sampras fans...help me choose a sampras match

[newbie123]

Im interested in getting one of Sampras's match back when he was in his prime. Right now my choices are:

1. 1995 US Open Final - Sampras vs Agassi
2. 1996 ATP Master Series Final - Sampras vs Becker
3. 1996 US Open QF - Sampras vs Corretja
4. 1997 Australian Open SF - Sampras vs Muster
5. 1999 Wimbledon Final - Sampras vs Agassi

Im mainly looking for a long and exicting match with crazy winners, his determination, and his famous running forehands and jumping overheads. I also want to see the time when he was more of an all courter rather than s & v(i dont like to watch s&v lol).


Thanks

 

[Smashlob]

the 1996 QF vs. Corretja, without question.

 

[ty slothrop]

for pure drama, no question sampras - corretja. late night a the us open with a special snack on the side. the becker match was also unbelievable, probably the best serving display I have ever seen

 

[Datacipher]

Funny, I don't remember how Pete played vs Corretja, it was dramaticc obviously...but was he really playing his best? That i'm not so sure.

Becker/Sampras is one of the pinnacles of indoor tennis, incredible display. On the other hand, it's indoor tennis....you're not supposed to have long rallies indoors if you play it right!

Same for Agassi/Sampras 1999, magnificent serving from Sampras, but it is grass.

So...I might be tempted to go 1995 USO...I dont' think it was one of his BEST...but it might be better balanced than the others.

 

[Vlad]

I would recommend watching 2001 Sampras - Agassi at US Open. Quaterfinal.

I did not see it on TV. But I saw it live at the Open with other 23,000 screaming fans. it was unbelievable. Probably the most electric match I have ever witnessed.(live)

2000 Aussie Semi when these two played were amazing stuff as well.

 

[laurie]

Newbie, I would reccomment these, they are around if you look hard enough:

Sampras v Lendl - 1990 US Open quarterfinal
Sampras v Courier - 1991 ATP Masters final
Sampras v Agassi - 1999 Los Angeles Final
Sampras v Hewitt - 2000 Key Biscane semifinal
Sampras v Rafter - 1997 Davis Cup semifinal
Sampras v Edberg - 1994 ATP round robin match
Sampras v Courier - 1996 French Open quarters

This is a good range of his matches from 1990 to 2000. They are all very high quality matches with good crowd participation. I would reccommend one more, if you can stomach serve and volley the match against Krajicek at 2000 US Open is one of his best. Its a great example of how a player can turn a completely desperate scenario to actually in the end destroying his opponent with sheer brilliance and determination.

 

[drakulie]

I always liked the 1995 Australian Quarters against Courier. They both played very well. Amazing match. It was too bad someone had to lose.

 

[Sean Dugan]

My personal favorite would be the 96 ATP Championship match against Becker. The Corretja match just proved Pete can't grind with a grinder, but somehow he won that match. AC tried to turn it into long points, clay court style tennis, and ran Pete around on a hot humid afternoon/evening. Pete threw up in a corner and then went back to hitting aces...and in between looked like he would pass out from sheer exhaustion. Lot of great matches listed above........another would be the 1994? or 1995? Davis Cup tie against Russia. Sampras played Chesnekov in the deciding match on red clay (indoors in Moscow, I believe). Pete had to be carried off the court because he started cramping at the end. He still managed to win though. Supposedly that tie soured him on Davis Cup because he felt he had given his all and the US press ignored his effort. Also, any Pete v Rafter match rates high with me. Their Wimbly (2000?) final wasn't too shabby. Since you don't care for s&v much, you might want to check out his 1990 US Open final v Agassi.......Pete wasn't as "netty" early in his career. If you want real drama, there is always the "crying game" match v Courier at the 95 Aussie Open. Pete was the best!







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[LordRaceR]

Sampras vs Becker at 96 Masters final

 

[The tennis guy]

No question in my mind Sampras vs Becker at 96 Mater final is the best match I have ever seen. Both of them played incredible all court tennis.

 

[galain]

Sampras - Becker was fantastic tennis.

Sampras - Agassi at Wimby 99 was just the most humbling tennis I think I've seen anyone play until I watched some of Feds matches this year.

 

[Kevin Patrick]

If you haven't seen Sampras in his prime you might want to stay away from his grass/indoor matches(esp against other big servers)
I think the Sampras/Becker match was amazing, but the points were very short, you might be inclined to think he was just a big server from that match.
Also when Sampras played other big hitters, points could be very quick & you wouldn't see much of his versatility, speed, etc.

I actually found his matches against Muster & Chang to be among his most entertaining. Both were similar type of players who got a lot of balls back (& hit balls that sat right up in Sampras' strike zone) they couldn't really hurt Sampras, so you could see him have a bit more 'fun,' i.e. extended rallies. His matches with them resembled Federer's matches with Hewitt in '04. You knew Hewitt couldn't really hurt Fed, but get a lot balls back making Fed come up with some amazing tennis.
I don't know where you are getting the matches from, but I recommend tennisdvds.net. Quality is great & so is the price.

As far as crazy winners, that '97 Aussie Open SF has one of the most amazing shots, I've ever seen. Sampras goes around the net with a blistering backhand that is barely off the ground. Muster is right there & can only stare at it.
One of the best running forehands he ever hit was in the 4th or3rd set tiebreak of the '00 Aussie SF vs Agassi(a match he lost) I've never seen anyone hit a winner that far off the court.

Best slam dunk overheads:
'97 Davis Cup vs. Rafter
'95 US Open vs. Courier
'99 World Championships vs. Agassi(final)

The '95 US Final has one of the most famous points in tennis history, the baseline rally that ends the 1st set.

