In the build-up to Wimbledon, the talk was of the new generation of players in the men's game.

But as the championships enter their final throes, the young upstarts have been put firmly in their place by the elder statesmen.

Marat Safin and Roger Federer fell at the last-eight stage when all four quarter-finals were won by the senior players on show.

And the much anticipated showdown between Andre Agassi and his replacement in waiting, Lleyton Hewitt, never materialised after the Australian lost in the fourth round.

But for now, they must wait for their moment of glory - on grass at least.

Given the grass-court season is so short, it is a surface that requires experience more than anything.

After all, Richard Savitt was the last player to win Wimbledon at his first attempt - and that was 50 years ago.

But Federer, Safin and Hewitt, not forgetting Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Ferrero, will all take great heart from their performances in 2001.

In beating Sampras, Federer drew gasps of amazement from all around Wimbledon and beyond on the second Monday.

The American is the undisputed king of grass court play but Federer halted a run of 31 consecutive wins at SW19.

But in acclaiming Sampras, few remember that he lost three out of four matches at Wimbledon prior to a run that saw him reach the semi-finals in 1992.

The first of his seven championships came in his fourth year at the All England Club.

Safin and Hewitt may not have taken any big scalps this year but, as Sampras did a decade ago, they have recorded their best-ever results at Wimbledon.

And all three young guns, at only their third Wimbledon, have far exceeded anything Sampras achieved on his third visit.

But there is always an exception.

Although Agassi lifted the trophy on his third visit in 1992, he had previously turned down the opportunity of playing at Wimbledon on three occasions, appreciating that he needed to develop his game before challenging on grass.

Ferrero and Roddick, in their first Wimbledon, have also far exceeded anything that Sampras achieved in his first year, not to mention Agassi and Rafter.

Roddick set Centre Court alight in beating Thomas Johansson, the 11th seed, before falling to another experienced old pro in the shape of Goran Ivanisevic.

And Ferrero, despite failing to live up to his billing as the eighth seed, proved that supposed clay court specialists can cut the mustard on grass before bowing out to Greg Rusedski, a grass-court specialist.

Ultimately, there is no substitute for experience, and in 2001 it will be a supposed "old man" of tennis who lifts the trophy.

But be warned. The young guns will be back in 2002 having learnt their lessons.