The guys of old versus slow courts:

[Frying Pan Forehand]

How would laver, sampras & company, fare in the slow conditions of today?
i think that federer, nadal, djokovic would still be top 3 with those guys around even if the slams and masters would be split between them

i don't see sampras winning slow ao vs nole or nadal, or winning wimbledon versus federer, or even uso vs federer

 

[reversef]

The question is also "Would Sampras win on the faster clay that the French Open provides these days?" Because, don't worry, the conditions on clay are not what they used to be. Sampras was robbed. Today, the organizers would speed up the clay of RG to give him more chances.

 

[Loose Cannon]

I may be alone, but Im thinking Tim Mayotte would prosper

 

[1970CRBase]

People have a short memory; in the 70's, 80's and even 90's, the clay court game as a whole was much slower, with racquets and strings these days, the so called "REAL" clay game is sort of medium slowish.

 

[Biscuitmcgriddleson]

The question is also "Would Sampras win on the faster clay that the French Open provides these days?" Because, don't worry, the conditions on clay are not what they used to be. Sampras was robbed. Today, the organizers would speed up the clay of RG to give him more chances.

Why? Sampras was an American and was not adored by all.

 

[leonidas1982]

Sampras actually preferred slower courts; he felt it gave more time to set up and track down balls. I'm not sure how much slower he wanted them, but he wasn't keen on how fast the US Open became with the new Arthur Ashe Stadium -- kind of makes sense as he didn't make it back to the finals after his '96 US Open championship until 2000.

 

[Netspirit]

Sampras would be a notch better than Llodra, but he would not be a contender for anything.

 

[90's Clay]

None of them would probably be playing the same today if they competed in this era. The game has changed way too much compared to other sports to make a reasonable determination on how any of it would go. Tennis is probably the only sport where its almost impossible to compare the eras.

Hell just in the last 10 years, its like night and day comparing the conditions