the time being. However, he will have to continue to perform outstandingly to remain the number 1 for the year, particularly since he is the defending champion in Paris and in Hannover.

The copyright of the article Rankings race intensifies in Men's Tennis is owned by . Permission to republish Rankings race intensifies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.