Raining hopes
Hall of Fame
I have decided to watch some of Sampras in the coming weekend . Which matches will be most educating about him and his era? Where can I download them ?
Pete Sampras : What are his best performances ?
- Thread starter Raining hopes
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Pistol10
Professional
@Raining hopes This thread all about Pistol Pete. Start watching shorts videos, like quick best points videos.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/sampras-thread.626756/#post-12871526
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/sampras-thread.626756/#post-12871526
el sergento
Hall of Fame
Live at Wembley '86
IowaGuy
Hall of Fame
You're in for a treat! Quite different tennis than the modern era!
Any of the Sampras-Agassi US Open matches would be a good starting point. This was a great neutral surface for both of them (the surface they grew up on), whereas Wimbledon favored Sampras and French Open and Australian Open favored Agassi.
The 1990 USO final, 1995 USO final, 2001 USO quarterfinal, and 2002 USO finals are all great matches of the best S&V in the game, against the best baseliner in the game
Youtube has most of these matches in full length. I just fast forward through the ~20 seconds of down time between serves using the arrow keys.
Pistol10
Professional
Some highlights of this match in that thread. See his decent HEAVY SERVE, some of it was sent to the crowd! And a 4 aces in a row with a sweet smile from both.
the green god
Professional
The first set against Agassi was god mode tennis.
NatF
Bionic Poster
I'd recommend;
- 1996 YEC final - Sampras vs Becker (+ if you enjoy that the Stuttgart final 1996 featuring the same players is almost of the same quality)
- 2001 USO QF - Sampras vs Agassi (their best quality match)
- 2000 AO SF - Sampras vs Agassi (their second best match probably)
- 1995 AO QF - Sampras vs Courier (Sampras shows the heart of a champion this match while distraught over the news his coach had a brain tumor)
- 1996 USO QF - Sampras vs Corretja (Again heart of a champion from Sampras)
Those are some classics to get you started.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
1995 and 2002 USO finals. His Wimbledon finals against Andre and Courier. All his Masters finals against Boris. And especially watch the greatest QF match ever played: the 2001 USO final.
And as you watch these matches, you’ll also gain tremendous respect for Agassi as the greatest ballstriker of the pre- poly string era.
And as you watch these matches, you’ll also gain tremendous respect for Agassi as the greatest ballstriker of the pre- poly string era.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
You know what's funny? Sampras beat Agassi in straight sets the round before lmao.
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Im(moral) Winner
G.O.A.T.
1996 Wimbledon QF
el sergento
Hall of Fame
Wimbledon '99 final. Sampras on fire.
Fiero425
Legend
OTTH, I often think and pull out tape of '95 IW's final between Sampras and Agassi! Both were playing well enough, but Pete was "in the zone" when everything fell in the court for him; even broken string winners! He had Andre talking to himself about it winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5! The ATP was experimenting with Prime Time Monday finals which was all the rage back in the 70's! Too bad it didn't fly and the plan was scrapped I guess! Check the draw, Pete had it tougher with Edberg and Rafter in his path while Andre had old man Wilander in the 2nd round and his pigeon, Boris Becker along the way!
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Matches where he used his all court game to the max. I especially liked matches where he bested Agassi from the baseline as well.
This match is one of his best, I think:
This match is one of his best, I think:
Azure
G.O.A.T.
IMO he had the best on the run forehand of all time. Great stuff...
the green god
Professional
Sniff, sniff. I wish 90s Clay was here for this, he would be so happy.
metsman
G.O.A.T.
watch as much of 94 Sampras as you can. In particular the 94 AO semi/F and the Miami F. Also the WTF SF (more for the drama) and F (for the performance). Wimbledon was phenomenal but I don't see much footage on youtube. Watch the 94 Rome final too.
Actually, just watch all the Sampras/Agassi matches from 94-95.
Actually, just watch all the Sampras/Agassi matches from 94-95.
wangs78
Legend
Yup, I was about to say, a Sampras/Agassi match usually brought out the best in Pistol Pete.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
And Becker matches. There's not as much variety since both primarily attacked, but Becker from the back of the court was a beast, as was Pete.
wangs78
Legend
Those Becker-Sampras and Becker-Edberg matches were major sources of inspiration for a precocious Swiss boy who had trouble controlling his emotions as a child.
vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
that would my choice as well
he was amazing in that match !
(those slam dunks...)
... which was even more delightful after their RR match
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
How could Sampras play with t-shirts two sizes bigger and no wristbands?
Fiero425
Legend
It was Sampras who set that "sloppy" trend of huge, baggie shorts! He looked so unkempt and wrinkled back then; NOW THE NORM!
You're in for a treat! Quite different tennis than the modern era!
Any of the Sampras-Agassi US Open matches would be a good starting point. This was a great neutral surface for both of them (the surface they grew up on), whereas Wimbledon favored Sampras and French Open and Australian Open favored Agassi.
