Clay criticism of Sampras follows Federer at French

The world's top player wants to silence critics with a win at Roland Garros.
PARIS (AP) -- Roger Federer pays attention to what people think.
He hears what's said about his game, his legacy.
He also considers what's said about Pete Sampras, the player to whom his skills, drive and body of work are most often compared.
And here's what sticks with Federer, what motivates him to work harder and -- seems impossible, right? -- improve the tennis game that's made him No. 1 in the rankings for the past 121 weeks and counting:
If he never does manage to win the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament he's yet to conquer, Federer will leave himself open to the same sort of criticism leveled at Sampras for never mastering the red clay of Roland Garros.
"Many people take away things from Sampras because he never won the French, saying his career was not complete, which I totally don't agree with. I think he had the best career of any player ever, you know? So to say his career is not complete, that is not fair," Federer said.
"But it still leaves the door open for attacks on him. Because they say he was maybe the best on grass, hard courts and indoor, but not the best on clay. I really don't think it's fair. That's why I really hope one day I can win the French and be one of the elite group who won all four."
Goal in sight
When play starts at the French Open today -- it's a 15-day event for the first time -- Federer will be trying to become the sixth man with a career Grand Slam.
He'll also be bidding to win his fourth straight major championship, following Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and Australian Open, which would make him the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all of the sport's top titles simultaneously.
Which is why, Federer said, "I've been thinking about the French Open since the end of January."
That's right, from the moment he won the Australian Open for his seventh Slam title, Federer has been working on improving his conditioning, doing extra running, grinding through longer rallies in practice, visions of Paris -- and Pistol Pete, perhaps? -- in his head.
Sampras won a record 14 major titles, but only once made it as far as the semifinals at the French Open.
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