There are those who have agonized, who have watched their cookies crumble and experienced first-hand the suffering.

	It's growing more painful to watch the decline of Pete Sampras.

Others have engaged in less excruciating self-extractions.

They've grabbed the goodies and run.

Pete Sampras? Well, one has to wonder just how much more his tennis sweet tooth can stand. It must be aching terribly these days.

Maybe one final fortnight at Wimbledon will numb the pain, will stem the decay. Perhaps it will help him realize once and for all that there are only so many treats to go around, and that he has devoured his well-deserved share.

While still hungering at a soon-to-be 31 years of age, here's hoping he will at last understand that while there may be a tempting, endless supply of confections, it's time to let the kids worry about the sugar and the cavities and the hurt.

It hasn't been easy monitoring Sampras' decline over the last year or so.

You see him out there grinding, giving it his all. And yet, there is so little to show in return for his trouble, for his devotion to the game he so dearly loves.

In outward appearance only, he may look like the player who's won an unequaled 13 Grand Slam titles. He may look like the man who's seized seven Wimbledon singles championships, who garnered 10 titles in 1994 on his way to being the world's No. 1-ranked player for six consecutive years.

He doesn't, however, look like the upstart who in 1990, dispatched Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi in the last three rounds of the U.S. Open to become the youngest men's champ in that event at the age of 19 years, 28 days.

He first fell from No. 1 on Nov. 13, 2000. After 11 years in the top 10, he's on a 29-tournament drought at No. 13. If only his 2002 results were used to calculate the rankings, he'd be No. 26.

Perhaps most disturbing is the rash of first-round losses he has endured this year. Adelaide. Rome. Hamburg. Paris.

His lone brush with a championship came in April in Houston, where he succumbed to Andy Roddick in the final, 7-6, 6-3.

Of course Sampras is not alone. The immediate list of others who have played -- too far -- past their prime includes Jordan and Ewing and Holyfield and Flutie.

And as much as everyone loves Arnie, it was no fun watching him shoot Sam Snead's age.

The difference is that Palmer teed it up knowing he couldn't win anymore.

Sampras, on the other hand, is gearing up for a return trip to the All-England Club -- where he first won in 1993 when he beat Jim Courier in four sets -- thinking he is capable of engineering another magical title run.

He believes that grass courts are his friends.

And that somehow, strawberries and cream will get that sweet tooth tingling again.

At best, it's just food for thought ...

E-mail Tom Rife at tdrife@naplesnews.com.