Sampras refuses to go gently

Pete Sampras's chances of adding to his record collection of 13 Grand Slam singles titles are slipping away as he gets older but the American is raging against the dying of his might.

Sampras has not won a major since Wimbledon 2000 and his hopes of picking up another one before retirement suffered a jolt on Monday when he was knocked out of the Australian Open 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 by a fitter and younger Marat Safin.

But the 30-year-old is refusing to abandon hope.

"That's why I'm out here, I haven't stopped believing in myself," Sampras said after his fourth round defeat to the Russian ninth seed.

"This one was a tough one for me to lose because I thought I had a great chance...but I'm always going to keep on fighting."

Several times in the past two seasons the imperious Sampras has been beaten by the new breed of whizzkids taking over the game.

Safin, 21, destroyed him in the final of the 2000 U.S. Open; then Australia's Lleyton Hewitt did it to him again in New York last year.

Aware that Father Time is working against him, Sampras has been training harder than ever in recent months and even changed his diet to give himself every opportunity to win another major.

Things seemed to be working in his favour when none of the world's top six ranked players made it past the second round at Melbourne Park.

He almost came unstuck when he was taken to five sets in the third round by French Davis Cup hero Nicolas Escude but escaped -- only to run into a red-hot Safin.

"He's got a lot of talent and he's put it together this week," Sampras said. "He always seems very positive against me...it reminded me of the (U.S.) Open a couple of years ago.

"When he gets it going mentally, he's one of the best out there."

Safin started sensationally, racing to a two-set lead before Sampras staged his comeback. The American recovered from a break down to win the third set in a tiebreak and came within a point of forcing a fifth when he led the fourth set tiebreak.

"He played a great match, he set the tone early and I got off to a bad start," said Sampras, who was unusually animated as the crowd rallied behind him.

"The longer the match went I thought the momentum was with him, the crowd was on my side. I played well enough in the third and fourth set but I didn't convert my chances."