Sampras vs Safin 2002 Australian Open Highlights

[quest01]

Nice highlights between Sampras and Safin at the 2002 Australian Open 4th Round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFfTxUCWsQ

[hoodjem]

Safin is using a Dunlop.?

Does anyone know which one?

[season25]

Originally Posted by hoodjem

Safin is using a Dunlop.?

Does anyone know which one?

Head Prestige 600 with Dunlop Muscle Weave 200g 90 paintjob

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by season25

Head Prestige 600 with Dunlop Muscle Weave 200g 90 paintjob

Alas, too bad.

[loci]

the crack of the ball off their racquets is sweet...

[dmcb101]

Those were some really fun highlights to watch. I forget how much I miss serve and volley. Really great stuff to watch.

[big ted]

and sampras had no clothing contract at the time. interesting that sampras' backhand is nowhere near as bad as legend has it (tho they are highlights)

[tennis4josh]

By 2002 Sampras was pretty much at the end of his career while Safin was nearing his peak. It was interesting too see Safin feed off one the "best" serve in tennis. It looked like Safin got more free points off his serve than Sampras. Sampras is noticeably slower and hence relies more on slice backhand than top spin.

-Josh

[sonicare]

my goodness, I had forgotten how ugly sampras groundstorkes were. thanks for the reminder OP. good for tennis that this boring hack retired and now we have federer and djokovic at the very top.

[dmcb101]

Originally Posted by sonicare

my goodness, I had forgotten how ugly sampras groundstorkes were. thanks for the reminder OP. good for tennis that this boring hack retired and now we have federer and djokovic at the very top.

Whoa brother, that might be a bit harsh don't you think?

[pjonesy]

Bottom line, Sampras was not very confident at this point. But he ended up winning this match and the tournament. Sampras is substance over style, for sure.

Generally speaking, outside of the fact that they both serve and volleyed, McEnroe and Sampras had very different skills. One thing I have noticed, they both are fantastic at timing their shots, adding or taking off pace and moving forward to cut off angles. They both had a knack for knowing where they were on the court and finding a way to win points on their terms.

Safin crushes the ball. Good highlights.

[NadalDramaQueen]

Originally Posted by dmcb101

Whoa brother, that might be a bit harsh don't you think?

He is just fighting against the nostalgia.

Originally Posted by pjonesy

Bottom line, Sampras was not very confident at this point. But he ended up winning this match and the tournament. Sampras is substance over style, for sure.

Generally speaking, outside of the fact that they both serve and volleyed, McEnroe and Sampras had very different skills. One thing I have noticed, they both are fantastic at timing their shots, adding or taking off pace and moving forward to cut off angles. They both had a knack for knowing where they were on the court and finding a way to win points on their terms.

Safin crushes the ball. Good highlights.

What?

[zagor]

Always loved Pete-Safin matches, they had some great ones.

Originally Posted by pjonesy

Bottom line, Sampras was not very confident at this point. But he ended up winning this match and the tournament. Sampras is substance over style, for sure.

Generally speaking, outside of the fact that they both serve and volleyed, McEnroe and Sampras had very different skills. One thing I have noticed, they both are fantastic at timing their shots, adding or taking off pace and moving forward to cut off angles. They both had a knack for knowing where they were on the court and finding a way to win points on their terms.

Safin crushes the ball. Good highlights.

Actually Johansson ended up winning this tournament, this is 2002 AO not USO.

[quest01]

Originally Posted by sonicare

my goodness, I had forgotten how ugly sampras groundstorkes were. thanks for the reminder OP. good for tennis that this boring hack retired and now we have federer and djokovic at the very top.

Sampras forehand looked kind of funky in this clip. Also Sampras struggled against Safin when playing from the baseline on a slower court. I don't know if he would have competed well in this era. I'm a big fan of Sampras though.

[Anaconda]

Originally Posted by tennis4josh

By 2002 Sampras was pretty much at the end of his career while Safin was nearing his peak. It was interesting too see Safin feed off one the "best" serve in tennis. It looked like Safin got more free points off his serve than Sampras. Sampras is noticeably slower and hence relies more on slice backhand than top spin.