The 1990 USO final, 1995 USO final, 2001 USO quarterfinal, and 2002 USO finals are all great matches of the best S&V in the game, against the best baseliner in the game
Youtube has most of these matches in full length. I just fast forward through the ~20 seconds of down time between serves using the arrow keys.
Not to seem pedantic, but do folks consider Sampras the best S&V?
Sampras for sure had the most effective serve of his era if not of all time. However, I always thought of Sampras as more of an all-court player.
For me, Stefen Edberg is the epitome of S&V. And I think of players like McEnroe, Cash, Rafter, Becker, and even Dent before Sampras when it comes to S&V.
The Sampras-Agassi matches were great though.
Fiero425
Legend
Sampras could S & V, but never was the consummate one; more like Edberg and Rafter! That was how they won and lost matches! Pete could and did play baseline tennis like they do today with a big serve to get free points!
Sampras could S & V, but never was the consummate one; more like Edberg and Rafter! That was how they won and lost matches! Pete could and did play baseline tennis like they do today with a big serve to get free points!
Exactly.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
How can you tell when you're 22?
I would extremely love to see the 1993 Grand Slam Cup match against Korda, but never found it anywhere as a full match.
@OP
Some more matches you should try:
Close matches:
1990 US Open QF vs Lendl
1994 Australian Open R64 vs Kafelnikov
1995 Davis Cup Final vs Chesnokov
2002 US Open R32 vs Rusedski
Great performances by Pete:
1993 US Open vs Chang (especially last 2 sets)
1997 Australian Open SF vs Muster
1997 WTF Final vs Kafelnikov
2002 US Open QF vs Roddick
@NatF
One great match you uploaded a few days ago was the 2000 US Open SF vs Hewitt. The last 5 points or so are missing though. Was that by accident or due to copyright? And by the way: Don’t give a **** about that comment on youtube where someone says: “If you cannot upload everything, don’t upload anything”. What an idiot!
@OP
Some more matches you should try:
Close matches:
1990 US Open QF vs Lendl
1994 Australian Open R64 vs Kafelnikov
1995 Davis Cup Final vs Chesnokov
2002 US Open R32 vs Rusedski
Great performances by Pete:
1993 US Open vs Chang (especially last 2 sets)
1997 Australian Open SF vs Muster
1997 WTF Final vs Kafelnikov
2002 US Open QF vs Roddick
@NatF
One great match you uploaded a few days ago was the 2000 US Open SF vs Hewitt. The last 5 points or so are missing though. Was that by accident or due to copyright? And by the way: Don’t give a **** about that comment on youtube where someone says: “If you cannot upload everything, don’t upload anything”. What an idiot!
NatF
Bionic Poster
That's all there was unfortunately. Not finished watching it through tbh so didn't realise it was incomplete.
And thanks.
Fiero425
Legend
There was no reason not to believe there would be a changing of the guard! People forget, as much as we called Pete the GOAT, at that time in his career, he hadn't won an event in 2+ years; the last tourney win was at Wimbledon in 2000! His serve started clicking and he got better and better at that last USO, finding his pigeon waiting there and he closed it out for his final tournament win in 4 sets!
The video is already over around 2:29:25 at 4:3 in the last TB. Sampras won it 7:5, so really 5 points are missing. Then the 3rd set is shown again (also again exactly until 4:3 in the TB).
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Ombeleevable 1995 Wim SF vs Ivanisevic hasn't been mentioned yet, both were peaking and it was undoubtedly the best of their four Wimby encounters.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
BTW, does that mean you have 1993 USO QF Sampras-Chang? I'd sure like to see that...
NatF
Bionic Poster
Ah f*ck, should check after I buy I guess. Didn't realise it was such a copy and paste job, watched the first set or so and then got distracted with other things. Maybe I'll put a note in the description.
Yes, I have it. I am just about finishing a list of all my matches and then start a Youtube channel again (for full matches, highlights and also a bit of other sports). That will be nice work for the off-season. If it will be deleted or not possible because of copyright issues, I’ll have to find another solution.
Fiero425
Legend
I was more impressed with Sampras being in the zone at '94 Wimbledon QF against Chang! Everything was working for him and Chang was chasing all his shots; almost felt sorry for him, but couldn't stand him! It's a wonder he's not in a wheelchair with all the running he's done over the years! IIRC both hips have been replaced!
