In baseline rallies, she used the slice almost exclusively.

"If it's a baseline rally, it's always 50-50," he said.

The first set took an hour to play as they engaged in prolonged baseline rallies, trading slice backhands.

He also began losing nearly all the baseline rallies.

He even gets through a whole baseline rally without miscuing a backhand.

We would have great baseline rallies, and she would hit a lot of winners.

Williams was also steadier in baseline rallies and more accurate and powerful with her serve, which reached 125 miles an hour.

"I stayed back, maybe got into too many baseline rallies, which is his strength and not my game plan."

But with Sampras serving for the match, he could not win the final 24-shot baseline rally.

The surprise in the second and third sets was that he held his own, particularly off the backhand, in many of the extended baseline rallies.