beltsman
G.O.A.T.
Granted, Pete wasn't at his best and kind of tanked at the end, but what a great match. I think the weather got to Pete too. But Roddick was burning with determination to prove himself vs the great Sampras. Roddick had some exquisite passing shots, and so did Pete.
Roddick was a great player in fast tennis.
Some great points:
0:40 - Pete hits a flick pass that most people say only Federer can do.
1:45 - Great Roddick FH return DTL
3:06 - Roddick hits Pete with a serve and doesn't offer an apology, but stares him down. Pete is ticked. If only the youngsters of today showed this type of attitude!!! I can't imagine any current "young generation" doing that. Roddick would wipe the floor with today's generation!
6:26 - Awesome running FH banana passing winner from Roddick. You know Pete hated poly!
And Roddick had many BH return winners. I think Pete targeted his BH and thought Roddick would/could only go CC with it, and was burned many times with the inside-out BH.
Pete also had quite a few stare-downs with linesmen. He was quite the silent intimidator, especially in his later years, when he didn't think a call was correct.
Shame to see this fiery Roddick burned out by Fed circa 2004-2005. Credit to Roddick for hanging in there for the rest of his career after his spark was extinguished in that time span.
