Tennis great Pete Sampras got the upper hand in his match against Todd Martin on Sunday as the two battled it out for three sets in the “Duel Under the Oaks” exhibition held in the PMAC.
In front of a crowd of 6,812, the two retired stars split the first two sets in the match and played a tie breaker in which Sampras arose victorious.
With a 9-7 lead and needing only one match-point to capture the win, Martin could not close the door on Sampras and dropped five of the final six tie-breaker points to lose the final set, 12-10.
“Todd’s always given me problems,” Sampras said. “He’s got that big lanky serve, and for two guys that have been retired for a couple of years, I thought we still put on a good show.”
After winning the seventh tie-breaker point to capture the first, 7-6, Sampras dropped the second, 6-7, allowing Martin to even the match up at one a piece.
Sampras said he and Martin have had competitive matches in the past, and today’s match was no different.
“Todd’s got that big kick serve, and I was having a hard time getting over it,” Sampras said. “He’s [6 feet, 6 inches tall], and when he gets [the ball] up there, it’s over [7 feet, 5 inches high], so it takes some time, and that’s why he has always given me problems. But the more I saw it, I kind of got the hang of it, and at the end I was able to kind of pull this one out.”
The exhibition match, which consisted of guest appearances by actors Scott Foley and Wes Brown, raised over $400,000 for the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
Martin said he was honored to be a part of something he felt was so special and to lend a hand to a good cause.
“It’s a community in need, and it’s always rewarding to do something for people who need it,” Martin said. “To have it supported like this and be able to hear numbers like over $400,000 going to the Health Sciences division of LSU, it’s great, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
The see-saw battle between the two was highlighted by the 27 aces posted in the match, 19 by Sampras and eight by Martin.
Martin said the event was very exciting, and although Sampras has been retired for some time now, the way he played shows he is still a formidable opponent.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Martin said. “In some ways it’s more of an even playing field than what it used to be. He’s lost some of his athletic ability, so he’s almost down to where I was when I was at my best, but he still has some special talent.”
Foley, star of the CBS drama “The Unit” and current actor on NBC’s “Scrubs,” said the event turn out was what he expected and hopes there will be more events similar to LSU’s in the near future.
“I think it turned out all right,” Foley said. “It raised money for a cause that needs awareness raised. Even though it’s been over a year since Katrina hit, things need to be brought to the attention of the people, and money still needs to be raised. People need to be helped, and I think this was the start of something good.”
—–Contact Jay St. Pierre at [email protected]