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Sampras to Continue Playing

Pete Sampras has confirmed that he will carry on playing next year, ending speculation that he was about to announce his retirement.

The 14-time Grand Slam winner will not return to action until February and will miss the Australian Open.

He aims to start his season at San Jose's Siebel Open in February, followed by tournaments in Scottsdale, Indian Wells and Miami.

There were many moments when I seriously talked about stopping

"I'm just going to see how it goes, just kind of ride the wave and see how far it takes me," he told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

"I understand that, week in and week out, I don't have what I had when I was number one in the world.

"To do that, to stay there, it has to be your total life, you have to live and breathe it. But that doesn't mean I can't still win the big ones. That's why I play."

Sampras added that his victory at the US Open in September was the greatest of his career, after two years without a tournament victory.

"The last couple of years were tough," said the 31-year-old.

"It took a lot out of me, emotionally, to not play well and to have to talk about it all the time.

"Of all the majors, that was the sweetest. It was just hard to stop that. There were many moments when I seriously talked about stopping.

"Once I won, I felt like I had wiped out two years of criticism in two weeks of tennis."

Johansson May Not Defend Title Down Under

Sweden's Thomas Johansson is unsure whether he will be able to defend his Australian Open title in January next year as he is struggling with a knee injury.

"The plan is for me to play, but it's not 100% certain," Johansson said on Tuesday.

"Often the problems come after the match, the knee feels completely stiff."

The 28-year-old has suffered with the injury for the last six months and has not trained since replacing Andre Agassi in the Shanghai Masters in November.

Johansson has already missed the US Open this year because of a shoulder problem.

"The doctors think there is a connection between the injuries," admitted Johansson.

"Since I'm short I use my legs a lot in the serve and when the knee got bad I had to put more power into the shoulder movement."

Annacone Urges Sampras to Play On

Pete Sampras' coach Paul Annacone says he is doing all he can to persuade the 14-time Grand Slam champion not to retire.

But Annacone added that he thought the chances of Sampras returning to the tour were "50/50".

"I hope that he decides to play on next year," Annacone said.

"I'm doing all I can to push him to come back because I'm convinced he has it in him to win a few more Slams.

"But the question is whether he wants to make the sacrifices."

Sampras is now 31 and has just had his first child with wife Bridgette Wilson.

Many had written the tennis legend off after he suffered the worst defeat of his career to journeyman Georges Bastl at Wimbledon this year.

But Sampras silenced his critics when he won his 14th Grand Slam title at the US Open in September.

Sampras has not returned to the tour since, and rumors persist that he will now concentrate on family life.

"Right now, it's up in the air. It's 50/50," Annacone said. "Pete has been practicing the last two months.

"He never really stopped playing after winning the Open. He's really fit physically.

"But if he decides to go to Australia, he needs to pick it up another notch."

Hingis Misses Melbourne

Martina Hingis has withdrawn from next year's Australian Open because of a persistent ankle injury,

Australian Open spokesman John Lindsay said on Tuesday: "She notified us today that she won't be recovered in time to compete."

Switzerland's Hingis, 22, won the last of her five Grand Slam titles at the 1999 Australian Open.

She underwent ankle surgery in May this year and missed the French Open and Wimbledon.

The former US Open and Wimbledon champion was scheduled to make her comeback at the January 13-26 Grand Slam event in Melbourne.

Hingis's 1999 Australian title was her third in a row, and she has been a beaten finalist in the past three years.

She said in October that she would take an indefinite break after a poor run of results.

Ivanisevic Targets Davis Cup

Goran Ivanisevic has set his sights on playing doubles for Croatia against the United States in February's opening round of the Davis Cup.

The former Wimbledon champion has not played in a tournament since undergoing surgery on his left shoulder last May.

But he returned to training in October and is hoping to make the 7-9 February matches in Zagreb.

"It's not certain that I'd be ready in time for singles, so I'll most likely play just in the doubles match," Ivanisevic told the Croatian monthly Tennis Review.

The Croatians have elected to play the matches on a fast, indoor carpet surface.

Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, who defeated Roger Federer in the first round at Wimbledon this year, are expected to play singles for Croatia.

Americans James Blake and Andy Roddick, who played singles in 3-2 defeat by France in this year's semi-finals in Paris, are expected to be on the team again.

The winner will face Spain or Belgium in the quarter-finals in April.

Hewitt Backs Clay Decision

Lleyton Hewitt has backed Australia's decision to play their Davis Cup tie against Britain on a specially-constructed clay court.

The world number one admits that clay is his least favoured surface, but he believes that it offers Australia their best chance of overcoming Britain.

"I think I'm still a couple of years away from playing my best tennis on European clay," he said.

"But as a team, I think it's the right decision."

Britain's top two players - Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski - are strongest on grass, and Hewitt believes that Australia's second-string players will have their best chance of beating the British pair on clay.

"We really don't know with Flip (Mark Philippoussis) how his knee's going to pull up after the Australian Open with five-set matches.

"He got injured in the last grand slam, the US Open.

"So then we have to look to our back-ups, Wayne Arthurs and Scott Draper.

"I think that their best chance against those two big servers is on clay."

February's tie will be played at the Sydney International Tennis Centre in Homebush - one of the venues for the 2000 Olympics.

It will be the first time the hosts have chosen clay in 103 years of Davis Cup history.

Australian captain John Fitzgerald said the decision was a unanimous one.

He said: "This is certainly our home court advantage - we think it suits us."

And Fitzgerald was quick to recall Australia's victorious tie against France in 1999.

He said: "Don't forget it was a couple of years ago when Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis played singles in the final of the Davis Cup in Nice and it was on clay."

However, the Australians have won only five of 14 world group ties since 1983 on clay.

British captain Roger Taylor said: "It's no surprise. It had been rumoured for some time that the tie would be in Sydney on clay.

"Playing Lleyton on any surface is a tough test but Tim's form on clay has been pretty good over the last two seasons."

However, Henman and Rusedski's participation in the tie remains in doubt as they are both recovering from recent surgery.

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