We have taken a look at Pete Sampras game by breaking it
down into different facets. I will now take a look at how Sampras performed
against his main rivals from the era of the 1990s through early 2000s.
Sampras v Courier
It is interesting to look back on Jim Courier’s reign as
number 1 in 1992; a player who made the most of his talent with hard work, Jim
was compared to Ivan Lendl during this period – not least by Brad Gilbert in
his book called “Winning Ugly”. Courier used
Lendl’s tactic of trying to dominate each match with his forehand and was
extremely good on clay as a result. However, Courier did not possess natural
athletic ability; therefore once his level started to drop at the young age of 23, he
found it hard to get it back.
You could argue Sampras played a major part in that,
because he frustrated Courier a lot in the major tournaments, Sampras was often
in Courier’s way and that would frustrate anyone. Courier won their 1991 US Open quarterfinal
and 1994 French quarterfinal but lost at the 1992 US Open semifinal, 1993
Wimbledon final, 1994 Australian Open semifinal, and 1995 US Open semifinal. Sampras also came from two sets down to win in
the 1995 Australian Open quarterfinal and 1996 French Open quarterfinal.
Courier often showed his frustration during their
matches, but tended to take it out on officials instead, this happened in 1994
in Australia and Miami. As for the Tennis, Sampras forehand could match
Courier’s forehand, so that was already one problem for Courier. Also, Sampras was the better athlete, and was
willing to play Courier at his own game, which was to play backhand to
backhand, getting it as deep as he could, trying to get Courier to drop the
ball short, Courier would run around the backhand a lot, but Sampras often held
firm frustrating Courier.
Sampras said in his book that he targeted Courier’s
forehand when serving because of Courier’s extreme grip which closed the
racquet face, which meant returning fast sliding serves was a problem for him. Undoubtedly that frustrated Courier as well
as his best weapon was neutralized and that drained his confidence. The rivalry ended 16 – 4 to Sampras.
Sampras v Rafter
A fascinating rivalry, because Rafter was a very tough
and athletic player who fought to the end, but there were times when Sampras completely
dominated Rafter including an 8 match win streak which stretched from 1994 to
1998. The most interesting aspect was
that Sampras returned serve and passed Rafter better than anyone else Rafter
faced in his career, including Andre Agassi. The difference Rafter faced
between Agassi and Sampras was that Sampras was the better mover across the
baseline than Agassi and thus hit better when on the run, consequently came up
with incredible passing shots. An
example of this was their 1997 Davis cup semifinal meeting when Sampras put on
a master class of returning serve and hitting passing shots in front of a
raucous crowd.
Rafter did give Sampras a lot of trouble with the kick
serve, but often played Sampras’ backhand into form because he focused so much
on it. Sampras played reverse psychology
on Courier by going to his strength, but Rafter often went to Sampras’
perceived weakness and often payed the price.
Rafter did have a surprising 3 match win streak between 1998 and 1999
including the 1998 Cincinnati final and the 1998 US Open semi final. The
Cincinnati loss led to some tension between the two men after a disputed call
on matchpoint.
Sampras won the last 4 meetings including the 2000
Wimbledon final, coming from a set down, and their 2001 US Open encounter. The head to head finished 12 – 4 to
Sampras.
Sampras v Hewitt
An interesting rivalry because of the age
difference. And you can see the rivalry
had two halves, because Sampras won 4 of the first 5 meetings but Hewitt won
the last four meetings to make it 4-5 to Hewitt.
There’s no doubt Hewitt gave Sampras a lot of problems
with his speed around the court and his good returning, getting it low to Sampras’
feet when Sampras came in. Sampras reckoned
Hewitt liked the fast courts which helped his game and liked playing attackers
/ serve volleyers. I also think that
Hewitt caught Sampras at a good time for the 2001 US Open final when Sampras
ran out of steam after beating Rafter, Agassi, and Safin back to back, the
three former champions in a row.
Hewitt also took advantage of the fact that Sampras
played more at the net later in his career which played into Hewitt’s
hands. Sampras didn’t play from the baseline as much or
stay back on his 2nd serve as he did when facing Courier and Chang. However, in
their meetings before Sampras’ dip in form post 2000, the Sampras forehand and
movement was too much for Hewitt.
