Pete Sampras v Novak Djokovic - 10 matches at Wimbledon

Who has the edge - Djokovic v Sampras @ SW19?

  • Total voters
    72
  • Poll closed .
Aabye5

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
The grass has changed, the racquets have changed, but if you set that aside (or envision a scenario where they play 5 with old racquets on old courts, 5 with new racquets on new courts), who takes the series?

I feel this one is very close and could end up something like 6-4 in Sampras' favor...
 
nolefam_2024 said:
I don't know what there is to pump up. His stats are pretty good but he is behind Federer on grass on that. And Federer even beat him despite being 19 years old in straight up match.
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For posters who can't handle their favorite losing, he has a supposed aura having never lost a Wimbledon Final

People who pump Sampras up usually think that Djoko is better than Fred at Wimbledon
 
If you don't believe in massive tennis evolution since when Sampras was dominating which most people here don't then you likely have to give Sampras the edge. How much I don't know though.
 
Djokovic is better vs the field with 119-20 W/L record in all matches vs Sampras 100-20.
Sampras is ahead of Djokovic by some margin in top 10 wins 10-3 for Sampras vs 16-9 for Djokovic in finished matches. Djokovic has 2 retirements but they don't show his real strength. Sampras is far better in top 10 matches.

I would like to see this with djokovic being an underdog in divided 5-5 series. Probably 6-4 Sampras.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
Djokovic is better vs the field with 119-20 W/L record in all matches vs Sampras 100-20.
Sampras is ahead of Djokovic by some margin in top 10 wins 10-3 for Sampras vs 16-9 for Djokovic in finished matches. Djokovic has 2 retirements but they don't show his real strength. Sampras is far better in top 10 matches.

I would like to see this with djokovic being an underdog in divided 5-5 series. Probably 6-4 Sampras.
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errr in all matches where? how can Djoks or Samps have lost 20 matches at Wimbledon? you mean on any grass?
 
Aabye5 said:
The grass has changed, the racquets have changed, but if you set that aside (or envision a scenario where they play 5 with old racquets on old courts, 5 with new racquets on new courts), who takes the series?

I feel this one is very close and could end up something like 6-4 in Sampras' favor...
Click to expand...

Djokovic is good, but Sampras at Wimbledon--even during the years he did not win--was an astonishing sight. He had every gift necessary for that event, and was the evolutionary next step above players such as Becker.
 
With the 5th set being settle in a 10pt tiebreak now, is that advantage Sampras or Djokovic. I think that definitely gives Sampras the advantage. Having to break Djokovic at the end of the 5th would be a tough task.
 
Rosstour said:
For posters who can't handle their favorite losing, he has a supposed aura having never lost a Wimbledon Final

People who pump Sampras up usually think that Djoko is better than Fred at Wimbledon
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I don't think Djokovic is better than Fed. I think Sampras was pretty darn good though (and not just at Wimbledon).
 
lidoazndiabloboi said:
With the 5th set being settle in a 10pt tiebreak now, is that advantage Sampras or Djokovic. I think that definitely gives Sampras the advantage. Having to break Djokovic at the end of the 5th would be a tough task.
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Yes, I think Sampras wins against almost anyone in a tiebreak.
 
Sampras is a terrible matchup for Djokovic. He basically combines everything Djokovic doesn't like to face in a player into one, with an additional 10% in every department. Bot level serving - check, extremely hard to hit through - check, disrupts rhythm/takes time away - check.

Meanwhile the things Sampras doesn't like to face - elite returning of big serves, good forward attack/transition game, are some of Djokovic's weakest attributes.
 
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Aabye5 said:
I don't think Djokovic is better than Fed. I think Sampras was pretty darn good though (and not just at Wimbledon).
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PETE was great at the US as well and probably would have been at the AO if he took it seriously.

We say Fed was the bridge between the classic era and the modern era but maybe it was PETE...he played in a time without poly and while the AO was still considered less prestigious. Fred was the first non Aussie pro to give that Slam equal priority and effort to the others.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
Why is that ? You do know Federer lost many tiebreaks vs the goat right ?

This is pretty bold claim for no reason.

In Wimbledon
Federer 71%
GOAT 69%
Sampras 61%
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Sampras won 93% of his service games on grass. Pretty sure only Fed can touch that.
 
Aabye5 said:
The grass has changed, the racquets have changed, but if you set that aside (or envision a scenario where they play 5 with old racquets on old courts, 5 with new racquets on new courts), who takes the series?

I feel this one is very close and could end up something like 6-4 in Sampras' favor...
Click to expand...
Purely speculative statement. McBrat would beat them both
 
metsman said:
Sampras is a terrible matchup for Djokovic. He basically combines everything Djokovic doesn't like to face in a player into one, with an additional 10% in every department. Bot level serving - check, extremely hard to hit through - check, disrupts rhythm/takes time away - check.

Meanwhile the things Sampras doesn't like to face - elite serving of big serves, good forward attack/transition game, are some of Djokovic's weakest attributes.
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Not really. Sampras is a nightmare against anyone on grass, but not Djokovic specifically.

Novak doesn't like big hitters, a Safin, a Wawrinka, even a Jiri Vesely. In modern terms, Rublev troubles him more than Hurkacz.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
You are not answering my question about tiebreaks.

In fact it's tiebreaks where Djokovic would have his best chances.
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A tiebreak is just an extended game in many ways. Having a mental edge is very helpful in tiebreaks. Djokovic wouldn't have that advantage against Sampras.
 
Aabye5 said:
Sampras won 93% of his service games on grass. Pretty sure only Fed can touch that.
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Nice call.

Sampras won 92.7% of his service games on grass; compared to 92.5% for Federer and 89.8% for Djoker.

Fed's 92.5% is impressive, considering that he played until he was a month shy of 40 years old on that surface. And his knees were destroyed in 2021. Hell, he got bageled by Hurkacz in 2021. If we toss out 2021, then Federer is also at 92.7%.
 
Aabye5 said:
A tiebreak is just an extended game in many ways. Having a mental edge is very helpful in tiebreaks. Djokovic wouldn't have that advantage against Sampras.
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What you are saying makes zero sense to me. If tiebreak is just extended game then I don't know anything about tennis..

TB is far far different than extended game where players keep changing serves after every 2 points. Here is where the gap between best player and a servebot is exposed..
 
Athletes always getting bigger, stronger, faster. Against his contemporaries Sampras better than Djokovic at Wimby. But not H2H. There’s a reason guys used to retire at 30. Top level athletes are evolving in more than just longevity.
 
To see who wins tie breaks more you go directly to TB stat or go to tpw stat as TB is composed of both service and return points. It's like a mini set itself.
 
If Sampras keeps the rallies short, and with little rhythm beyond that and the big serves, Djokovic is going to lose. Djokovic would need to make the rallies last longer, try to establish a rhythm and run Sampras around. At Wimbledon, Sampras is more likely to get his way. Who knows though with modern poly strings. Sampras wouldn't be able to just serve and volley loads of times today without getting passed a lot. Sampras would need more of the Gullikson era style than the Annacone era style.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
What you are saying makes zero sense to me. If tiebreak is just extended game then I don't know anything about tennis..

TB is far far different than extended game where players keep changing serves after every 2 points. Here is where the gap between best player and a servebot is exposed..
Click to expand...

This is all true, too. But Sampras is not just a servebot.
 
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