BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Magnus Larsson on Pete Sampras: 'If you beat him once, you know you can beat him more times.'
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MASON -- Magnus Larsson has done it before. In fact, he has done it three consecutive times.
Defeating Pete Sampras? Sure, not a problem. Been there, done that.
"If you beat him once, you know you can beat him more times," Larsson said. "If he's not on top (of his game), you can have a chance."
Sampras, the defending champion and top seed in the Great American Insurance ATP Championship, advanced to the semifinals Friday night with an incredibly efficient 48-minute 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow American Vince Spadea.
Trailing 1-2 in the second set, Sampras went on to win 20 of the next 22 points in the match to take five straight games. He finished with 12 aces to Spadea's one.
"It was one of those days where everything kind of clicked," Sampras said. "I did everything I should do out there."
Larsson, ranked No. 37, earned a shot at the world's No. 2 player by beating Thomas Johansson 6-4, 7-6 (2) earlier in the day. It was Larsson's 10th straight victory over a Swedish countryman dating back to February 1996.
This is his first ATP Tour semifinal in the United States since May 1995 and just the second Mercedes Super 9 semifinal of his career.
Still, there is no awe, no mystique for Larsson coming into today's 7 p.m. match.
Though Sampras leads the series between the two 6-4, Larsson has won the previous three meetings -- all in 1997.
"He's got all the shots," Sampras said. "He's a big guy, and he moves pretty well. He's got a huge serve, and he backs it up with a big forehand. When he gets his serve going, he's 6-6 (actually 6-foot-4), and it feels like it's coming down on a crane.
"He's a lanky guy, and it's tough to get balls by him. He's a smart player, and he knows his limitations."
They last met in the finals of Davis Cup competition last fall. Sampras retired in the third set with a calf injury.
"I like his game," Larsson said. "It fits my game. It goes pretty fast, quick rallies. Anything can happen."
Not the way Sampras is playing.
He dominated the ATP Championship last year on the way to his second title here, and he is playing the same way again. He has yet to have his serve broken on the way to his fifth appearance in the ATP semifinals.
"If I'm playing my tennis, and I'm on top of my game, I feel that much better about my chances (today)," Sampras said.
Larsson, who has earned close to $5 million in his career, had his best end-of-year ranking in 1995, when he finished 17th. He has six career singles titles and six career doubles titles.
After losing the first four times he played Sampras, his breakthrough came in the 1994 Grand Slam Cup in Munich when he prevailed in four sets. Since then, Larsson has felt more comfortable against Sampras.
"The farther you go to play Pete in a tournament, the better he's playing and the harder it is to beat him," Larsson said. "It's harder to beat him in the semifinals than in the first round."
Larsson is 14-11 this season. This is only his 14th tournament of the year, having missed more than a month in the spring because of a viral infection.
"I'm playing well," he said. "I'm hitting the ball well. It's a good week for me. I just hope I'm not finished yet."
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