Sampras One Cool Customer

MELBOURNE, Australia — Pete Sampras, threatened only by racket strings popping in suffocating heat, had little trouble with young Carlos Moya, winning in straight sets today to capture a second Australian Open title and ninth major championship.

Sampras’ 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory in 89 minutes over the 20-year-old from Spain--the most one-sided Australian final in eight years--separated the No. 1 American from all but one of the greats of the open era.

Only Bjorn Borg, with 11 Grand Slam titles, has more majors than Sampras since the start of open tennis in 1968. Sampras had been tied at eight with Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl. Roy Emerson leads the list with 12, Rod Laver won 11--only five in open play--and Bill Tilden captured 10 in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Sampras served 12 aces to Moya’s two, but it wasn’t sheer power that earned him this title. With the temperature 90 degrees in the shade and well over 100 on court, Sampras sacrificed speed for placement as he kept the unseeded Moya guessing where the ball was going next.

Unlike earlier matches in this tournament and in the U.S. Open he won last year, Sampras coped easily with the heat. He seemed to be playing so effortlessly that the crowd and Moya were lulled into watching him as if expecting winner after winner. Sampras obliged with 38 winners--11 on volleys--while the baseline-hugging Moya managed only 13 winners and no volleys.

“Pete, we want a fourth set!” a spectator yelled after Sampras took a 3-1 lead on his serve in the third set.

Sampras responded with a forehand drop shot winner on the next point.

Sampras had no desire to let this match go longer than necessary, and only a shortage of string or rackets could have stopped him. He popped a string in the second game of the match, another one two games later, two more in the second set, and another in the third set.

Sampras had played enough tennis in this tournament, surviving two five-setters as he did at the U.S. Open. But this victory extended Sampras’ Grand Slam winning streak to 14 matches.

“It’s hot out here, you know,” Sampras told the crowd, which had seen him fall in the third round last year, a year after his late coach, Tim Gullikson, was diagnosed here with brain cancer.

“Last year was a real tough year for me. My coach, Tim Gullikson . . . ,” Sampras began before stopping a moment. “But I had the support from my family, my good friends, and that got me through.”

Sampras then drew a big laugh from fans when he responded to a shriek from a female fan: “I love you too, babe.”

Moya, the first Spanish man to reach the Australian Open final since Andres Gimeno in 1969, leaped from No. 25 to No. 9 after beating defending champion Boris Becker in the first round and No. 2 Michael Chang in the semifinals.

Seeking to become the first unseeded Australian Open winner since Mark Edmondson in 1976, Moya looked slower than when he played against Becker Chang and the others he beat. A loser in the first round of two majors last year, and the second round of two others in his inaugural circuit of the Grand Slam, Moya may simply have been played out, in addition to being outplayed.

The Spaniard had been on court 13 hours 42 minutes in his six previous matches, more than an hour longer than Sampras.

Moya couldn’t cope with the variety of spins, slices and volleys Sampras threw at him. Sampras, who usually slugs serves in the 120-mph range, closed out the first game of the match with a 97-mph ace. Most of his other aces weren’t much faster, in part because of the humid, heavy air, and in part because he went for angles and kick instead of merely brute power.

Sampras also exploited the weakness he found in Moya’s two-fisted backhand. Though Moya had been able to get away with that in previous matches, winning on the strength of his top spin forehand and all-court craft, he found himself on the defensive too often and unable to go to the net.

Sampras broke him for a 3-1 lead at the start, broke him again to finish off the 23-minute first set, and from then on the match was devoid of drama.

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Living Single

Most victories in Grand Slam tennis events:

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Roy Emerson: 6

Ken Rosewall: 4

Jack Crawford: 4

Rod Laver: 3

Adrian Quist: 3

Mats Wilander: 3

James Anderson: 3

Pat Wood: 3

Pete Sampras: 2

(tied with many others)

FRENCH OPEN

Bjorn Borg: 6

Henri Cochet: 4

Rene Lacoste: 3

Mats Wilander: 3

Ivan LendlL: 3

Pete Sampras: 0

U.S. OPEN

Bill Tilden: 7

Richard Sears: 7

William Larned: 7

Jimmy Connors: 5

Pete Sampras: 4

John McEnroe: 4

Robert Wrenn: 4

WIMBLEDON

Willie Renshaw: 7

Bjorn Borg: 5

H.L. Doherty: 5

Rod Laver: 4

Reggie Doherty: 4

Tony Wilding: 4

Pete Sampras: 3

John Newcombe: 3

Bill Tilden: 3

John McEnroe: 3

Fred Perry: 3

Boris Becker: 3

Wilfred Baddeley: 3

Arthur Gore: 3

OVERALL

Roy Emerson: 12

Bjorn Borg: 11

Rod Laver: 11

Bill Tilden: 10

Pete Sampras: 9

Ken Rosewall: 8

Fred Perry: 8

Jimmy Connors: 8

Ivan Lendl: 8

John Newcombe: 7

John McEnroe: 7

Henri Cochet: 7

Willie Renshaw: 7

Rene Lacoste: 7

Mats Wilander: 7

Richard Sears: 7

William Larned: 7