Sampras Fans - What year do you think he had the most aesthetically pleasing game of his career?

But aesthetically? I think the backhand had already started to devolve by then.

I've seen those YouTube highlights of his '96 US win over Chang and thought he looked pretty darn smooth then.
 
bigbadboaz said:
BTW I think his forehand production was always a serious obstacle to his overall game being considered "aesthetic".
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and the i-think-this'll-go-in volleys, and the hit-and-giggle topspin BH..

This is not to say he was not a great, great player. I wish he and Fred had had many, many more matches.
 
The important feature of Sampras' forehand swing is that he kept his racquet head vertical at the backswing -> swing-through transition, his wrist stable throughout, and in general the shot had few moving parts. You can't swing a forehand with that high of a swingweight on the frame and have any criminal deficiencies in your technique.

Thiem's forehand is the technically-refined form of Sampras'. Stich's is another similar contemporary one to Lendl's that is a bit nicer.

Compared to the spectre that befell his backhand technique and combined with his fast-twitch explosiveness his forehand is quite nice on the whole.

That being said the most aesthetic parts of Sampras' game must be his deuce-side serving [one of the few right-handers with a true left-hander's service profile in converse] and, especially, his explosive movements.
 
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His FH was elegant +classical +languid, the exact opposite of the atrocities that were Connors and Mac which wouldn’t have cut it in later eras
 
Mustard said:
One of the greatest years ever in tennis.
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Of those I've actually followed "day in day out" (though that was almost impossible back in the day, with far fewer TV channels broadcasting tennis live), it was the best season.
Two ATGs at their peak competing for #1, many in-form hall of famers and a resurgent ATG, high quality rivalries (Becker, Pete, Agassi, Muster/Costa), Muster's domination and, most importantly (for me), the return of Monika Seles.
 
Martin J said:
Of those I've actually followed "day in day out" (though that was almost impossible back in the day, with far fewer TV channels broadcasting tennis live), it was the best season.
Two ATGs at their peak competing for #1, many in-form hall of famers and a resurgent ATG, high quality rivalries (Becker, Pete, Agassi, Muster/Costa), Muster's domination and, most importantly (for me), the return of Monika Seles.
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Quite a lot of tournaments in 1995 were on Eurosport in the UK. The BBC obviously had Queen's Club and Wimbledon, as well as a few French Open matches (especially the finals). Sky Sports had the US Open, while Eurosport had the Australian Open, French Open, and a plethora of the Super 9 events and smaller tournaments. The latter was crucial to following the clay season in the 1990s. Sky Sports started broadcasting the rebranded Masters Series events (i.e. Super 9) in 2000.
 
Mustard said:
Quite a lot of tournaments in 1995 were on Eurosport in the UK. The BBC obviously had Queen's Club and Wimbledon, as well as a few French Open matches (especially the finals). Sky Sports had the US Open, while Eurosport had the Australian Open, French Open, and a plethora of the Super 9 events and smaller tournaments. The latter was crucial to following the clay season in the 1990s. Sky Sports started broadcasting the rebranded Masters Series events (i.e. Super 9) in 2000.
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Yes, most of the non-Major tournaments I watched was on Eurosport (thankfully, the national TV stations in Serbia covered every Grand Slam which was great) and on DSF (in German). I think those were the only sport channels we could watch on Satellite that covered the tennis tournaments (not all, but fair number of it).
Still, if you compare it to today's availability of tennis content, it was still pretty limited.
 
His game was pretty sweet around this time. He was serving-and-volleying, but also a monster from the baseline! This is a good example.


Another great point!


This match was on from the get go! Muster played tough, but Sampras destroyed him! Like he did so many back in that time.

I would love to see this peak Pete dropped onto a court with today's players.
 
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thor's hammer said:
His game was pretty sweet around this time. He was serving-and-volleying, but also a monster from the baseline! This is a good example.


This match was on from the get go! Muster played tough, but Sampras destroyed him! Like he did so many back in that time.

