The Graveyard of Champions had claimed its most celebrated corpse. A lethargic Sampras was outplayed by lucky loser Bastl for two sets before rallying to force a fifth, but in the end, the 145th-ranked Swiss buried Sampras' comeback hopes. The seven-time Wimbledon winner was stunned on Court 2, living up to its "graveyard" reputation, in one of the most massive upsets in Grand Slam history. Asked afterward if he felt disrespected by the All England Club relegating the match to Court 2, Sampras conceded he wasn't exactly thrilled with the assignment.
"Well, let's just put it this way: When I heard it, I wasn't happy about it. I really would much rather have gone on a different court, a show court. But listen, that's a scheduling," Sampras said. "You just have to play on any court. Having won this thing a few times, I figure they might put me out there. But it's really a moot point right now."
If you tried bet on Bastl winning this match before it began, the bookmakers at Ladbrokes might have laughed at you while taking your money, but Bastl believed he had a shot at pulling off an improbable upset.
"I gave myself chances because I've been practicing on grass for the last three weeks here in England. Played a few warm-up tournaments," said Bastl, who scored his first Wimbledon main-draw win in the opening round and never won another match at the tournament after this epic upset. "I knew coming into this match I had won already three matches, and so my confidence was good. I knew my game was improving match after match. You know, I thought I would have some sort of a chance."
Trailing 2-3 in the first set, Bastl reeled off seven straight games before Sampras hit an ace down the middle to hold serve for 1-3 in set two. When Sampras botched a backhand return that landed wide of the doubles alley, Bastl had extended his lead to 4-1, and the all-time great was in serious trouble.
Sampras took the next two sets, but the end came abruptly as Bastl, not yet sporting the Torben Ulrich-style beard he would later grow, broke at 4-4 in the fifth and served it out. Hanging his head for several seconds while staring blankly at the grass beneath his feet, the sixth-seeded Sampras slowly removed his sweatband and sat on his courtside seat, picking at his strings in silent disbelief.
"It all happened so quickly from 4-all, a matter of five minutes, boom, I lost the match," Sampras said. "You just kind of sit there, you're a little bit numb sitting there. Just kind of I lost. It's not a feeling that I like, not a feeling that I felt, especially here at Wimbledon."
Despite Sampras' struggles, cracked confidence that seemed to erode with each passing game, and subpar 17-13 record entering the match, there was little indication that hockey fanatic Bastl, who only gained entry into the main draw after a qualifier withdrew from Wimbledon days earlier, would slap Sampras out of the tournament he dominated. It was the earliest Wimbledon exit in 11 years for Sampras, who lost in the second round in 1991, and it proved to be his final match at the All England Club.
In the aftermath, some media, fans, and even fellow players wrote the slumping Sampras off after his shocking fall. But the man whose motto was "I let my racquet do the talking" had the last word: As the 17th seed, Sampras slammed 33 aces to score a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 triumph over rival Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final to snap a two-year title drought and capture his 14th career major championship in his final professional match.
No. 5: Dokic d. Hingis, 1999
No. 4: Karlovic d. Hewitt, 2003
No. 3: McNeil d. Graf, 1994
No. 2: Bastl d. Sampras, 2002
No. 1: Doohan d. Becker, 1987