NatF
Bionic Poster
I did think about that one, not a huge fan of pure S&V for 5 sets though tbh. Some of those indoor matches were had a lot of S&V but there were a fair few more rallies in there as well, especially behind second serves.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Short list:
Domination - 1990 USO F, 1992 Wim QF, 1994 AO SF, all YEC finals PETE won (except 1996 which was epic), 1997 AO F, 1997 DC vs Rafter, 1999 Wim F, 2002 USO QF;
Epicness (win) - 1999 USO QF, 1995 AO QF, 1995 Wim SF, 1996 RG 2R(iirc) vs Bruguera, 1996 USO QF, 1996 YEC F, 2001 USO QF
Epicness (lose) - 1991 Paris F, 1993 GC SF (but yeah, unavailable), 1996 Stuttgart F, 1997 USO 4R, 2000 AO SF
And any Samprassi match is worth watching, it was a fun match-up.
Domination - 1990 USO F, 1992 Wim QF, 1994 AO SF, all YEC finals PETE won (except 1996 which was epic), 1997 AO F, 1997 DC vs Rafter, 1999 Wim F, 2002 USO QF;
Epicness (win) - 1999 USO QF, 1995 AO QF, 1995 Wim SF, 1996 RG 2R(iirc) vs Bruguera, 1996 USO QF, 1996 YEC F, 2001 USO QF
Epicness (lose) - 1991 Paris F, 1993 GC SF (but yeah, unavailable), 1996 Stuttgart F, 1997 USO 4R, 2000 AO SF
And any Samprassi match is worth watching, it was a fun match-up.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
There are video hosters other than youtube though none are as popular. What if you copy your uploads to a channel elsewhere so that should anything happen to the YT channel (it probably would eventually, to be honest...), you work is safe and you can continue at least that way. We've been doing that in our small match sharing group, can't really rely on YT anymore as anything may get deleted any second. Want in? I think I invited you at some point but there was no reply so you probably missed it.
Yeah, many people do that on Youtube. I think sometimes it is to fool automatic copyright research programs, but sometimes only to make their videos longer. But it is strange that someone sold such a version.
By the way, as we talk about Sampras matches: Can you remember the Youtube channel "jsnple“ or something similar? He always came up again with a slightly different name after his channel was deleted multiple times. He had many of Pete’s matches and always uploaded them chronologically until his next demise. I think the last time he stopped after 1999 French Open, and then he was gone for good since a few years now.
Do you maybe know what happened to him? Did he move to another platform?
Must have missed it then. Don’t know when it was, but I was absent from the forum for a few weeks after Wimbledon.
I will write you again about this in a few weeks from now, when my list is finished. Maybe I’ll make a Google document or something else then. After that I try Youtube and if that fails (which is likely as you said) perhaps also those other sites. The matches are safe anyway, on multiple harddisks.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
I could add you now anyway so you see what we've got. At the moment the dominant task is to collect all Federer slam matches available, and it's going nice and steady, you should like all those early rounders, thanks to the few dedicated folks like TGM et al.
IowaGuy
Hall of Fame
Sampras has 14 GS. S&V almost every 1st serve and most 2nd serves.
McEnroe. S&V everything. 7 GS.
Edberg (one of my favorite players ever!) has 6 GS. S&V most serves.
Becker. 6 GS. S&V.
Rafter. 2 GS. S&V.
Cash. 1 GS. S&V.
Dent. 0 GS. S&V.
So, 14 > 7 > 6 = 6 > 2 > 1 > 0
Therefore, Sampras best S&V. That's my logic anyway
Fiero425
Legend
Sampras has 14 GS. S&V almost every 1st serve and most 2nd serves.
McEnroe. S&V everything. 7 GS.
Edberg (one of my favorite players ever!) has 6 GS. S&V most serves.
Becker. 6 GS. S&V.
Rafter. 2 GS. S&V.
Cash. 1 GS. S&V.
Dent. 0 GS. S&V.
So, 14 > 7 > 6 = 6 > 2 > 1 > 0
Therefore, Sampras best S&V. That's my logic anyway
Pete had a baseline game; didn't you read my post on it? Shhheeshhhh! That makes little to no sense; sorta like listing Rafter, Dent, and Cash on this list when they barely made a mark in comparison to these other great!
IowaGuy
Hall of Fame
Sampras S&V almost all of his serves.
Everybody has a baseline game when they are returning serve.
If Sampras was so great at the baseline as you think, why did he only reach the SF of the French Open?
Fiero425
Legend
He did well to get to that SF in '96 defeating 2 past 2 TIME champions in Bruguera and Courier! Please study a little before coming for me! A real historian here! He worked hard enough, but the competition was tough and the court too slow! A lot of players never won a FO; Connors, McEnroe, and many others! It's not an entitlement; it must be earned!
IowaGuy
Hall of Fame
He did well to get to that SF in '96 defeating 2 past 2 TIME champions in Bruguera and Courier! Please study a little before coming for me! A real historian here! He worked hard enough, but the competition was tough and the court too slow! A lot of players never won a FO; Connors, McEnroe, and many others! It's not an entitlement; it must be earned!
So, Edberg reached the finals of the FO.
Does that mean that Edberg had a better baseline game than Sampras?
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