I would love to see this peak Pete dropped onto a court with today's players.
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Yea verily
 
doesnt matter about the year, his game was always more aesthetically pleasing than anyone from this century, or the 70s, + I didnt even like him
 
I don't consider Sampras to be the most aethetically pleasant player but if i had to choose one tournament i particularly enjoyed watching it would be US Open 1990
 
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Mustard said:
Quite a lot of tournaments in 1995 were on Eurosport in the UK. The BBC obviously had Queen's Club and Wimbledon, as well as a few French Open matches (especially the finals). Sky Sports had the US Open, while Eurosport had the Australian Open, French Open, and a plethora of the Super 9 events and smaller tournaments. The latter was crucial to following the clay season in the 1990s. Sky Sports started broadcasting the rebranded Masters Series events (i.e. Super 9) in 2000.
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Man, you guys were so lucky to have Eurosport coverage in those days. In America, we got the Super 9/Masters Series events in Miami, IW, Cincy, and Canada on ESPN and CBS. We rarely got any European clay court tournaments (as not too many Americans played them regularly). We got all 4 Slams (NBC having Wimbledon and the French, ESPN having the Aussie, and CBS having the USO), but also didn't get much of the fall indoor season either. The ATP Finals was usually on ESPN, but that's about it
 
Racquet_smash said:
I don't consider Sampras to be the most aethetically pleasant player but if i had to choose one tournament i particularly enjoyed watching it would US Open 1990
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I think his ultimate peak came a few years later in his mid-twenties, but Pete was blazing through this slam! One of the great runs of all time, especially for a young guy exploding onto the scene!


We all know about the last three rounds, this 4th round match maybe less so.

 
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Aesthetically I'm not sure which year would come to mind first. I'd say 1996 was great - that ATP Finals final against Boris! Also he hit clean winners during the 2000 Miami Open against Kuerten, even with his backhand, and of course the brilliant 2001 USO quarterfinal against Agassi. Very pleasant game to watch - for me his backhand was the barometer, he'd hit it well then his whole game was supreme - and very efficient too. What a match!

The 1996 USO final against Chang was great too, once again great backhands winners down the line: you knew he was on top of his game.
 
NicoMK said:
Aesthetically I'm not sure which year would come to mind first. I'd say 1996 was great - that ATP Finals final against Boris! Also he hit clean winners during the 2000 Miami Open against Kuerten, even with his backhand, and of course the brilliant 2001 USO quarterfinal against Agassi. Very pleasant game to watch - for me his backhand was the barometer, he'd hit it well then his whole game was supreme - and very efficient too. What a match!

The 1996 USO final against Chang was great too, once again great backhands winners down the line: you knew he was on top of his game.
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Man that 2000 Miami Open Finals vs Guga was such a high-level match. Pete was in vintage form, and Guga was fantastic as well (especially his beautiful backhand and his returning). That match gets overlooked a lot (being that it wasn't a Slam), but was a fantastic 4-setter
 
The Aceserver said:
I remember thinking that Sampras in the 1999 Wimbledon final played at the highest level that I had ever seen. Agassi was playing great that tournament and match, but Pistol Pete was smokin’. As for the full year, who knows?
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he was looking good again in '99....that Wimby final, then beating Agassi again in L.A....certainly would have been the favorite in New York if he hadn't hurt his back...think he ends up with 15 majors then

p.s. don't forget beating Agassi again in the Masters final...granted, lost to him too there :)
 

Sampras gets an out call on a strong second serve, and then proceeds to deliver three emphatic aces in a row to close out the first set! Soooo good!! If you let the clip run a bit after that at 28:30 there are a couple nice slo-mo's of Pete's serve.
 
thor's hammer said:

Sampras gets an out call on a strong second serve, and then proceeds to deliver three emphatic aces in a row to close out the first set! Soooo good!! If you let the clip run a bit after that at 28:30 there are a couple nice slo-mo's of Pete's serve.
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PETE !

Thanks for the link.
 
BorgTheGOAT said:
Lots to choose from.
1995: Indian Wells final, Wimbledon final, USO final
1996: Carpet battles against Becker
1997: DC against Rafter, GSC final against Rafter
1999: Wimbledon final, Cincinnati semi, YEC final

After that it went down a little but of course there were also many good ones in 1994.
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good ones. some of his indoor wins like that becker match were awesome.
 
Cannot say what year was the most fun to watch, as I loved watching him play his whole career. Loved his demeanour, loved his game, except didn’t love his forehand. Liked it, not loved.
 
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