Sampras/McEnroe Boston Match...

[thor's hammer]

I've seen the results in the news, but would love to see some postings here from folks who saw the match live or on tv. Also any links to clips on youtube, ESPN, etc would be appreciated.

[barney]

The match was televised late last night in Boston. I saw most of it. It was clear from the start that Mac was overmatched. Sampras easily won the first three games and Mac was lucky to even get a point in those three games. It seemed like after those first three games, Sampras kind of let off a bit in general, but stepped it up when he wanted to win any particular point. His serve was especially strong. He controlled the points and would hit groundstroke winners after moving Mac around.

In a couple of taped interview snippets with Sampras between games and then in a live interview between sets, Sampras mentioned how well that Mac played for a 48 year old. The way he said it implied that he knew Mac didn't have any chance against him.

Overall, I thought Sampras played extremely well. Mac was clearly out of his league, even though the score was 6-3, 6-4.

I'd be curious if others who saw it had the same impressions of the match.

[yourserve]

i thought pete tryed not to show mac up. that was until mac kept questioning every call that went against him. at one point pete told
mac that the ball was a foot out. mac swore the ball was in.
i do agree that there were some bad calls. but mac is a jerk.

[thor's hammer]

Originally Posted by barney

It was clear from the start that Mac was overmatched. Sampras easily won the first three games and Mac was lucky to even get a point in those three games. It seemed like after those first three games, Sampras kind of let off a bit in general, but stepped it up when he wanted to win any particular point.

I have the Sampras/Mac 1990 US Open match on tape, and that's the same impression overall I have when I watch it. Even though Mac took a set, it just has the feel of a heavyweight fighting a middleweight and pummeling him, almost at will.

Mac is a good player, expecially for his age, but he is definite jerk/***. I'm glad to hear Sampras is out of the gate playing well on this seniors' tour, and hope the match will show up on TTC (or someplace) at some point.

If Pete doesn't ask for a wildcard to Stella Artois then hopefully at least we'll get to see a Sampras/Fed exhibition down the line.

[CEvertFan]

It should be a no brainer that Sampras is still a better player than McEnroe because he's a lot younger and that makes a BIG difference. The only area of Mac's game that might still be better than Pete's is his net game which isn't enough to beat Pete.

[tennisguy7482]

mac tried to get into petes head and disrupt his rhythm by arguing every close call. although the calls were pretty bad for both of them.....

pete is just too good for mac and, hopefully, todd martin

[hrstrat57]

Originally Posted by barney

The match was televised late last night in Boston. I saw most of it. It was clear from the start that Mac was overmatched. Sampras easily won the first three games and Mac was lucky to even get a point in those three games. It seemed like after those first three games, Sampras kind of let off a bit in general, but stepped it up when he wanted to win any particular point. His serve was especially strong. He controlled the points and would hit groundstroke winners after moving Mac around.

In a couple of taped interview snippets with Sampras between games and then in a live interview between sets, Sampras mentioned how well that Mac played for a 48 year old. The way he said it implied that he knew Mac didn't have any chance against him.

Overall, I thought Sampras played extremely well. Mac was clearly out of his league, even though the score was 6-3, 6-4.

I'd be curious if others who saw it had the same impressions of the match.

I just watched the whole thing on tape.....I expected 1 and 1. I thought mac played pretty good....and as I just posted in the other thread, I was entertained by the whole thing. Pete was hitting big and mac got 7 legit games....Pete didn't get bothered by antics, never does...he remains all business. Lot of pop on the serve too for Pete and surprising - Mac's serve looked pretty solid too.

I enjoyed watching the match.....

[CEvertFan]

Pete should be hitting bigger groundstrokes than Mac because John never had what could be considered the best groundstrokes. I didn't see the match, but I bet that Sampras' new racket is helping his groundstrokes.

[morten]

Any clips from this match?

[Sixpointone]

I was there in person and greatly enjoyed the Match and the crowd energy.

And to me, although Mac did argue, it was less than he usually does, as I think he was really trying to focus on performing as best as he possibly could.