-Josh

Safin was no where near his peak here in 2002, in fact, Safin never really got to peak; Everytime he got going, he got injured. His attitude this tournament wasn't great and he wasn't exactly where he was physically in 2004 and 2005. The final was damn right annoying to see someone with Safin's talent lose to someone he would normally straight set if playing well. Oh well.


As for the match, Safin is nightmare match-up for Sampras; Passes like a gunshot (powerful and accurate), can out hit Sampras from the baseline and can have those crazy return games as well as being a superior mover. I think the only surface Sampras would be able to beat an in-form Safin would be grass.

[President]

Originally Posted by Anaconda

Safin was no where near his peak here in 2002, in fact, Safin never really got to peak; Everytime he got going, he got injured. His attitude this tournament wasn't great and he wasn't exactly where he was physically in 2004 and 2005. The final was damn right annoying to see someone with Safin's talent lose to someone he would normally straight set if playing well. Oh well.


As for the match, Safin is nightmare match-up for Sampras; Passes like a gunshot (powerful and accurate), can out hit Sampras from the baseline and can have those crazy return games as well as being a superior mover. I think the only surface Sampras would be able to beat an in-form Safin would be grass.

You think Safin moved better than Sampras? Really?!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this coming from you, you also believe Safin moved better than Monfils

[abmk]

Originally Posted by Anaconda

As for the match, Safin is nightmare match-up for Sampras; Passes like a gunshot (powerful and accurate), can out hit Sampras from the baseline and can have those crazy return games as well as being a superior mover. I think the only surface Sampras would be able to beat an in-form Safin would be grass.

eh,no , safin would have trouble vs the sampras first serve unless he was absolutely zoned in ala USO 2000 ...... and he's in no way a superior mover to sampras ...

also , while safin was a good passer, unless absolutely zoned in, he wasn't close to the likes of agassi/hewitt/federer/nadal in that dept ...

as far as in-form play is concerned, safin beats sampras on slow HC/clay, sampras easily beats him on grass, edges him out indoors (HC/carpet ) ..... medium-to-fast HC would be a tossup ...

[mattennis]

Great highlights!!

Two great players to watch, hitting hard, looking for winners, all-court game. Beautiful tennis.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by Anaconda

As for the match, Safin is nightmare match-up for Sampras; Passes like a gunshot (powerful and accurate), can out hit Sampras from the baseline and can have those crazy return games as well as being a superior mover. I think the only surface Sampras would be able to beat an in-form Safin would be grass.

Interestingly, the H2H is 3-4 in favor of Safin.

Sampras's three wins are all on hard-court.
1998 US Open
NY, U.S.A. Hard R16 Sampras, Pete
6-4, 6-3, 6-2


2000 Tennis Masters Cup
Lisbon, Portugal Hard RR Sampras, Pete
6-3, 6-2


2001 US Open
NY, U.S.A. Hard Semis Sampras, Pete
6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3

[obsessedtennisfandisorder]

Originally Posted by abmk

eh,no , safin would have trouble vs the sampras first serve unless he was absolutely zoned in ala USO 2000 ...... and he's in no way a superior mover to sampras ...

also , while safin was a good passer, unless absolutely zoned in, he wasn't close to the likes of agassi/hewitt/federer/nadal in that dept ...

as far as in-form play is concerned, safin beats sampras on slow HC/clay, sampras easily beats him on grass, edges him out indoors (HC/carpet ) ..... medium-to-fast HC would be a tossup ...

yep...agree with this...people think safin had this mythical standard of tennis tennis as if he could turn on US2000 on again..um no..

you could say the precise same thing about goran vs sampras dept.
better backhands when on...better returner when on etc...

but really..there's a reason pete has 14 and marat ended with 2.

sampras is a superior mover and superior at net..
safin is a good mover for a big man

also..on grass safin would have no chance as he needs traction on the return.

overall i do agree that ..when on...safin will cause issues cause his return style...

I was so annoyed watching safin lose to roddick AO 07. His tactics on the return were soooo wrong. all he needed to do was stand further back and chip it back deep and/or invite andy to come and show off his volley skills...ala the way rafter would chip back returns...but nooo he had to do his andre impression.