MONTE CARLO. Apr 25: Andrei Medvedev says he's playing his best tennis ever and now has his

slgnts on reieaampras. reports AP.

If the two meet on clay in next month's French Open, it should be a top attraction.

Sampras is hot. He's won four tournaments in a row. 21 straight matches and is solidly entrenched in the No I ranking in the ATP Tour rankings.

But Medvedev would be a formidable opponent if he plays like he did last week at the Monte Carlo Open.

Medvedev powered past defending champion Sergi Bruguera — also the French Open champion — 7-5. 6-1. 6-3 Sunday to win the dlrs 1.7 million tournament. It was his seventh title on the pro circuit and first since last August when he won the New Haven tournament.

Two days earlier, he beat Courier in a 3-hour, 19-minute match that was probably one of the year's best.

Sampras will be seeking to

his fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament at the French Open.

“If you compare him to gny other tennis player at the moment. he is the best one. And with his kind of game, he can win for sure. But we are not going to give it up to easily.” Medvedev said.

The guy already won four tournaments in a row. and also he won a Grand Slam tournament this year, so with his kind of game, he obviously can win the French Open if he gets lucky." Medvedev said. "But from the claycourter's point of view, we are ready to take him."

Medvedev really took it to Bruguera. especially in the second set when Medvedev won six consecutive games.

"Six games in a row. I mean, it is not very easy." Medvedev said. "It was the best set, probably, of my career."

On a hot streak. Medvedev took nine straight games from the second game in the second set and had a 3-0 lead on his way to a 6-3 third set.

"I was just playing unbelievable." he said. "I hoped it was

real and wasn't a dream."

The sixth-seeded Medvedev won dlrs 235,000 for the victory. Bruguera. seeded fifth, received dlrs 124,000. Efru-guera won Monte Carlo* In 1991. beating Boris Becker, and last year overcame Cedric Pioline of France in the final.

Medvedev, ranked No. 9 in the world, dominated .the match from the start and won in one hour. 39 minutes

"I think Andrei was playing very hard all the time. He put me all the time under pressure and maybe that is why I couldn't play as well as the other days." Bruguera said.