91Èȱ¬

The tournament, in the cosy Sallesporthalle, out of the city centre, clearly appeals to Swiss high-rollers wooed by an appropriately stately entry-list.

Sampras and Lendl for the multiple majors, Muster and Stich for the local angle, Henman the country gent and Leconte the clown. Big Goran Ivanisevic too, for his 220kmh serves, with 'Flipper' Philippoussis not far behind.

on Wednesday, determined to get a rare victory after saying the American "took years off my life" by beating him in two Wimbledon finals.

This time, just as the match was hotting up, Sampras strained a calf chasing a drop shot and had to retire just before the end of the first set.

He still popped by for a chat and enthused about the modern game and the rivalries at the top.

"Rivalries sell sport and we have four guys at the top all competing for the Wimbledon title [including] Murray, hopefully he can break through and do it..."

"Do you think he can?" I wonder.

Sampras hesitates, as he never used to on the court, before saying with a distinct lack of certainty, "I think he can, I'm not sure he will. I saw the final against Djokovic and in order to win these things you've got to be pretty aggressive, you can't just hold back.

"He can do it, there's no doubt, he's beaten all the top guys handily. In a major, he just needs to go for it a bit more. I hope he does it, he seems like a nice kid and competes hard."

knows a little about Murray's situation. He also lost his first three Grand Slam finals - in fact he lost his first four.

"It's hard to tell but I certainly see potential for him to win majors," he says. "In my case, I lost to Borg [his first major final, the 1981 French Open] and I had overachieved reaching the final.

"First final against Connors [1982 US Open] he was clearly the better player, then in Australia [1983] perhaps I didn't play that well when I lost to Wilander.

"So I felt like I had overachieved a little at first, I just bided my time and my time came."

Lendl has started playing exhibitions and Champions Tour events in the past 12 months after an absence of something like 16 years.

"I always loved the sport, I just couldn't play because of my back. My back has got a lot better and I enjoyed hitting so I thought I'd play a bit and see how it goes.

"It's hurting my golf, that's for sure. Too much time on the tennis court lately!"

After all those years as the player it was hard to like - focused and driven and misunderstood - Lendl now plays with a smile on his face, evident during a close win over Michael Stich yesterday.

"I don't take it that seriously. I enjoy it but I play hard."

These guys may be playing exos but they still hate to lose. It was a tough job trying to cheer up my commentary box chum Stich after his close loss to the eight-time major winner.

Henman later beat Leconte 6-4 6-4 in his second match of the day - earlier he'd partnered the promising in the junior/legend doubles competition. Broady is one of three British juniors, along with and , who accepted invitations to the event.

What a great experience for these teenagers, sharing courts, cars and player lounges with some of the greatest players in history. Let's hope they are making the most of it by asking every question they possibly can regarding tennis and life on the tour.

When will they ever again find themselves sharing such a small player lounge with such illustrious company?

Hopefully they leave Switzerland with plenty of tips from the greats - from every area of the game, from every type of player - because compile the best bits of Sampras/Henman/Lendl/Muster and you get a frightening tennis prospect!