Sampras flops again

Tennis

Tennis

Sampras flops again

Pete Sampras flew to Paris for next week's French Open without a victory on clay to his name this year after another disappointing performance at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf yesterday. The American world No 1 was beaten 6-3 6-2 by the Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in just 47 minutes. But, after spending much of the week on a treatment bench trying to get a stiff back fit for Roland Garros, Sampras was just happy to have come through the match without pain. "The back feels good. I had no problems," he said. Sampras pulled out of last week's Italian Open, and his only other game on clay ended in a defeat by the little-known Czech Bohdan Ulihrach in his first match in Dusseldorf. Sampras then had to pull out of the second group match on Thursday because of back muscle spasms.