380pistol
Banned
This in response to Sampras best performances between 1999-2002. Though I do feel he had some exception perfromances over that time, I thought we should take a trip down memeory lane. These are Pete's top 10 performances, not best matches, memorable, it's about the apex that Pete was able to reach. And these are all 3/5 set matches.
1. 1997 Davis Cup SF vs Rafter 6-7[8], 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
Sampras struck 62 winners to 15 unforced, and not only was he never broken, he never faced a break point. Furthermore he hit at least 10 winners from his serve, forehand, backhand and volley, and was better on his 2nd serve than Rafter was with his 1st. Many wondered how Rafter was able to win the first set (a net cord opened the door in that tie break).
The second set which Pete won in 25 minutes may have been the greatest single set of tennis ever played. Sampras served at 75%, didn't lose a point on serve and didn't make an unforced error.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72YCTKmgCRw -Pt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAILTL-oKtI&feature=related -Pt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4yvyoyzMVo&feature=related -Pt 3
2. 1999 Wimbldeon F vs Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
You wanna talk about shifting gears in a match??? It was 3-3 in the opening set, with Sampras serving. Agassi ripped 3 returns and Pete and the ones he was able to get back he cleanly passed Sampras to set up triple break point... and that was the beginning of the end for Dre. Pete the balsted four huge first seves and a bedevelling 2nd one to holed then broke Agassi. He won 5 straingt games, including 23 of the next 26 points to take control. Agassi would not see another break point the rest of the match. The 6-4 scoreline is closer than the set actuall was, Pete was holding easily, and Agassi was fighting break points and struggling to hold almost through out the set. The 3rd set was just a formality. Navratilova about this match "Here's grasscourt tennis, this is how it should be played".
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Iebd7LqFC-E&fmt=18 -0:00 - 3:35
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRv4TC73Ro&fmt=18
3. 1997 Davis Cup SF vs Philipooussis 6-1, 6-2, 7-5[5]
Two days before Sampras tore Rafter a new one, many thought this was the finest match Pete ever played. he demolished P'sis winning the 1st 2 sets in under and hour, outaced mark (17 to 16), was never broken, and only faced one break point. I wish I could find Pete's stats on this match cuz they must've been ridculous. Many players do get nervous before big matches, but for the first 2 sets Philipoussis look almost scred. Frightened.
4. 1997 Grand Slam Cup F vs Rafter 6-2, 6-4, 7-5
For the 2nd time in 3 weeks since winning the US Open Rafter was a contestant on "Pete Sampras': Catch A Beatdown!!" Sampras open the match holding his first 5 service games at love (20 straight). In fact Sampras lost only 3 points on serve in the 1st 2 sets and 8 in the match. In fact of Pete's 9 service games in the 1st sets held at love 7 times!! He was never broken, and don't think he even faced a break point. Again I wish I had the #'s for this match, again, must've been ridiculous.
5. 1995 Wimbledon F vs Becker 6-7[5], 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
The promo/intro for NBC before this match stated "It's a meeting between two of the best to ever play on Centre Court". Too bad it didn't turn out that way. Sampras hit 68 winners to just 7 unforced errors (9.71 winners to every unforced error if you're counting), fired 23 aces, was never broken, and never faced a break point. Pete double faulted and missed a volley in the 1st set tie breaker to lose it, and didn't miss anything else. After tha match Becker said "My coach told me I won 15 points on his serve all day and 7 of those were double faults!!".
To show the form Sampras was in early in the 4th set NBC posted a caption....
SAMPRAS PASSING SHOTS
Winners: 22 Unforced Errors: 0
To which commentators Enberg joked "How much better can you get than that???", and Mac responed "It speaks for itself".
6. 1992 Wimbledon QF vs Stich 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
At this point this was the 1st time out of the 2nd rd f Wimbledon for Sampras , while was defending champion, with conquest of #1 Edberg, #2 Becker and #4 Courier on his resume, was seeded #3 and just won a warm up tourney in the netherlands.... and then this. Pistol blew through the All England Club, and disptched Stich in 1hr 27 min. Pete was never broken and played flawless, From his serve to his volleys, passing shots and returning. Dealt with Stich's vaunted serve with realive ease breaking him 4 times, and was never broken himself.
7. 1990 US Open F vs Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Agassi called this "A good old fashion ass kicking". This was a vintage New York street mugging. Sampras bodied Dre in Queens and you could find Agassi' remains somewhere on Queens Blvd. On positive not for Agassi it only took Pete 1hr 42min, to complete this massacre. Pete dealt 13 aces, sevred another 12 service winners, lost only 17 points on serve (in 13 serve games), borke Agassi 5 times, was never broken and din't even allow deuce (and a break point) on serve until the 3rd set.
