Higher peak level of play: Federer or Sampras?

Higher peak level of play

  • Federer

    Votes: 21 75.0%
  • Sampras

    Votes: 7 25.0%

  • Total voters
    28

TeamOB

Professional
IMO comparing peak level doesn't really work. Simply because anybody in the top 100 has a pretty much unbeatable peak level. Even journeymen like Rosol are untouchable when playing at their peak. If everyone is unbeatable at peak, how can you compare?
 

jg153040

G.O.A.T.
IMO comparing peak level doesn't really work. Simply because anybody in the top 100 has a pretty much unbeatable peak level. Even journeymen like Rosol are untouchable when playing at their peak. If everyone is unbeatable at peak, how can you compare?

Yeah. That's why this peak vs peak comparison is moot.

Also it's pointless anyway. Who cares, if somebody has better peak if they can sustain it only a few time, but Fed can sustain his peak four years.

Even if we compare them against Fed, their peak would end sooner and Fed would defeat them eventually.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
IMO comparing peak level doesn't really work. Simply because anybody in the top 100 has a pretty much unbeatable peak level. Even journeymen like Rosol are untouchable when playing at their peak. If everyone is unbeatable at peak, how can you compare?

You look at their average level across their best years also bearing in mind tournaments of extreme excellence.
 

Anti-Fedal

Professional
IMO comparing peak level doesn't really work. Simply because anybody in the top 100 has a pretty much unbeatable peak level. Even journeymen like Rosol are untouchable when playing at their peak. If everyone is unbeatable at peak, how can you compare?

I mean over the course of one entire tournament. Not just one match.
 
depends on how you define peak.
single match- sampras vs agassi wim 99, fed vs hewitt 2004 uso,fed agassi 2004 masters ,tsonga vs nadal 2008 ao are my favs
whole tournament- nadal 2008.. basically almost every match was as dominant as the matches mentioned above
a year- fed 2004 /djoker 2011
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
I think people are not even answering the real OP question. The question is "Who has higher level peak of play?", not "Who can maintain peak level of play for longer period?".
 

90's Clay

Banned
Sampras.

When Pete was at his peak the field (early-mid 90s) the field was STRONG. Prime Agassi, Bruguera, A bit past prime but still awesome Becker and Edberg, Kafelnikov, Goran, Muster, Courier, Rafter, Chang etc.


When Fed was at his peak the field was crapola:

Roddick (didn't even possess a FRACTION of the talent Pete's top rivals did), Hewitt (washed up post 2005), MIA Safin and Nalbandian (Arguably just as talented as most of Pete's rivals but missing in action 95-98 percent of their career so the point is moot), Old BrokeBack Agassi, Gonzales, Baghaditis and pre puberty Nole, Nadal and Murray not even in their primes yet
 

mattennis

Hall of Fame
Each and every great player had amazing peak playing days. It is impossible to know if one peak-play was higher than other.

Another different thing is the style. Peak-playing Sampras was a type of game that did not allow you to hit more than 1 or 2 strokes per point (on average) during the match, and that is why many of his rivals used to say "I couldn't even touch the ball, nothing I could do". Whereas peak-playing Rosewall, even if he could defeat you by the same score, he did it in a different style/way, with longer points, but at the end of the day he could dominate the score this way even more.

Peak-playing Federer could also destroy great rivals with short points, but in that regard Sampras may have been the classic example (of ultra-aggresive game when it all clicked).
 

Anti-Fedal

Professional
Sampras.

When Pete was at his peak the field (early-mid 90s) the field was STRONG. Prime Agassi, Bruguera, A bit past prime but still awesome Becker and Edberg, Kafelnikov, Goran, Muster, Courier, Rafter, Chang etc.


When Fed was at his peak the field was crapola:

Roddick (didn't even possess a FRACTION of the talent Pete's top rivals did), Hewitt (washed up post 2005), MIA Safin and Nalbandian (Arguably just as talented as most of Pete's rivals but missing in action 95-98 percent of their career so the point is moot), Old BrokeBack Agassi, Gonzales, Baghaditis and pre puberty Nole, Nadal and Murray not even in their primes yet

That doesn't answer the question as to who played at a higher level. You're just listing opponents faced. Which year/tournament do you think Sampras peak was stronger than Roger's?
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Pete at his peak has never demolished a top 5 player in a slam final like Fed did (USO 2004)

Federer at his peak went 18-0 vs top 10 opponents in a season. Pete never did that.

