Age proves no concern for Bates

Amid all the fuss about Greg Rusedski's arrival from Canada as the new British No 1, Jeremy Bates has been able to stand aloof, too far along the road to feel usurped, or even threatened. Nowadays Bates is content to play without feeling that he is carrying the weight of expectation of the British game on his shoulders. He has resisted overtures to reconsider his retirement from the Davis Cup, and on occasions he is able to produce some of the best form of his career.

A year ago, he became only the second Briton to advance to the quarter- finals of the Stella Artois Championships, creating a good deal of excitement by defeating Boris Becker in straight sets in the second round.

Today, again the lone British survivor, Bates faces Pete Sampras, the Wimbledon champion. Mark Petchey, who worked a good deal of frustration out of his system by defeating Rusedski on Tuesday, lost in the second round to the Australian, Jason Stoltenberg, 6-2, 6-2. And Becker, the second seed, eased past Danny Sapsford, 6-1, 6-1.

While Bates's match against Sampras is today's showpiece on the Centre Court, the man from Solihull is determined to give of his best, knowing that Baron's Court will not collapse if all goes wrong. "Situations like this don't intimidate me any more," he said. "I've been around longer than Hadrian's Wall."

Bates, 33 next Monday, is the oldest player in the draw, and he advanced to meet the world No 2 by defeating Tim Henman, the 20-year-old from Oxford who, in the long term, may gain most from Rusedski's recruitment.

Last year Henman was perceived as the nation's one real prospect. "Now the spotlight is off me I can get on with my tennis," he said. "So it's not such a bad thing from that point of view."

Yesterday's match was part of the learning process. Though he often practises with Bates, and is playing doubles with him here, it was the first time they had competed against each other on the ATP Tour.

Bates won, 6-4, 7-6, though not before Henman had fought back after losing a break in the fifth game of the second set and had come within sight of a third set. A backhand across the court, helped by the merest touch of the net cord, gave Henman a set-point at 6-5. Bates saved it with a smash.

Experience favoured Bates in the tie-break, which he won 7-4, but he found words of encouragement for Henman. "In the last few weeks I really think he's become more adult, more mature," he said. "He realises what he needs to do at the top level. He knows he's got the equipment to do it, it's just the work."

The match with Sampras in the third round offers Bates another opportunity to impress a home crowd, though he knows that the American has rid himself of much of the disappointment of his clay court season, which finally came to grief with defeat in the first round of the French Open.

"When I got back home the first thing I did was go to see a Billy Crystal film, Forget Paris," Sampras said after settling his feet on the grass with a 7-6, 6-3 win against Jonathan Stark, an American compatriot.

A match against an opponent ranked No 66 provided Sampras with a good work-out after his arrival in London on Friday. It was typical, attacking grass court play, with aces on both sides (nine to Sampras, 13 to Stark) and little evidence of the rallying supposedly induced by the introduction of lower-pressure balls.

"The balls are a little bit softer, but it's not a big deal," Sampras said. "It's grass court tennis. We're playing on the fastest surface in the world."

He was asked to explain in layman's terms the difference the new balls made. "Who's Layman?" he joked. "He must have been before my time. I'm not a scientist. When I get a ball in my hand I just try to hit aces."

Inevitably, Sampras was questioned about his coach, Tim Gullikson, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor in Chicago. Was Tim's illness the low point of his career, he was asked. "It was my low point as a human being," he said. "Tennis is not the most important thing in life; health is the most important thing. To see what Tim's gone through just broke my heart. I just do what I can to support him, by trying to win my matches."

n