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Rafter beats Sampras for title

Patrick Rafter of Australia stymied Pete Sampras' bid to return to the world number one status by beating the top seed 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the final of the ATP Championship in Mason, Ohio.

The victory gave the fifth-seeded Rafter, holder of the US Open title, consecutive titles for the first time in his career and netted him $361,000.

The match however ended on a controversial note with a visibly angered Sampras questioning whether Rafter's final point was actually an ace or a fault.

Rafter raised his arms high in victory as the lineswoman call the serve out, but umpire Lars Graff immediately overruled in Rafter's favor, leaving Sampras atypically irate.

"It was in," said Rafter. "I've hit that serve before and I can feel when it's in and it felt good. It was a beauty.

"It was my occasion and eventually he sort of accepted it. But it took a bit of the spark away from the end of the match."

Although Sampras shook Rafter's hand after the match, he had words with umpire Graff, and was even overheard cursing at him about the final point.

"Clearly out," said an annoyed Sampras, who took $190,000 as runner-up. "I was clearly unlucky today. I think he made a bad decision, but there's nothing you can do now. It's not why I lost the match, but it ended it on a bad note."

The normally placid Sampras made no apologies for his stormy protest. "You guys think I'm some sort of robot out there, that I feel nothing. But it's certainly not the case," he said.

Sampras, who was ousted from the top slot by Marcelo Rios last Monday, was hoping to win the final which would give him enough ATP points to take the ranking back.

Before the match, Sampras had an 8-1 edge over Rafter, winning 8 straight matches after losing their first ever meeting, at Indianapolis in 1993.

And it looked like this would be defeat number nine for Rafter, who couldn't pierce Sampras's all-round game no matter what he tried in the first set.

In the second, Rafter changed tactics and forced Sampras to serve on his forehand side, and with that, the game swung back in favour of the Australian.

At 4-4 in the second set, Rafter served another questionable one, which was called an ace. At At 30-40, Sampras was looking at a second serve and an opportunity to go on to serve for the match. But with the Rafter serve being called good, that opportunity was lost. After the match, Sampras insisted Rafter had really double faulted at that crucial juncture.

Rafter did not dispute Sampras's contention on this point. "I wouldn't have argued with that one," he said. "That one felt out."