Every sport has its one-off event which is considered the holy grail event for that sport, the blue ribbon event so to speak. Soccer has the world cup, cycling has the Tour De France, etc etc. These are the events players in their chosen field want to win above everything else. In tennis, that event is Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is the most important tennis event in the world. So it goes without saying, Wimbledon Centre Court is the most important court in the world and the mens’ final at Wimbledon is the single most important tennis match at Wimbledon, and therefore, the single most important match of the year. If there is one single match in tennis which signifies greatness, it is the Wimbledon final.
Now I can only go by facts, but once in the mens’ final at Wimbledon, Sampras was unbeatable. 7 from 7 (100%). Only Federer (7 from 8 = 87.5%) and Borg (5 from 6 = 83.33%) come close to matching Sampras in this, the most important tennis match of the year. But both still fall short. Now before someone decides to mention Cash or Krajicek who are both 1 from 1, obviously I’m talking about players who made the most important match of the year a number of times. I’m excluding Bill Tilden because he pretty much played the challenge round only.
Now some of you will no doubt point to the fact that Federer made one extra final or that Sampras lost to Krajicek when he was at his peak, but here is what I have to say to that.
1) Sampras was always suspect in the first week and a bit of Wimbledon. All the top players were. Because, and this is directed to alot of you jonny come latelies, believe it or not, Wimbledon once had draws which were littered with floaters, where any player outside of the top 100 could beat anyone in the draw. That’s right, tennis was not always about one generic boring as **** game style with homogenised courts and a top 4 which made the semis of 90 per cent of all slams. Believe it or not, all the top players back in the day talked about surviving the first week because the depth on grass was so much deeper. But the bottom line is, once Sampras got 5 matches under his belt, once he was in the groove, once he was full steam ahead, he was unbeatable in the most important match of the year. He never lost a semi final or the final, the most important match of the year. He met 5 different players, all with different game styles, and beat them all. If I had to put my life in the hands of one player in one match in any era, it would be Sampras in the Wimbledon final. And I include in that match-up any player as his opponent, be it Nadal, Federer, Murray, Roddick, Laver, Tilden, Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Agassi, Stich, Cash, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, take your pick. Quite simply, Sampras is the king of the most important match of the year and he wiped/would have wiped them all in the final. Nadal in the FO final would be a very very very close second, but with Nadal, he’s pretty much only beaten his bunny Federer in the final and a couple of others. Plus, as I said before, Wimbledon is Wimbledon, the pressure is just so much more than the FO. That’s why I would put my life in Sampras/WF ahead of Nadal/FOF.
2) Yes, Federer has made an extra final, but you would think that after beating Nadal in the 2 previous finals, the second one being very fortunate for him, he would have beaten him again. You would think that after having 6 matches under his belt, him being this era’s Wimbledon great, he would have beaten Nadal. But no, Nadal figured him out in the most important match of the year. Unlike Sampras, he was beatable. And therein lies the difference, Sampras never got figured out in the most important match of the year. If Sampras had made 8 finals, he would have won them all. Heck, if Sampras made 10 finals, he would have won them all. But as I said, he and the other top players were always a bit suspect pre the semis so he didn’t always make it. But once there, in the biggest match of the year, he was superman. He was undefeated….in the biggest match of the year.
Mods, please close this thread now because there is no argument to my OP and I suspect the trolls and *******s will be out in force to troll my OP when quite frankly it is not a trollable piece.
Wimbledon is the most important tennis event in the world. So it goes without saying, Wimbledon Centre Court is the most important court in the world and the mens’ final at Wimbledon is the single most important tennis match at Wimbledon, and therefore, the single most important match of the year. If there is one single match in tennis which signifies greatness, it is the Wimbledon final.
Now I can only go by facts, but once in the mens’ final at Wimbledon, Sampras was unbeatable. 7 from 7 (100%). Only Federer (7 from 8 = 87.5%) and Borg (5 from 6 = 83.33%) come close to matching Sampras in this, the most important tennis match of the year. But both still fall short. Now before someone decides to mention Cash or Krajicek who are both 1 from 1, obviously I’m talking about players who made the most important match of the year a number of times. I’m excluding Bill Tilden because he pretty much played the challenge round only.
Now some of you will no doubt point to the fact that Federer made one extra final or that Sampras lost to Krajicek when he was at his peak, but here is what I have to say to that.
1) Sampras was always suspect in the first week and a bit of Wimbledon. All the top players were. Because, and this is directed to alot of you jonny come latelies, believe it or not, Wimbledon once had draws which were littered with floaters, where any player outside of the top 100 could beat anyone in the draw. That’s right, tennis was not always about one generic boring as **** game style with homogenised courts and a top 4 which made the semis of 90 per cent of all slams. Believe it or not, all the top players back in the day talked about surviving the first week because the depth on grass was so much deeper. But the bottom line is, once Sampras got 5 matches under his belt, once he was in the groove, once he was full steam ahead, he was unbeatable in the most important match of the year. He never lost a semi final or the final, the most important match of the year. He met 5 different players, all with different game styles, and beat them all. If I had to put my life in the hands of one player in one match in any era, it would be Sampras in the Wimbledon final. And I include in that match-up any player as his opponent, be it Nadal, Federer, Murray, Roddick, Laver, Tilden, Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Agassi, Stich, Cash, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, take your pick. Quite simply, Sampras is the king of the most important match of the year and he wiped/would have wiped them all in the final. Nadal in the FO final would be a very very very close second, but with Nadal, he’s pretty much only beaten his bunny Federer in the final and a couple of others. Plus, as I said before, Wimbledon is Wimbledon, the pressure is just so much more than the FO. That’s why I would put my life in Sampras/WF ahead of Nadal/FOF.
2) Yes, Federer has made an extra final, but you would think that after beating Nadal in the 2 previous finals, the second one being very fortunate for him, he would have beaten him again. You would think that after having 6 matches under his belt, him being this era’s Wimbledon great, he would have beaten Nadal. But no, Nadal figured him out in the most important match of the year. Unlike Sampras, he was beatable. And therein lies the difference, Sampras never got figured out in the most important match of the year. If Sampras had made 8 finals, he would have won them all. Heck, if Sampras made 10 finals, he would have won them all. But as I said, he and the other top players were always a bit suspect pre the semis so he didn’t always make it. But once there, in the biggest match of the year, he was superman. He was undefeated….in the biggest match of the year.
Mods, please close this thread now because there is no argument to my OP and I suspect the trolls and *******s will be out in force to troll my OP when quite frankly it is not a trollable piece.
Fail thread, and fail post. Try again
