BOSTON (Massachusetts), May 7: Pete Sampras, owner of 14 Grand Slam titles, completed a winning return to competitive tennis on Sunday with a victory in the Champions Cup of Boston, part of the Champions Series for former ATP stars.

Sampras rallied to beat Todd Martin 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 in the final.

Sampras, 35, dropped his first set of the tournament and trailed 9-6 in the first-to-10 tiebreaker before rallying. He closed the match on his serve when Martin hit a return shot long.

“I thought it was very high-level,” said Sampras, who was making his first Champions Series foray. “I thought the tennis was the best of the whole week, at least for me anyway. Todd can still play, and the crowd enjoyed it.

“I really had fun competing again, not nearly the intensity it used to be, but it's still competitive and you still want to win.”

The pairing was a rematch of the 1994 Australian Open final, where Sampras defeated Martin 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.—AFP