Sampras v Krajicek
Krajicek was a great player, if a little underrated due
to the fact he had a lot of injuries and only won 1 Major title. Krajicek was 6 ft 5 but was still able to win
Super Nines (Masters 1000) tournaments in Stuttgart and Miami, plus clay
tournaments in Barcelona and got to the final in Rome in 1996. Krajicek was an all round player with a good
ground game and moved very well for a very tall player. Krajicek is most remembered as the man to
break Sampras’ Wimbledon run at the 1996 quarterfinal stage, which Krajicek won
in straight sets; that would be the only loss Sampras suffered in 8 years.
Krajicek was able to get to Sampras’ backhand probably
more than any other player, Krajicek put
more slice on his serve more often and into the body, so the ball jumped at
Sampras a lot as opposed to slow kickers which can sit up waiting to be
punished if not executed properly, Krajieck had a great serve and very good
volleys. At one stage the head to head
was 6-2 to Krajicek with a four match win streak between 1994 and 1998. However, Sampras won the last 2 meetings in
Cincinnati in 1999 and the US Open in 2000 to make it a more respectable 4-6 to
Krajicek. The tiebreak in the 2nd set of
their 2000 US Open quarterfinal is one of Sampras’ most memorable moments in
his long career.
Sampras v Becker
One of the best rivalries, two of the best players of the
open era who had an attacking game but liked to play from the baseline, their matches
combined great serving, great returning, great passing shots, great rallies and
great athleticism, all court tennis at it’s best
Their rivalry is fondly remembered in Germany where so
many of those matches took place. The 1996
ATP Masters final which went to five sets and was 4 hours long is considered the
finest indoor match of the Open era. Their 1995 Wimbledon final was remarkable
because Sampras hit 29 passing shot winners and made less than 15 unforced
errors the entire match – Sampras was unbeatable that day.
The rivalry finished 12- 7 to Sampras, many of those
matches taking place at the semi final and final stages of tournaments in
Germany, Indianapolis, Wimbledon and the Italian Open. Becker’s career spanned
two eras from McEnroe, Lendl and Wilander to Agassi, Sampras and Courier. However, it is interesting to note that there
is only just over a 3 year age difference between the two men, Becker blossomed
incredibly early at age 17, something which will unlikely to happen again in
mens tennis.
Sampras v Edberg
This rivalry was very close, they both liked to attack,
although at this stage, Sampras liked to stay back a lot and Edberg exploited
that, especially in their 1992 US Open final.
It is interesting that in 2000 and 2001, Sampras would decide to do to
other players what Edberg did to him in 1992 and 1993, which is to chip and
charge a lot and try to destabilise him.
Sampras did have the 1992 US Open final in his hands but blew it when serving
for the 3rd set and got broken, and then seemed to lose heart for the rest of
the match.
Sampras also described in his book that Edberg’s forehand
was better than it looked, he called it an “odd shovelling motion”. Their matches were great to watch, Edberg
didn’t rally as well as Becker but he had a great backhand and was a very
smooth mover. Their rivalry ended 8 -6 to Sampras but Edberg won the 1992 US
Open final and 1993 Australian Open semi final:
Sampras v Ivanisevic
Sampras sums this rivalry up better than anyone – they
were a bad match up! Two guys with big
serves, this is what a lot of people remember about Wimbledon, which is unfair
to both men, because Sampras played remarkable Tennis in the 1995, 1999 and
2000 Wimbledon finals and Ivanisevic played an amazing final in 2001 against
Rafter,
But the 1994 final in 30 degree heat (very unusual for
London) and with the ball flying, that match was the beginning of the end for
fast grass, they slowed things down from 1995 onwards but the differences were
not really manifested until around 2002 when all of the 1990s attacking players
were slowly retiring, leaving it to the baseline generation.
These two guys played each other 18 times with Sampras
having a 12- 6 edge, but unfortunately none of their matches are particularly memorable,
other than the 1998 Wimbledon final which Sampras won in 5 sets, Sampras was so
tense that Ivanisevic was able to make it a long match, but couldn’t take the
initiative to win the title.
