Rich Benvin

Pete Sampras relied on his still powerful serve to defeat Todd Martin 6-3, 1-6, 10-6 Sunday in the Athens Champions Cup final. Sampras fired two aces in the opening game, and continued to serve and volley crisply while breaking Martin in the fourth game to go 3-1 up. After a rain delay, Sampras held serve easily, and finished off the set with two aces.

Jose Acasuso overcame blisters on his left foot to rally from match point and beat Jonas Bjorkman, sparking Argentina to a 2-1 victory over Sweden in the World Team Cup on Sunday. In the other matches, Germany swept Belgium 3-0 despite the withdrawal of the injured Tommy Haas. After Robin Soderling gave Sweden the lead by beating Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1, 6-4, Bjorkman won the first set against...

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko won the Hypo Group International for a third time, beating defending champion Juan Monaco 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 Saturday. Davydenko won his 13th ATP Tour title overall and second of the season after winning the Masters Series event in Miami last month. The fourth-ranked Russian also won this tournament, a clay-court tuneup for the French Open, in 2005 and 2006.

Like so many times at Wimbledon, Pete Sampras was rained out Saturday. The tennis great, making his first visit to his ancestral homeland, was forced to wait another day before playing former Davis Cup teammate Jim Courier in the Champions Cup seniors tournament. Sampras most likely will advance to the final against Todd Martin.

Defending champion Nicole Vaidisova pulled out of next week's French Open tuneup tournament in Strasbourg because of a nagging right wrist injury. "Unfortunately I am not able to defend my title in Strasbourg," the seventh-ranked Vaidisova said in a statement released by her agent. "My wrist is still bothering me and it is not enabling me to compete at 100 percent.

Andrew Murray might miss the French Open because of a wrist injury from the Hamburg Masters. Murray, ranked No. 10, said on his Web site he is to see a specialist and there is a chance he could compete in his second French Open, which starts May 27. He lost in the first round of the clay-court major last year.

Pete Sampras traded forehands with Jim Courier at the foot of the Athens Acropolis in a tuneup for his first match in the Athens Champions Cup. Making his first trip to his ancestral homeland of Greece, Sampras hit balls with Courier on the makeshift cement court, then edged South Africa's Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 7-6 at the Olympic Tennis Center to improve to 5-0 in senior competition.

Drug tests at the French Open will be handled at a lab in Montreal rather than the Chatenay-Malabry lab in France. French officials said the decision was made to save money and increase the number of tests and not a reflection on the French lab, which is under scrutiny for its handling of Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' samples.

Top-20 player Mario Ancic pulled out of the French Open on Wednesday because he's still recovering from a case of mononucleosis that's sidelined him for more than two months. "I am obviously disappointed to miss the French Open. The Grand Slams are the big tournaments we aim to do well in," Ancic said in a statement released by his agent.

Pete Sampras will play former Davis Cup teammate Jim Courier on Thursday in an exhibition match on a temporary tennis court below the Acropolis. Sampras, a 14-time Grand Slam champion who is making his first visit to his ancestral homeland, is in Greece to play in the four-day Athens Cup at the Olympic tennis venue in northern Athens.

All the travel, all the tournaments and all the titles, and not one trip for Pete Sampras to his ancestral homeland -- until now. The retired 14-time Grand Slam champion finally has come to Greece -- for tennis and for personal reasons. "This is about sharing some time with my folks in my mom's homeland," Sampras told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Italian Open lost two more top-10 players Tuesday when No. 8 Ana Ivanovic and No. 7 Nicole Vaidisova withdrew. Ivanovic has a left ankle injury, and Vaidisova has a right wrist injury. Top-ranked Justine Henin did not enter, No. 2 Maria Sharapova pulled out with a right shoulder injury and defending champion Martina Hingis withdrew with hip and back injuries.

Gisela Dulko of Argentina won her first title this season and third of her career by beating top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) Sunday at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. The error-plagued match had 10 service breaks -- five by each player. "I took my opportunities and went for my shots," Dulko said.

Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Hamburg Masters and add the only major clay-court title missing from his impressive collection. It was the reverse of last year's final, when Federer won his fourth title in Hamburg and snapped Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay.

Jelena Jankovic overcame a pain in her neck and French teenager Alize Cornet on Sunday to win the Italian Open for the second straight year. The victory will help Jankovic, who beat Cornet 6-2, 6-2, establish herself as a serious contender for the French Open, which begins next weekend. "I like playing on clay courts," the fourth-seeded Serb said.