Overall Federer.
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
Pete at his peak has never demolished a top 5 player in a slam final like Fed did (USO 2004)

Federer at his peak went 18-0 vs top 10 opponents in a season. Pete never did that.

Overall Federer.

That's because their games are different. Pete only breaks his opponent once per set. Federer, on the other hand, tries to break an opponent every time he has a chance. I still think Pete 1995 USO could beat any version of Federer including 2004 version. Remember, no back Agassi went 5 sets with 2004 Federer, but peak Agassi has got nothing on Sampras.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
That's because their games are different. Pete only breaks his opponent once per set. Federer, on the other hand, tries to break an opponent every time he has a chance. I still think Pete 1995 USO could beat any version of Federer including 2004 version. Remember, no back Agassi went 5 sets with 2004 Federer, but peak Agassi has got nothing on Sampras.

2004 USO Agassi played better than 1995 Agassi who was tired from his exhausting summer.
 

Hollywood401k

Semi-Pro
That's because their games are different. Pete only breaks his opponent once per set. Federer, on the other hand, tries to break an opponent every time he has a chance. I still think Pete 1995 USO could beat any version of Federer including 2004 version. Remember, no back Agassi went 5 sets with 2004 Federer, but peak Agassi has got nothing on Sampras.

That's like saying Nole has got nothing on Nadal. The H2H with Sampras and Agassi isn't like Nadal and Fed. 20-14 is a 6 match difference, not a 2:1 ratio.
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
That's because their games are different. Pete only breaks his opponent once per set. Federer, on the other hand, tries to break an opponent every time he has a chance. I still think Pete 1995 USO could beat any version of Federer including 2004 version. Remember, no back Agassi went 5 sets with 2004 Federer, but peak Agassi has got nothing on Sampras.
Yes but that match was in the QF. In the final Federer was zoning.

You are entitled to your opinion and i respect it. But 2004 USO final Federer still remains one of the best peak performances of all time.

As for the record, 1995 Agassi is not Federer.Just because he could beat Agassi does not mean he could beat Federer.2 completely different players. 2004 Federer would be a tougher match for Sampras than 1995 Agassi
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
2004 USO Agassi played better than 1995 Agassi who was tired from his exhausting summer.

If you think Agassi in 2004 played better than his peak level in 1995(who went undefeated that summer up until he met Sampras), then I have nothing more to say to you.
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
That's like saying Nole has got nothing on Nadal. The H2H with Sampras and Agassi isn't like Nadal and Fed. 20-14 is a 6 match difference, not a 2:1 ratio.

Irrelevant reply. We are discussing about highest level of play, not the H2H over a career span. Agassi and Sampras were both playing arguably peak level in 1995 US Open and we all know who won. Regarding to Federer vs Sampras, it's tough to say because they never play each other at their peak. This is why we are discussing. Again, this is not about H2H over a CAREER SPAN.
 
Last edited:

NatF

Bionic Poster
If you think Agassi in 2004 played better than his peak level in 1995(who went undefeated that summer up until he met Sampras), then I have nothing more to say to you.

In that single match the QF vs Federer against the final versus Sampras yep. Agassi wasn't at his best in the final versus Sampras, the commentators at the time said as much.

1995 Agassi >>> 2004 Agassi

2004 QF Agassi > 1995 final Agassi
 

ultradr

Legend
Just like Nadal, Sampras raises his level at high pressure moments.

Federer's game is about avoiding pressure situation so that he can hit
all those exotic shots risk-free. If he can't lead a match and things get
extended to 5 set, he becomes defensive.

However, the player's true color shows in high pressure moment.
 

90's Clay

Banned
Just like Nadal, Sampras raises his level at high pressure moments.

Federer's game is about avoiding pressure situation so that he can hit
all those exotic shots risk-free. If he can't lead a match and things get
extended to 5 set, he becomes defensive.

However, the player's true color shows in high pressure moment.


Great post.. 100 percent accurate
 

monfed

Banned
I think Fed's performance against Hewitt in the USO 04 final is the highest level seen in a grandslam so that's my pick.
 

tennisdad65

Hall of Fame
Sampras at Wimbledon was untouchable. Second serves at 115 mph.

Over a season, Fed had a higher level of consistency, but for a few matches at Wimbledon you cannot go any higher than Pete's level.
 
Top