Pete Sampras captured the first Grand Slam in the calendar, beating Australia’s own Rod Laver in the final of the Australian Open. In a tournament filled with upsets, Sampras won as the #8 seed, while Laver was #10.
- First Round: 13 of the 16 favorites advanced, but the very first match of the tournament saw #32 Yannick Noah shock #1 Roger Federer. More matches went five sets (six) then went three (two).
- Round of 16: Two more upsets took place in this round, most notably #2 Novak Djokovic going down to #18 Ilie Nastase. Five top-10 seeds were left after this round.
- Quarterfinals: The #3 (Rafael Nadal) and #4 (Ivan Lendl) seeds went out in this round. #5 Jimmy Connors lost the first two sets to Lendl but came storming back to win in five. #6 John McEnroe beat Nadal in straight sets.
- Semifinals: Both underdogs were victorious in the semis. #5 Jimmy Connors tried to pull the reverse sweep again, but this time #8 Pete Sampras rallied to take the fifth set. #10 Rod Laver trailed #6 John McEnroe 2-1 but won the final two sets.
- Final: Neither Sampras or Laver gave any indication during their previous three tournaments that they would do so well here. Sampras lost in three straight quarterfinals. Laver was defeated in three consecutive semifinals. After splitting the first two sets, Sampras won three and four to take home the trophy.
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After the first quarter of the season schedule, Jimmy Connors holds a slim lead over Ivan Lendl for the top spot in the rankings. Both players won two mini-tournaments. Lendl beat Connors in the semifinals of one of the mini-tournaments, but Connors defeated Lendl in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Sampras and Laver climbed to a tie for fourth place after their AO finishes.
First Round:
(32) Yannick Noah defeated (1) Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
(16) Ken Rosewall defeated (17) Arthur Ashe 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5
(9) Andre Agassi defeated (24) Michael Chang 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
(8) Pete Sampras defeated (25) Yevgeny Kafelnikov 0-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
(4) Ivan Lendl defeated (29) Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4
(13) Andy Murray defeated (20) Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
(12) Stefan Edberg defeated (21) John Newcombe 6-0, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
(5) Jimmy Connors defeated (28) Thomas Muster 7-5, 6-1, 6-4
(2) Novak Djokovic defeated (31) Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
(18) Ilie Nastase defeated (15) Guillermo Vilas 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 0-6, 6-4
(10) Rod Laver defeated (23) Jim Courier 7-6, 6-3, 6-4
(7) Bjorn Borg defeated (26) Gustavo Kuerten 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
(3) Rafael Nadal defeated (30) Vitas Gerulaitis 6-2, 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0
(14) Mats Wilander defeated (19) Andy Roddick 7-6, 5-7, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0
(22) Stan Smith defeated (11) Boris Becker 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4
(6) John McEnroe defeated (27) Goran Ivanisevic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Round of 16:
(16) Ken Rosewall defeated (32) Yannick Noah 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
(8) Pete Sampras defeated (9) Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6
(4) Ivan Lendl defeated (13) Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
(5) Jimmy Connors defeated (12) Stefan Edberg 7-5, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
(18) Ilie Nastase defeated (2) Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
(10) Rod Laver defeated (7) Bjorn Borg 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
(3) Rafael Nadal defeated (14) Mats Wilander 6-4, 7-5, 7-6
(6) John McEnroe defeated (22) Stan Smith 7-5, 7-6, 7-5
Quarterfinals:
(8) Pete Sampras defeated (16) Ken Rosewall 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
(5) Jimmy Connors defeated (4) Ivan Lendl 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3
(10) Rod Laver defeated (18) Ilie Nastase 6-1, 6-2, 7-6
(6) John McEnroe defeated (3) Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Semifinals:
(8) Pete Sampras defeated (5) Jimmy Connors 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3
(10) Rod Laver defeated (6) John McEnroe 2-6, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
Final:
(8) Pete Sampras defeated (10) Rod Laver 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 