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interesting... I would still have to go with Federer. The man is just too damn good.
Pete Sampras or Roger Federer. That would be a match I would pay to see. Any thoughts??
interesting... I would still have to go with Federer. The man is just too damn good.
Yeah this is a hard one. Federer is freakin awesome, but you have to remember that Sampras OWNED Wimbledon just as Federer is doing now. I definatley see a 5 set tie breaker deciding the match. You have to remember that Sampras had one of the best serves ever. But with Federer he has probably the best forehand to date. I can't seem to remember how Sampras faired on clay, but Nadal still has Federer, and everyones elses number for that matter on clay. The advantage now that I give to Federer over Sampras is that the level of compe ion on the men's side is alot better than it was when Sampras was mowing through people. Now you have Nadal, Hewitt, I can't believe I'm putting his name down here but Andy Rod , and that guy Blake whose pretty good. The only real opponent that I can really remember giving Sampras any REAL problems sometimes was Agassi. And I don't ever remember him beating Sampras on grass. I remember in 99 he did manage to beat him at the US Open. The reason I remember that was because the Spurs won their first championship that year and I was a huge Agassi fan.
Depends on which grass surface they are using as well. Are we talking the current Wimbledon surface? I would say Federer might have the slight advantage on this current court. The reason? It's slower and the ball sits up more. This is more advantageous for baseliners and guys with heavy ground strokes.
However, if we're talking the grass courts of Wimbledon during the 80s and 90s? Sampras without a doubt. Those were slicker, faster grass courts where the ball skidded much more. This was why Sampras was unbeatable, his serve would just skip and skid, that wicked flat forehand of his would be down around the ankles of his opponents, and his loopy "flick" backhand, which was such a liability on clay, was particularly effective at Wimbledon.
By the way, I disagree withe Federer having the best forehand, we forget, but Sampras had one of the most wicked forehands in history. Check out his running flick forehands down the line. His passing game was the most underrated part of his game. It was why he was so good at beating other serve and volley players; he was better than them at their own game AND had the added advantage of having the most wicked forehand passing shots.
Now, Federer would attack Sampras's backhand for sure and be very effective. However, there are two aspects of his game that Sampras could effectively exploit. One is that Federer can get flustered when you press him on serves; if you hit right into Federers body his groundstrokes break down on return games. Sampras survived in an era with the greatest returner in history, I seriously doubt he would have a problem exploiting this weakness.
The other is that Federer is pretty damn average when it comes to five-set matches. Including the Wimbledon final, he's only a pedestrian 10-10. While I can't find Sampras's record, I remember Sampras being very effective in five-set matches; and any match between the two at their peak on grass, would probably be a five-setter.
By the way, the only guy to beat Sampras during his run of 7 in 8 years? A serve and volleyer who played out of his mind (Kraijeck). If I remember all sets went to tie-breakers.
I take Sampras on grass; for the simple fact that a serve and volleyer of Sampras's caliber (ie the best in history) has the distinct advantage on grass.
probably a toss up, but i'll go with the guy who gutted out a five setter puking on the court - sampras. i would also like to see federer play agassi in his prime, i have a feeling agassi could gut it out as well, but it would be fun to be able to watch.
i totally disagree about the level of comp - i would give a significant edge to sampras in that department. men's tennis these days is watered down and near abysmal. players with huge serves like philippoussis always gave sampras trouble when they were on. there's no one near as consistent on every surface as agassi was in today's game to produce a rival like that for federer. nadal may turn out to be that, but he's not there yet.
Actually Agassi played Federer fairly well the last time he played him at one of the Opens I think. It was fairly close until you could tell that Agassi had clearly run out of gas.
But wasn't Philippoussis closer to when Sampras first arrived? Agassi is my all-time favorite player, but he imo was too inconsistent to be mentioned with the Sampras' and the Federer's. I remember at one point in his career he was losing to some low ranked players regularly. He himself was ranked somewhere in the 100's at one point. I was trying to think of someone who gave Sampras real trouble when he was really on. The only person that came to mind was Agassi.
i think a good matchup would be rafter vs fed...dude who loves to play at net vs baseline
but i'll go with the guy who gutted out a five setter puking on the court
Yeah I forgot all about that match. That was really a gutsy performance by Sampras.
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