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| | Tuesday, May 23 Haas defeats Sampras for first time | |||||
| Associated Press DUESSELDORF, Germany -- Pete Sampras lost to Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-2 Tuesday and Germany beat the United States 2-1 at the Team World Cup. Sampras lost his second straight match at this event and is 1-3 in his latest comeback -- not an encouraging sign less than a week before the French Open. "The best clay-court match I ever played was in Paris in 1996 in the quarterfinals against Jim Courier," Sampras said. "I hope that somehow I can reach that shape in the next couple of weeks." Sampras has never won at Roland Garros and his best showing there was that 1996 semifinal appearance. A victory there this year would break the record of 12 Grand Slam titles he shares with Roy Emerson. Sampras missed more than a month with a thigh injury and came back last week at the German Open. Haas had never beaten Sampras in four previous matches. "I'm so happy I can say I've finally beat Pete," Haas said. "For me, he is the greatest player of all time." Rainer Schuettler beat Vincent Spadea 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to secure Germany's victory in the best-of-three series even before the doubles. Alex O'Brien and Jared Palmer won doubles for the single U.S. point, defeating Haas and David Prinosil 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3. In another Red Group match, Sweden beat Slovakia 2-1 by taking the doubles. Germany improved to 2-0, while Slovakia and Sweden are 1-1. The Americans are 0-2. The $1.9 million tournament brings together eight teams whose players have the best individual rankings. They are divided into two four-team groups that play a round-robin system, with the top two nations advancing to the final. The event serves as a tuneup for the French Open, which starts Monday. Sweden had to play without Thomas Enqvist, who pulled out because of a hand injury. The Swedes took the lead against Slovakia when Magnus Norman rallied to beat Dominik Hrbaty 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Karol Kucera tied it quickly for Slovakia by beating Mikael Tillstroem 6-0, 6-2. Tillstroem than teamed with Nicklas Kulti to defeat Kucera and Hrbaty 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the decisive doubles. | ALSO SEE World Team Cup: Australia gets break in winning opener World Team Cup: Another Sampras loss gives Slovakia win over U.S. Agassi, Hingis get top seeds for French Open  | |||||