 

[newbie123]

Kevin, thank you for telling me that. I dont like short points as you have guessed. I prefer longer ones with a lot of scrambling and great shots with the crazy winners ending the points. I'm getting mine off ****. So what would you recommend out of these?

http://search.****.com/_W0QQgotopag...dsperpageZ50QQsosortorderZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1

 

[Kevin Patrick]

I've bought from that seller, the quality & service are great. He has more matches at his website, which I mentioned.
Out of the ones he has, I recommend:

1995 Australian Open Quarterfinals. Pete Sampras def Jim
Courier, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, tons of drama(with Pete crying in the 5th when a fan yells, 'do it for your coach,' but extremely high quality from beginning to end, running forehands, you name it.

1994 ATP Championships Semifinals. Pete Sampras def
Andre Agassi, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 (great match that signified the Pete- Andre rivalry was on, there's this great point where Sampras makes some crazy saves before winning a crucial point in the 2nd set tiebreak. Also Andre explodes at the umpire at the end of the set, probably should have been defaulted)
Also you should get this to see how differently Agassi played. He was one of the fastest players on tour then, hit some very flashy winners & could actually volley decently.

1995 Australian Open Semifinals. Pete Sampras def Michael
Chang, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Like I said, these Chang matches were always fun, great running forehands in this one.

1995 U.S. Open Semifinals. Pete Sampras def Jim Courier,
7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Good stuff, great jumping overheads.

1997 Australian Open SF Sampras Muster

The first 3 I listed are more entertaining than the last 2.

I guess they all involve baseliners, which make them so entertaining(you'll be surprised at how often Sampras stays at the baseline & see how solid his backhand was(Courier & Agassi unload on it, but it doesn't break down)

There's match he has that I'll probably buy that sounds very interesting:
1994 Australian Open 2nd Round. Pete Sampras
def Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 9-7

 

[joe sch]

I would recommend watching 2001 Sampras - Agassi at US Open. Quaterfinal.

I did not see it on TV. But I saw it live at the Open with other 23,000 screaming fans. it was unbelievable. Probably the most electric match I have ever witnessed.(live)

2000 Aussie Semi when these two played were amazing stuff as well.

As Vlad pointed out, this 2001 USO match was a very ~electric~ match, I sure wish I was there in person. Also, I believe that match was actually a "perfect match" there were no service breaks and Pete won it in 4 tiebreakers. Pete tied the mens slam record on this match. It was also special for me since it was against his nemesis. Ofcourse, it would be cool to also have the record breaking 2002 USO which was Petes farewell victory and sunset walkoff into retirement. I also love the Sampras matches on the hollowed turf at Wimbledon when he SV'd against some of the best SV competition ever including Becker, Rafter & Edberg. Soo hard to choose just one Sampras match !!!

 

[newbie123]

Thanks Kevin! Will that seller put a video I want onto ****? I dont really want to deal through emailing even if he is trustworthy.

Thanks everyone else!

 

[Kevin Patrick]

newbie,
he's very 'customer-friendly,' send him an email, I'm sure that's possible.

 

[The tennis guy]

If you haven't seen Sampras in his prime you might want to stay away from his grass/indoor matches(esp against other big servers)
I think the Sampras/Becker match was amazing, but the points were very short, you might be inclined to think he was just a big server from that match.
Also when Sampras played other big hitters, points could be very quick & you wouldn't see much of his versatility, speed, etc.

I don't agree the Sampras/Becker match points are short. The indoor court there was slow, both of them serve and volley on first serve almost 100%, but on second serve maybe slightly less than 50% of time. There were many incredible long rallies from baseline.

 

[laurie]

Tennis Guy, you're right, Sampras and Becker did play some fantastic matches in Germany at the world championships. The final in 1994 was also a great match. I actually prefer that one because it was four sets and no tiebreaks. Becker won the first set like 1996 but Sampras retaliated. He did one of the best flick backhand passes with Becker at net. Actually it was a speciality shot, he did it many times. I remember he did it to Agassi in 1999 Cincinatti and in 2001 Indian Wells against Rafter. In fact Rafter acknowledged it nodding his head in approval.

Its also true that both Sampras and Becker liked to stay back on second serves and there were incredible rallies where the whole width of the court was used.

 

[The tennis guy]

Its also true that both Sampras and Becker liked to stay back on second serves and there were incredible rallies where the whole width of the court was used.

Agree. It was magnificent display of all court skill from both players. Usually you see from only one all court player, and one baseliner or serve and volleyer, not both at the same time.

 

[SamprasisGOAT]

Amazing thread. Wish these posters were still around these days. It’s abit eerie really. Some of them haven’t been seen since 2005. Makes you wonder what happened to these guys. Hope they are all okay. Life gos so fast.

 

[Matheson]

Amazing thread. Wish these posters were still around these days. It’s abit eerie really. Some of them haven’t been seen since 2005. Makes you wonder what happened to these guys. Hope they are all okay. Life gos so fast.

Just to think, 2004 was over 28 years ago... it's a little scary.

 

[SamprasisGOAT]

Just to think, 2004 was over 28 years ago... it's a little scary.

Hope your trolling

 

[Matheson]

Hope your trolling

Why would I troll? The rate at which time passes us by is truly astounding.

 

[tonylg]

It makes me smile that in 2004 posters were saying Hannover was too slow. Now all the baseline bot fanbois say it's too fast and the world would end if there was a single tournament on a court like that.

For those who don't have tennis tv, here's one of the greatest matches in the history of tennis: