Pete Sampras's brief revival on clay courts stalled today when Russia's Marat Safin overpowered the former world number one 7-6 7-5 at the World Team Cup men's tennis tournament.
Sampras, currently fifth in the ATP Entry System rankings, was beaten by a much more consistent performance from second-placed Safin.
"I think I hit the ball pretty well. I made one too many errors and you can't afford to make that many errors against Safin," Sampras said. Safin beat Sampras in the final of last year's U.S. Open.
Sampras scored his first win this year on clay, a surface which he finds tougher than hard courts or grass, at the Duesseldorf tournament on Sunday.
The win prompted talk of a revival which could lead to him winning the only big title to elude him, the French Open.
Defeat by the 21-year-old Safin would not have any major impact on his preparations for Paris, Sampras said.
"It's all just part of the process."
Sampras, 29, who has won a record 13 Grand Slam singles titles, at times managed to wheel out the big serves to win key points in what was an uneven performance overall.
But Safin made his serves count more, was more assured at the baseline and was clearly more comfortable on the slow clay surface.
Safin opened up an early lead in the first set, going ahead 4-1 with a beautifully-weighted drop shot.
Sampras also put in some clever drop shots, which he admitted afterwards was unusual for a player better known for thumping the ball back.
"I guess I surprised myself with the drop shots," he said.
Sampras gradually found his serving form during the first set and made an impressive comeback to force a tiebreak. But Safin completely overwhelmed Sampras 7-0 in the tiebreak with a combination of accurate serving and timely approach play, forcing Sampras to make mistakes.
Safin took control in the second set to lead 3-1. Sampras again fought back to 3-3 but Safin held his nerve and won the set 7-5.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov showed signs of a clear return to form when he beat Jan-Michael Gambill of the United States 6-4 5-7 6-2.
Kafelnikov played his best game in months, wrapping up the first set with a combination of strong serving and keen down-the-line judgment.
Gambill fought hard and came back to take the second.
But Kafelnikov imposed himself in the third set, thrilling the crowd with a series of drop shots at the net where he ruled supreme.
Kafelnikov maintained this dominance and wrapped up the third set with an ace.
In the day's other matches, France's Sebastian Grosjean, ranked 10th, easily beat Argentine left-hander Franco Squillari 6-1 7-5, while Argentina's Mariano Puerta beat Arnaud Clement of France 6-3 6-1.
Argentina's Lucas Arnold and Martin Garcia beat Clement and Michael Llodra in the doubles match later but France remained top of the red group after the first two round-robin days with four wins and two defeats.
Argentina were in second with three wins and three defeats, with Russia also on three wins, three defeats after their doubles pairing of Kafelnikov and Safin beat the United States' Scott Humphries and Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6 in two tense tie-breaks.
The United States was bottom of the table with two wins, four defeats.
Reuters