8. 1997 ATP World Championship F vs Kafelnikov 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
You can only guess what one's playing level must've been when you lose just 7 games, and the scoreline was closer than the actual match. This is the only maych on this list where Pete was broken. In fact Kafelnikov got him twice.... in the 1st set!!! Sampras started out lackidaisckal, when he's normally outstanding out of the gate, despit being broken twice, he still won the opening set 6-3!!! Then systematically took Kafelnikov apart. You could sense Pete letting up afte he opened up double break leads in the 2nd and 3rd sets. If he wasn't so lax in the beginning Kaflnikov could haveeaten a bagel in the first, another one in either the 2nd or 3rd, with a breadstick to wash it down. Kafelnikov stated after the match "Pete has 5 times better groundstrokes than me".
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=mA-MacvQuGM&fmt=18
9. 1994 Italian Open F vs Becker 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
A complete destruction. While Becker isn't the greatest claycourter there ever was,he did make 3 SF in Paris losing to Wilander, Agassi and Edberg (who was up a break on in the 5th set), as well as making the finals of 3 other masters, 1989,1991 and 1995 Monte Carlo (held match pts in the 4th set of the 1995 F vs Muster) and 1990 Hamburg, as well as this one and Pete destroyed him. Never broken (again!!!), and broke Becker 6 times, and he did in in 1 hr 52 min. After the match becker said of Sampras' performance "He is playing tennis like they will play the game in the 21st century,"
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EFDD1738F935A25756C0A962958260
10. 1994 Australian Open SF vs Courier 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
People foreget at this point in time Courier was the reigning king of Rebound Ace. back to back titles, 19 straight wins in Melbourne, and was #3 in the world. Stich who won the Stockholm Masters and the YEC in the fall of 1993 snuck up past JC to #2 o the last weekend of the season, otherwise this would have been the final(#1 vs #2). In 1993 Courier not only won the title did it by cruching Korda, Stich and Edberg to win the title. He only lost one set (3rd set of final to Edberg) those two weeks, and Sampras just outplayed him. Though the higher bouncing slower hardcourt favoured Courier, Pete just outplayed him in every aspect of the game. One break aset tennis at it's finest, and that was all he needed. And to those who don't know Pete did the vast majority of his damage from the baseline, ashe stayed back a lot more than he came in. And he can't play from the baseline. Sampras can play from the moon!!
1. 1997 Davis Cup SF vs Rafter 6-7[8], 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
Sampras struck 62 winners to 15 unforced, and not only was he never broken, he never faced a break point. Furthermore he hit at least 10 winners from his serve, forehand, backhand and volley, and was better on his 2nd serve than Rafter was with his 1st. Many wondered how Rafter was able to win the first set (a net cord opened the door in that tie break).
The second set which Pete won in 25 minutes may have been the greatest single set of tennis ever played. Sampras served at 75%, didn't lose a point on serve and didn't make an unforced error.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72YCTKmgCRw -Pt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAILTL-oKtI&feature=related -Pt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4yvyoyzMVo&feature=related -Pt 3
2. 1999 Wimbldeon F vs Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
You wanna talk about shifting gears in a match??? It was 3-3 in the opening set, with Sampras serving. Agassi ripped 3 returns and Pete and the ones he was able to get back he cleanly passed Sampras to set up triple break point... and that was the beginning of the end for Dre. Pete the balsted four huge first seves and a bedevelling 2nd one to holed then broke Agassi. He won 5 straingt games, including 23 of the next 26 points to take control. Agassi would not see another break point the rest of the match. The 6-4 scoreline is closer than the set actuall was, Pete was holding easily, and Agassi was fighting break points and struggling to hold almost through out the set. The 3rd set was just a formality. Navratilova about this match "Here's grasscourt tennis, this is how it should be played".
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Iebd7LqFC-E&fmt=18 -0:00 - 3:35
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRv4TC73Ro&fmt=18
3. 1997 Davis Cup SF vs Philipooussis 6-1, 6-2, 7-5[5]
Two days before Sampras tore Rafter a new one, many thought this was the finest match Pete ever played. he demolished P'sis winning the 1st 2 sets in under and hour, outaced mark (17 to 16), was never broken, and only faced one break point. I wish I could find Pete's stats on this match cuz they must've been ridculous. Many players do get nervous before big matches, but for the first 2 sets Philipoussis look almost scred. Frightened.
