If Federer goes back in time and replaces Sampras...
If Federer goes back in time and swap places with Sampras, meaning a young Federer starting out in 1988 and ending his career in 2002 while a young Sampras now age 24, started on in 1998 and still currently playing in today's 2006 tour...
1990 U.S Open vs Agassi...Federer will win this one in 4 sets. Federer simply does everything better than Agassi. But Sampras won Agassi in 3 sets because Sampras was better than Federer when they were both 19.
1992 U.S Open vs Edberg...Federer will lose to Edberg in 4 sets. Edberg was in his peak and volleys were so sharp. Federer has not matured yet and will find difficulty in passing Edberg at the net. Federer will lose by the same score as what Sampras lost to Edberg.
1993 Wimbledon final vs Courier...Federer will win this one in 3 sets. Federer all court game will rip Courier apart and he does everything better than Courier. Sampras won this in 4 sets.
1993 U.S Open final vs Pioline...Federer will win this one in 3 sets. Sampras won in 3 sets too.
1994 Australian Open final vs Martin...Federer will win this one in 3 sets.
Todd Martin is not as good as a tired Safin, so Federer will beat Martin in 3 sets like Sampras won in 3 sets as well.
1994 Wimbledon final vs Ivanisevic...Now Federer will be reaching his dominating form here. Roddick and Ivanisevic is around the same standard.
Federer will win in 4 sets, but Sampras won in 3 sets.
1995 Wimbledon final vs Becker...Becker was growing old and Federer will be in his dominating form. I remembered that Becker had a mental block when he played Sampras in 1995...Prior to this match, Sampras was ahead 6-5 against Becker, 1-0 on grass in Wimbledon 1993, but Sampras lost 5 matches to Becker on Carpet before Wimbledon 1995. So I believe that Federer could at least win 2 of these carpet matches, so Federer's H-to-H vs Becker would be 8-3. Federer will win this one in 4 sets as well because of Becker's experience. Sampras also won in 4 sets.
1995 Australian final vs Agassi...Agassi was a 2 time Majors winner before this match, like a Hewitt who was a 2 time Majors winner, but Agassi was playing red hot and was experiencing in his 1st peak of his career. Sampras had difficulties playing Agassi on clay and rebound ace, but Federer game also suits slower surfaces and Federer is a better player than Sampras on slower surfaces. So Federer in his dominating form will beat Agassi in 1995. Agassi will be playing his own mirror image but someone who has a better serve and better volleys and comparable returns. This match up is simply delicious, too bad it's all speculation. I can imagine both Federer and Agassi bashing at each other's balls...Federer will win in 4 sets, maybe stretched to 5 sets. Sampras lost this match to Agassi in 4 sets.
1995 U.S Open final vs Agassi... Agassi vs Sampras head-to-head was 8-8 prior to this match. Agassi must be feeling good about his chances against Sampras since he won the US Open in 1994, Aus Open 1995 and peaking in his career. Those Tournaments on different surfaces besides clay that were before 1994, I will predict the same result with Federer vs Agassi, but for those 3 clay court matches Sampras lost to Agassi before this match between 1989 to 1992, I predict Federer will win 2 of them since Federer only lost to the very best true clay court players even when he was not at his peak yet. All those matches after Wimbledon 1993, I predict Federer will beat Agassi. So my prediction of Federer vs Agassi's Head-to-Head will be either 13-3 or 14-2 before this match. Federer will keep dominating a player once he got his number, eg. 9-0 against Hewitt after 2003 and Roddick 10-1. Agassi will still be hurting by his tough loss to Federer in Australian 1995, so Federer will have the mental edge and win this match in 3 sets or 4 sets. Federer may win one of the sets bagel 6-0 as well. Sampras won this match in 4 sets.
1996 U.S Open final vs Chang. Chang was 5-0 vs Sampras in their earlier years in their careers before Sampras turn it around 10-7 vs Chang before this match. So this matchup looks alot like Federer vs Hewitt or Federer vs Nalbandian because Hewitt and Nalbandian had very good record against Federer earlier in their careers but Federer has turned it around or is turning it around. The Head-to-Head between Federer and Chang will be also 10-7 like Sampras vs Chang before this match but Federer would have won some of the hard court matches and lose some of the carpet matches to Chang, so equalling the H-H as 10-7. Federer will win this match in 3 sets like what Sampras did in 1996 with a similar scoreline 6-1, 6-4, 7-6.
1997 Australian Open final vs Moya...Both Sampras and Federer have no problems with Moya and since it is Moya's 1st Major Final, Moya will not be a threat and he will be nervous. It's hard to keep doing passing shots against a very good net rusher like Sampras when playing in your 1st Majors, that's why Sampras won 6-2 6-3 6-3 easily against a nervous Moya. I believe Federer will be older than in 1997 at age mid 25+ and he plays a more baseline game than Sampras, so Moya will be allowed to rally more balls from the baseline. Federer will still win it, but it will be a tighter match. Federer will win in 3 tough sets or in 4 sets due to his experience in Majors.