Sampras v Agassi
Sampras’ most famous rivalry and infamous rivalry
considering their fall outs post retirement.
These two players produced some of the best Tennis ever seen, especially
on Hardcourts between 1994 and 1995. The
rivalry was renewed in 1999 but Sampras had a distinct edge despite Agassi’s
resurgence winning 4 out of the 5 matches including the 1999 Wimbledon and ATP
Championships finals.
Sampras reckons he’s the better mover and more athletic
than Agassi, so felt he was able to compete in the baseline rallies and hold
his own. Agassi played a bit different
from Courier, Agassi liked to control the middle of the court, so Sampras’ job
was always to try to get Agassi out of that comfort and into the corners of the
court often, Sampras also played great on the run so he had an edge there as
well. Agassi gave Sampras trouble with
the kick serve but not as much trouble as Richard Krajicek because Sampras
could always float the return back and if it was deep enough then he was in
business.
Under Paul Annacone in the later years, Sampras moved
away from the idea of running around the backhand to hit forehand returns, to
either driving the backhand return more or chipping and charging. Sampras also started hitting the 2nd serve
bigger and coming in much more often. So
unlike Courier and Chang, Agassi saw different sides to Sampras because they
both lasted longer on the tour.
They played at all of the slams. Agassi won the meetings at the French and
Australian Open, Sampras at Wimbledon and the US Open. The matches in Australia were close and could
have gone either way. Sampras also beat
Agassi on clay twice but Agassi never beat Sampras on grass. On hard court it was neck and neck. Their rivalry ended 20 – 14 to Sampras
The contrast in styles and the baseline rallies was the
best part of their rivalry, especially between 1994 to 1995, and 1999 to 2002.
In 1999, even though Sampras won 4 out of their 5 meetings, the Tennis was of
the highest quality.
Sampras v Henman
Probably a non rivalry, but Henman did make it to two Wimbledon
semi finals and took a set off Sampras each time, winning the 1st set in the
1999 Wimbledon semi final when Sampras was distinctly tense. Henman had the crowd on his side and gave a
good account of himself but never looked he was going to win either match.
Henman has claimed that Sampras didn’t return serve that
well and you could always take him to tiebreaks. Well, Henman clearly wasn’t able to get to a
tiebreak in two Wimbledon semifinals and in fact, Sampras always had the upper
hand on Henman’s 2nd serve, Henman didn’t have much to hurt Sampras other than
a few nice shots here and there, he didn’t serve big enough or get enough cheap
points or aces, Henman was often under the cosh. The rivalry ended 6-1 to Sampras with Henman
winning their last ever meeting in Cincinnati in 2000.
One match sums up their rivalry, the 1998 Vienna
quarterfinal. Sampras won the match 6-0
6-3 in 50 minutes, breaking Henman 5 times but Henman never saw a breakpoint,
Sampras played amazing Tennis, right in the zone, Henman had no answer.
Sampras v Chang
This is strangely familiar to a rivalry that would take
place 10 years later – Federer v Hewitt. Sampras beat Chang in the juniors, then
changed from his two handed backhand and Chang started beating him; this went
on to the seniors, Chang winning their first 6 meetings on the tour.
It all turned
around in 1993 when Sampras beat Chang at the US Open quarterfinal. Chang won the first set tiebreak 7-0, Sampras
won the 2nd set tiebreak, then the 3rd and 4th sets 6-1 6-1.
At one stage, Sampras won 10 games in a row,
you have never seen Chang so absolutely dominated off the ground for an hour,
Sampras ran Chang ragged all over the court with winners everywhere, it was
breath taking Tennis, in the course of that match, McEnroe said it was rare to
see a serve and volleyer have such an all round game from the baseline as
well. Illie Nastase made a famous quote
where he said it was the best Hardcourt Tennis he’d witness at that stage.
Chang won one more
match after that and the rivalry ended 12 – 8 to Sampras including a
comprehensive US Open final win in 1996 in straight sets.
Other notable Sampras rivalries include:
Ivan Lendl, Michael Stich, Mark Phillippoussis, Marat Safin, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten and Yfevgeny Kafelnikov.
