Referee Mills feels he may have mistreated champ Sampras

[June 21, 2003 CHARLES BRICKER South Florida Sun-Sentinel] As tournament referee Alan Mills contemplated the first Wimbledon in 15 years without Pete Sampras, there was a sadness in his voice, as well as a lingering fear that he might have had something to do with Sampras' absence here.

"I think putting two and two together, he thought he was badly treated last year and maybe he's a little bit annoyed," said Mills, who had scheduled Sampras' second-round match against George Bastl on an outside court.

"He played his match on Court No. 2 and lost to a lucky loser, which obviously devastated him. You could tell that by the way he was at the end of the match. I hope it's not because of that that he's basically retired," said Mills, who also is the long-time referee at the Nasdaq-100 on Key Biscayne.

It was not unusual for Mills to schedule former champions for a match away from Centre Court or Court No. 1.
"We always try to put top players out there. We had McEnroe, Connors, Henman, Rusedski. ... I think it's a little bit unfair if you keep the same player inside the big courts all the time," he said.

"Pete called to find out where he was playing and I told him. There was no argument. Fifteen minutes later he called back, asking if there was any chance of going indoors, as he called the big courts. I said, `Well, no, the order has been published.' Then his coach (Jose Higueras) came in, which is fair enough. He looked at the four men's matches on the big courts and said he could understand. Pete's match didn't have the attractiveness of the others.

"The way he handled it told me he takes the rough with the smooth, that he's a great sportsman. I will miss him in a personal way."

Listening to Mills, there was a sense that the episode on Court No. 2 last year still weighs heavily on him.

"I hope Pete will come back, because he will be invited back," Mills said.