November 25, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 14, 1428

MACAU, Nov 24: Pete Sampras fired off his trademark powerful serve in a shock upset of world number one Roger Federer in Macau on Saturday to post his first win in their three-game Asian exhibition series.

The former US world champion came back strongly after defeats in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, forcing the first break of the match in the ninth game of the second set and serving out for victory to win 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 in 70 minutes.

He won the first set on a tie-break after a tight affair that had gone with serve on a lightning-quick court.Sampras, 36, said the level of play in the final match was high.

“It was very fast out there, very quick conditions. It was helping out my service games. I got going a little bit today and it could have gone either way in the first set.”

The 26-year-old Federer praised his opponents serve, saying he still could compete at the top five level in the world.

“We delivered a great level of play. Unfortunately I didn’t win today but the surface was really quick and Pete was playing really well and hardly making any mistakes,” he said.

Sampras, who won a record 14 Grand Slams, started the match strongly with his heavy serve, hitting two aces in the first game and never letting up.

He impressed at the net with his serve-volley game as the match continued to go with serve.

Federer, currently on 12 Grand Slams, had two set points in the first set tie-break, but Sampras escaped and made his second set point count.

Serve continued to dominate at the start of the second set, with neither player looking likely to force the vital break. Federer pushed Sampras to deuce in game eight but the American produced an ace to get out of trouble and level it up at 4-4 before he broke Federer.

Both players hit 14 aces during the match. Sampras made 15 unforced errors to Federer’s 13, while Sampras won 14 points at the net to Federer’s six.

Their clash in the packed arena at Macau’s Venetian resort was their third match in just five days, following the meetings in Seoul and Malaysia.

Federer won the first match in Seoul on Tuesday 6-4, 6-3 in 61 minutes. The second clash, in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, was a closer affair over 90 minutes, with Federer emerging victorious after winning both sets on tie-breaks.—AFP