Pete Sampras made history on two counts, Sunday, when the American won a record 13th Grand Slam singles crown as well as a record-equaling seventh Wimbledon men's singles title.
Two breaks in the fourth set enabled the defending champion to crush the challenge of Australia's 12th seed Pat Rafter as Sampras won 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-2 in 2hr 57min in a match twice interrupted by rain.
It was almost dark by the time the match finished at gone nine p.m. local time (20:00 GMT) having started an hour late some six hours earlier.
The second rain break lasted three hours.
Sampras, hampered earlier in the tournament by a shin tendon injury, didn't find his form in the opening set which he conceded on the tiebreak but he gradually cranked up his game and picked Rafter apart once he had held his nerve to level in the second set tiebreak.
The 28-year-old immediately marched into the Center Court crowd to hug his parents Sam and Gloria, who had flown in especially to watch the serial title-winner here for the first time ever in his 12th Wimbledon campaign.
It was also the first time they had ever watched him win a Grand Slam final as seeing their son play makes them nervous.
His girlfriend Bridgett Wilson was also courtside as the mega athlete from Washington DC added to four US Opens and two Australian Opens.
Sampras moved ahead of Australia's Roy Emerson to take sole possession of the record for Grand Slam singles titles and he also equaled William Renshaw's mark of seven titles at Wimbledon. Renshaw achieved the feat in 1889 in the days when champions only had to play a challenge round.
"It means so much to me, my parents were here today. They can share this with me," said Sampras, who fired down 27 aces - though he also made 12 double faults in a tense encounter.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my parents. They gave me the opportunity to play this great game," he added.
"As you get older you want your family around. They've always been very supportive, very loving. They always gave me my independence.
"I told myself if I got to the final here I wanted them to be here."
Sampras said he wasn't sure where they were sitting at first.
"It took me a while to find them. When I did it was a great moment."
Asked about the significance of beating Emerson's record Sampras said it would take some time to sink in.
"Time will tell if it will be broken. I think in the modern game it will be difficult. The next person might be eight years old hitting in a park somewhere.
"As the years go by, I'll look back at these two weeks as the most difficult, the most satisfying.
"I never looked at breaking the record as pressure. I looked at it as an opportunity. It really is amazing how this tournament has panned out for me," he added.
Swiss-based Emerson had said before the match that "records are there to be broken."
Sampras said winning in what has become his personal kingdom was a source of particular pleasure.
"I love Wimbledon. This is the best court in the world. This is a great moment of my life, said the 28-year-old after taking his record here over 12 years to an incomparable 59-5.
This was his 62nd career title and he picked up 477,500 pounds (some 700,000 dollars) to take his career earnings beyond the 40 million dollar mark.
"It's very emotional for a number of reasons. My parents were here. It all kind of hit me at the end. I worked very hard to get here," said Sampras, who admitted he got a little scared after the first set.
"The way the battle was going I thought it was gonna slip away.
"I lost my nerve in the first set. He lost his in the second breaker. But I started making him work and eventually I got the break."
Rafter, who fired way wide on Sampras' first match point, was not too downcast as he has battled through a serious shoulder injury to get this far.
"I had a few opportunities early on. But I got a bit nervous and that's the way it goes.
"I wasn't expecting anything this year. Second place isn't too bad."
The two men had been level at 4-4 and deuce on the Rafter serve when the rain brought a halt just ten minutes after a first resumption.
Rafter, 27, then staved off a fourth break point before holding for 4-4.
The ensuing tiebreak saw a multitude of minbreaks before Rafter prevailed on his fourth set point when Sampras double faulted for the fifth time having failed to convert two set points.
Sampras saved a break point as he moved to 2-1 in the second set, but games continued to go with serve and a second tiebreak had to separate the gladiators.
Sampras promptly started off with his ninth double fault before an extraordinary point saw Rafter send over a volley but fall as he did so.
He still sent up a lob beyond Sampras who, though he chased back, could only net.
Suddenly, Rafter had a 4-1 lead after Sampras sent a loose forehand long. But the advantage evaporated as quickly as it came.
Rafter first missed a volley at the net and then double faulted for the fifth time to hand his rival a double minibreak.
The Queenslander then netted twice on the Sampras serve, and a brilliant passing shot which had Sampras pumping his fists gave the six-time champion two set points.
This time, after a Rafter overhead volley saved the first, Sampras did not disappoint and converted the second with a forehand, which wrong-footed the Aussie.
Rafter twice held with difficulty at the start of the third set saving a break point the second time but his luck didn't hold as Sampras, having already missed six break points in the match, set up three more.
Incredibly, he missed them but the American finally forced the break to go 3-2 clear on his fourth break point of the game as Rafter fluffed a volley and smashed his racket in frustration.
Sampras' fifth love game followed and with his serves topping 210 kph he finally looked to be on the march after a three-game winning streak. He then held to go two sets to one ahead.
With Sampras never having lost a five-set match here in four previous attempts, Rafter had a mountain to climb.
But the fifth set never came as Sampras, who had lost three of his last four matches against the Aussie, broke in the fourth and seventh games to go 5-2 clear in the fourth set as dusk threatened to see a postponement overnight before serving out to love.
Rafter said he already regarded Sampras as the greatest player ever - though he felt he could only take the accolade officially by winning the French Open to complete his Slam collection.
"For me, that's his last big challenge. He's got to get himself very very fit to win it," - (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