1997 Wimbledon final vs Pioline...I did not realise that Pioline was such an easy meat for Sampras until I check the stats. Sampras vs Pioline Head-Head is 9-0. Federer would also end his career with the same 9-0 against Pioline. Federer before peaking at mid 1993 will still be good enough to win all the earlier matches against a 2 years older Pioline. If baseline play is not working, Federer will opt for S&V game, so Federer will win in a similar scoreline as Sampras 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
1998 Wimbledon final vs Ivanisevic...Sampras vs Ivanisevic H-to-H was 10-6 before this match. Federer will capture these wins that Sampras had lost to Goran : 1993 Paris Indoor, 1993 Rome, 1996 Key Biscayne, Hard. So Federer's Head-Head with Ivanisevic will be 12-4 or 13-3, similar to the present day Federer vs Ljubicic 10-3 in 2006, still have 2 more years till 2008, to reach a similar H-to-H. With a better H-H record, I predict an older Federer in 2008 will either play the same style as Agassi in the 1992 finals (5 sets) and Federer will win in 4 sets or choose to play S&V like Sampras in 1998 finals (5 sets) and Federer will win in 4 sets.
1999 Wimbledon final vs Agassi. Federer will win in 3 sets if he plays S&V game like Sampras who won this match in 3 sets. But if Federer plays a more baseline game with Agassi, it will be a Federer win in 4 or 5 sets. An aging Federer will still have lots of firepower and variety in his game to pull out a win here. I strongly believe that Agassi should thank his lucky stars that he is not born or swap places with Hewitt or Federer did not swap places with Sampras, because Agassi may end up with 2 Majors for his whole career like what Hewitt will eventually have only 2 Majors when Hewitt retires.
2000 Wimbledon final vs Rafter...Sampras only started playing Rafter in mid 1993, so Federer's head-head with Rafter will not be so bad like 3-0 in modern times. Prior before this match, Sampras is 9-4 against Rafter and 5-0 in 1997. I believe Sampras volley game and bigger & better serve neutralize whatever advantage Rafter had, but I feel Rafter will give Federer more problems. So Rafter will win 2 or 3 of those 5 matches and Federer's H-H will be around 7-6 or 6-7 against Rafter, pretty even H-H. Sampras was 12-4 vs Rafter at their end of their careers, but Federer vs Rafter at their end of their careers should be around 8-8. Rafter was a rather late bloomer because he played his best tennis around 1998 to 2001. Sampras won this match in 4 sets, but I will go with a 5 sets win by an athletic net-rushing Rafter whose game was still near its prime against an aging Federer.
2000 U.S Open finals vs Safin...An aging Federer will not be able to cope with the power of the rising new Russian who was playing perfect power tennis on that day. But Federer will not go down as easily like Sampras to Marat. Federer will lose in 4 or 5 sets as compared to Sampras losing in 3 sets.
2001 U.S Open finals vs Hewitt...An aging Federer will have difficulties coping with the speed and tenacity of the rising Aussie that was dominating the tennis world during this time. But Federer will be like an old Agassi who has an even Head-Head record against Hewitt. Agassi was 2-1 vs Hewitt before 2001 US Open finals and 2-2 vs Hewitt at the end of year 2001, and currently their career H-H is 4-4. Federer will either beat Hewitt in 4 or 5 sets or lose in 4 or 5 sets as compared to Sampras losing in 3 easy sets. Sampras was a sitting duck for Hewitt because Hewitt loves a target to hit his passing shots. But Federer can play an attacking game like Sampras, play aggressive returns like Agassi or he can patiently rally with Hewitt from the back of the court. So for this match it is a toss-up. Federer could either win it or lose it but it will be a close match either way.
2002 U.S Open final vs Agassi...An aging Federer's court movements will not be slower than an aging Agassi. Federer would have dominated Agassi 25-9 in their career H-H more than Sampras dominated Agassi 20-14 in their career H-H. Judging from the US Open 2005 finals (4 sets), Federer does not have a big serve like Sampras who could gambled while serving when two players are in their twilights of their careers. Federer will win it in 5 sets. Sampras won this match in 4 sets.
So overall, Federer would either win 14 Majors or 15 Majors (depending on the toss-up match in 2001 US Finals between Hewitt). The players whose destiny would have been altered would be Agassi who will win less Majors & a lower Head-Head against the "Altered" Sampras. Rafter will have a better Head-Head against the "Altered" Sampras & Rafter would have won Wimbledon 2000 & more Majors.