4. 1997 Grand Slam Cup F vs Rafter 6-2, 6-4, 7-5
For the 2nd time in 3 weeks since winning the US Open Rafter was a contestant on "Pete Sampras': Catch A Beatdown!!" Sampras open the match holding his first 5 service games at love (20 straight). In fact Sampras lost only 3 points on serve in the 1st 2 sets and 8 in the match. In fact of Pete's 9 service games in the 1st sets held at love 7 times!! He was never broken, and don't think he even faced a break point. Again I wish I had the #'s for this match, again, must've been ridiculous.
5. 1995 Wimbledon F vs Becker 6-7[5], 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
The promo/intro for NBC before this match stated "It's a meeting between two of the best to ever play on Centre Court". Too bad it didn't turn out that way. Sampras hit 68 winners to just 7 unforced errors (9.71 winners to every unforced error if you're counting), fired 23 aces, was never broken, and never faced a break point. Pete double faulted and missed a volley in the 1st set tie breaker to lose it, and didn't miss anything else. After tha match Becker said "My coach told me I won 15 points on his serve all day and 7 of those were double faults!!".
To show the form Sampras was in early in the 4th set NBC posted a caption....
SAMPRAS PASSING SHOTS
Winners: 22 Unforced Errors: 0
To which commentators Enberg joked "How much better can you get than that???", and Mac responed "It speaks for itself".
6. 1992 Wimbledon QF vs Stich 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
At this point this was the 1st time out of the 2nd rd f Wimbledon for Sampras , while was defending champion, with conquest of #1 Edberg, #2 Becker and #4 Courier on his resume, was seeded #3 and just won a warm up tourney in the netherlands.... and then this. Pistol blew through the All England Club, and disptched Stich in 1hr 27 min. Pete was never broken and played flawless, From his serve to his volleys, passing shots and returning. Dealt with Stich's vaunted serve with realive ease breaking him 4 times, and was never broken himself.
7. 1990 US Open F vs Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Agassi called this "A good old fashion ass kicking". This was a vintage New York street mugging. Sampras bodied Dre in Queens and you could find Agassi' remains somewhere on Queens Blvd. On positive not for Agassi it only took Pete 1hr 42min, to complete this massacre. Pete dealt 13 aces, sevred another 12 service winners, lost only 17 points on serve (in 13 serve games), borke Agassi 5 times, was never broken and din't even allow deuce (and a break point) on serve until the 3rd set.
8. 1997 ATP World Championship F vs Kafelnikov 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
You can only guess what one's playing level must've been when you lose just 7 games, and the scoreline was closer than the actual match. This is the only maych on this list where Pete was broken. In fact Kafelnikov got him twice.... in the 1st set!!! Sampras started out lackidaisckal, when he's normally outstanding out of the gate, despit being broken twice, he still won the opening set 6-3!!! Then systematically took Kafelnikov apart. You could sense Pete letting up afte he opened up double break leads in the 2nd and 3rd sets. If he wasn't so lax in the beginning Kaflnikov could haveeaten a bagel in the first, another one in either the 2nd or 3rd, with a breadstick to wash it down. Kafelnikov stated after the match "Pete has 5 times better groundstrokes than me".
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=mA-MacvQuGM&fmt=18
9. 1994 Italian Open F vs Becker 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
A complete destruction. While Becker isn't the greatest claycourter there ever was,he did make 3 SF in Paris losing to Wilander, Agassi and Edberg (who was up a break on in the 5th set), as well as making the finals of 3 other masters, 1989,1991 and 1995 Monte Carlo (held match pts in the 4th set of the 1995 F vs Muster) and 1990 Hamburg, as well as this one and Pete destroyed him. Never broken (again!!!), and broke Becker 6 times, and he did in in 1 hr 52 min. After the match becker said of Sampras' performance "He is playing tennis like they will play the game in the 21st century,"
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EFDD1738F935A25756C0A962958260
10. 1994 Australian Open SF vs Courier 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
People foreget at this point in time Courier was the reigning king of Rebound Ace. back to back titles, 19 straight wins in Melbourne, and was #3 in the world. Stich who won the Stockholm Masters and the YEC in the fall of 1993 snuck up past JC to #2 o the last weekend of the season, otherwise this would have been the final(#1 vs #2). In 1993 Courier not only won the title did it by cruching Korda, Stich and Edberg to win the title. He only lost one set (3rd set of final to Edberg) those two weeks, and Sampras just outplayed him. Though the higher bouncing slower hardcourt favoured Courier, Pete just outplayed him in every aspect of the game. One break aset tennis at it's finest, and that was all he needed. And to those who don't know Pete did the vast majority of his damage from the baseline, ashe stayed back a lot more than he came in. And he can't play from the baseline. Sampras can play from the moon!!
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