If Sampras won the 1992 US Open final...

[drwood]

how many slams would he have won? He mentions this match (losing in 4 sets to Edberg) as the one which taught him to hate to lose, and turned his career around.

Sampras: "The 1992 US Open final taught me that nobody remembers who finishes second"

Let's say Sampras wins that 3rd set tiebraker and then cruised to victory in the 4th set against Edberg to win his 2nd US Open in 3 years. Would he have ended up winning fewer slams overall?

Interested in thoughts -- no hating or trolling, please.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

didn't he say this defeat was a turning point in his career because it made him realize how much hated to lose ?...

then maybe he would have kept going on winning slam after slam, without even knowing that he hates to lose, and he would never have experienced this turning point that led him to such a successful career ? damned it ! and the worst thing is that it could create a goat paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe !

sorry, i need some fresh air, i think...

 

[drwood]

didn't he say this defeat was a turning point in his career because it made him realize how much hated to lose ?...

then maybe he would have kept going on winning slam after slam, without even knowing that he hates to lose, and he would never have experienced this turning point that led him to such a successful career ? damned it ! and the worst thing is that it could create a goat paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe !

LOL! You forgot to add "granted, that's the worst case scenario."

I personally think that if he had won that match, he wouldn't have developed the competitive fire that won him several of his other slams (i.e. 1993 Wimbledon 5th set against Agassi in the QF, 1996 US Open, 1998 Wimbledon final, 2000 Wimbledon on one leg, 2002 US Open), so I'd say b/t
8 and 10.

 

[anointedone]

He wins 15. The other 14 and that one.

 

[Datacipher]

There's no intelligent was to predict this....

 

[ubermeyer]

more than 14 because he would have had 15 with that one...

 

[eric draven]

No probably not. He would have gone into every slam with that pressure mounting and maybe he would have reeled off a few more but he says himself he found out how much he hated to lose after that match. If that loss doesn't happen at that point in his career he suffers burnout a lot sooner. Just my opinion...

 

[Jim Courier fan]

... then Courier would won Wimbledon...

 

[Bruguera]

Sure that would give Pete even more slams. I dunno if that loss was the turning point or not. Pete had a champion's heart regardless and was very competitive along with a ton of talent

That win would have just gave him up 15 slams instead of 14.

 

[Nellie]

Safin says he struggled with how easily he won US Open - says he was never that motivated to practice and train afterward.