LONDON -- He wore a wide, white headband, his hair tight in a short ponytail, his neck encircled by a necklace of white beads that looked like one of those pooka-shell numbers from Gidget Goes Hawaiian. But no. Roger Federer, the sensational Swiss kid just embarking on his final month as a teenager, is no direct-to-video bit actor, no Gen-X surfer bum, no charlatan pretender. Instead, he played the leading role in Bridgette's Guy Turns Human -- a three-hour, 41-minute passion play on a cloudy, muggy Monday that ended an era at Wimbledon.

When Federer, in his Centre Court debut as calm and cool as the mountain springs from which he hails, knocked off Pete Sampras, the husband of actress Bridgette Wilson, it brought to mind another of Wilson's career highlights: I Know What You Did Last Summer. Everyone knows what Sampras usually does this time of year: win the championship at the All-England Club. 53 of 54 matches, 31 in a row. Seven of eight Big W's, four in a row.

The problem was that in Pistol Pete's fourth-round encounter, the 19-year-old on the other side of the net smacked the ball, ran the grass and acted not only mysteriously like Sampras himself -- "Yeah, he was very relaxed; his demeanor on the court is pretty similar to mine," said the deposed champion -- but more specifically like the man whose Wimbledon records (five consecutive titles and 41 consecutive matches) Sampras was trying to vanquish: Bjorn Borg.

Upon finishing off one of the landmark upsets of the era, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 -- the only man ever to beat Sampras in five sets here -- Federer, in fact, also did a pretty fair sink-to-the-haunches imitation of Borg's familiar victory kneel. Afterward, his narrow squint making him appear as cross-eyed as Borg ever was, Federer expressed his unbounded joy: "It feels unbelievable. I mean, I knew it was not going to be easy ... But a lot of friends and players told me this year [they] think I can really beat [Sampras]. I've played a great year so far -- better than he had."

Obviously, Federer was the most unsurprised of anybody on the tennis planet. But it wasn't that the 6'1", 177-pound teen was any great shock to Sampras either -- or any other American who recalls how he devastated the U.S. Davis Cup team in February in his homeland, whipping both Todd Martin and Jan-Michael Gambill in singles and contributing to a doubles point to ruin Pat McEnroe's debut as captain. "Actually, I was thinking about the Davis Cup during today's match because I thought Pete could also have come to the [Cup] tie and I maybe would have beat him there, also," Federer said laughing.

The stylish Swiss was the Wimbledon and world junior champion in 1998 and one of the ATP's "New Balls Please" poster boys last year when he also made a breakthrough at the Olympics, losing in the bronze-medal match. Then in 2001, even before the Davis Cup, Federer won the Hopman Cup paired with countrywoman [remember her?] Martina Hingis and his first singles title, in Milan. Moreover, The Federer Express had been a quarterfinalist in some significant events this spring in Miami, Monte Carlo and the French Open; he'd raised last year's ranking of 29 to No. 15 in the world and was a dangerous customer on any surface anybody wanted to pick.

In other words, the native of Munchenstein (a suburb of Basel) is no nubby munchkin. "A great shotmaker ... no holes in his game ... a great athlete," said Sampras. "He came up with some great stuff at the huge times. Roger's extra special. This was his moment."

The moments began squeezing in on Sampras in the first set tiebreak. "[Pete's] serve was massive, his second serves were as fast as my first serves. How is that possible?" Federer said.

But the younger man buckled down, kept serving aces himself (both men had 25 for the match) and -- with his quick hands and marvelous touch -- kept his opponent's normally oppressive second deliveries in play. Still, Sampras had a set point at 5-6, Federer serving, when the American thought Federer's first serve was deep. Sampras put up a mild protest; if the ball had been out, he had a shot at a Federer's second serve to win the set and take a much-needed lead. As it was, Federer held that point and won the set when Sampras volleyed wide and missed a backhand.

Though he went on to win the second and fourth sets -- the latter after an immaculate tiebreak -- to tie the match twice, Sampras was never to get ahead. And he was always serving from behind. "[Federer's] serve: I couldn't really get ahold of. His shots: He was on. I've seen him play enough over the years to know what to expect."

But in the fifth set, the combatants at four-all, their nerves banging against each other like cymbals across the greensward, surely Sampras expected his infant foe to crumble -- as the obscure Englishman, Barry Cowan, had done in the second round last week, as so many others had done across his record 13-Grand-Slam career -- when he forced Federer to save his serve not once but twice. "I was very worried because I had the feeling [Pete] was raising his game, he was making more returns, making me play," Federer said.

"On that first one I hit one of my best returns, got it down to his feet," said Sampras. But Federer picked it off with a backhand half-volley. On the second break point, Sampras got a second serve, and chip-returned. But this time Federer's forehand had the older man on the run and "I was happy he didn't make it," said the Swiss, who held for 5-4.

At 5-6, Sampras was forced to save his championship for the second time -- "and the guy just really made me play," he said. Like Federer slapping a forehand return winner to start the game, Sampras missing two volleys, and Federer converting another return winner to end it. "It's grass court tennis," said Pete. "It goes by pretty quick. One minute you feel like you have it and the next minute you're walking off the court."

This time Sampras walked off Centre a loser for only the second time in 40 matches. Walked off, to stay off? "Let's not get carried away," said the fallen champ who, if he hadn't lost to Richard Krajicek here in '96, might have been working on his ninth straight Wimbledon. He will be 30 next month. "I mean, I just lost. I plan on being back for many years. I've got the game. There's no reason to feel like I can't do it anymore."

Thank goodness. For one hot, hazy afternoon it was sadly possible to believe that Pistol Pete might become the embodiment of another one of his wife's early films: Last Action Hero.

Curry Kirkpatrick is covering Wimbledon for ESPN The Magazine, E-mail him at curry.kirkpatrick@espnmag.com.