Why the hate for Sampras?

1477aces

Hall of Fame
What's with the hate to a guy who won 14 slams, was YE #1 for 6 straight years, dominated all his main rivals, and retired on top as the GOAT in many people's eyes?

Sure, federer's achievements have surpassed him altogether, but it's not clear at all that Nadal or Djokovuc have accomplished more, and given Sampras's 286 weeks at #1 and several year end championships, and sheer mental strength (seemingly unbreakable even down 0-40, 14 slams in 18 finals, 12/13 in his prime), it's easy to argue that Sampras had a greater career. Seriously you can make a case for this guy being the greatest Wimbledon and U.S open champ of all time, and he dominated Agassi so hard he ruined his career for some years. Shoutout to one of the all time greats and GOAT sever!
 
F

Fedfan34

Guest
What's with the hate to a guy who won 14 slams, was YE #1 for 6 straight years, dominated all his main rivals, and retired on top as the GOAT in many people's eyes?

Sure, federer's achievements have surpassed him altogether, but it's not clear at all that Nadal or Djokovuc have accomplished more, and given Sampras's 286 weeks at #1 and several year end championships, and sheer mental strength (seemingly unbreakable even down 0-40, 14 slams in 18 finals, 12/13 in his prime), it's easy to argue that Sampras had a greater career. Seriously you can make a case for this guy being the greatest Wimbledon and U.S open champ of all time, and he dominated Agassi so hard he ruined his career for some years. Shoutout to one of the all time greats and GOAT sever!
We love Pete. We think he's tremendous. Done a really amazing job.
But we also don't like fake news, or fake tears from 90s.
 

1477aces

Hall of Fame
Simple answer. 90s Clay.

No one on this forum dislikes or disrespects Sampras. Why would they?

Yeah the GOAT troll sure does rub people off wrong. But I've heard many say that they think Nadal and Djokovic have far surpassed him, etc he barely belongs in the ATC. Very few times do I see people praise him much.
 

6august

Hall of Fame
No one hates Pete except Agassi and Bridgette Wilson's fans.

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1477aces

Hall of Fame
Another, tired, Petey pity party

Besides 90's clay making asinine threads I don't see many threads about Sampras at all ...

As a fedfan you shouldn't be so insecure that appreciating another one of the greats of the sport puts down your idol in any way ...
 
F

Fedfan34

Guest
Besides 90's clay making asinine threads I don't see many threads about Sampras at all ...

As a fedfan you shouldn't be so insecure that appreciating another one of the greats of the sport puts down your idol in any way ...
I'm not. I just like the combination of words "Petey pity party"
 

mogo

Semi-Pro
Honestly Pete had a great second serve with the same speed as his first, could aced people 4 times in a row, served and volleyed most of the time, great running forehand, and dunked overheads. Really never changed his game style, you knew he was going to chip and charge hit angles and not much you could do to stop it.
 

Prabhanjan

Professional
What's with the hate to a guy who won 14 slams, was YE #1 for 6 straight years, dominated all his main rivals, and retired on top as the GOAT in many people's eyes?

Sure, federer's achievements have surpassed him altogether, but it's not clear at all that Nadal or Djokovuc have accomplished more, and given Sampras's 286 weeks at #1 and several year end championships, and sheer mental strength (seemingly unbreakable even down 0-40, 14 slams in 18 finals, 12/13 in his prime), it's easy to argue that Sampras had a greater career. Seriously you can make a case for this guy being the greatest Wimbledon and U.S open champ of all time, and he dominated Agassi so hard he ruined his career for some years. Shoutout to one of the all time greats and GOAT sever!

For the record, anybody who hates sportsperson, please look somewhere else. Leave aside somebody as iconic as Pete Sampras, it is not appreciable even dissing the dear Birdman. Now, if he folds against the Top 4, thats fine. But he did you nothing wrong, so don't crib.
 

Blocker

Professional
The hate is borne out of jealousy. Fed fans genuinely believe their man is supremo uno 1 and no one comes close. They ingrain it in to themselves on a ritual basis.

When they compare Fed with his co-era players, they just point to the slam count.

When comparing Fed to the Laver era players and earlier, they laugh it off.

But when they compare Fed with Sampras, they get salty, and for good reason, namely:

Sampras has as many W and USO titles as Fed, they know deep down that in a prime for prime match in the Wimbledon final, Sampras is only one of 2 players who could beat Federer, Nadal being the other. They hate the fact that Sampras never lost in the world's most important annual match although Fed has lost 1, 2, 3.

They hate the fact that Sampras never got owned by his rivals when at his prime and they love to throw in Hewitt who was what, 10 ****ing years younger than Sampras when they were meeting in the later stages of tournaments. They also love to throw in the Krajicek match although they fail to mention that Sampras subsequently beat Krajicek at the USO.

They despise the fact that Sampras has more YE #1s than Federer so instead throw up weeks at #1 as the more important stat.

They hate the fact that Sampras played in a lot tougher era and Sampras was still head and shoulders above everyone else when he retired. Sampras never had to play an AO17 fight to the fealty type final that Fed played, he was simply a mile in front.

They hate the fact that Sampras won slams in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, thus spanning 3 decades.

And again, they know that Sampras would wipe Fed in a prime for prime match up at W, the USO and the WTF.

They can throw up 18 as much as they like, it does determine GOAT because you're comparing different eras which is so so apples with oranges.

Federer fans, insecure, jealous, salty, butthurt flogs. The lot of them.

That is all.
 

CivicLx

Hall of Fame
The hate is borne out of jealousy. Fed fans genuinely believe their man is supremo uno 1 and no one comes close. They ingrain it in to themselves on a ritual basis.

When they compare Fed with his co-era players, they just point to the slam count.

When comparing Fed to the Laver era players and earlier, they laugh it off.

But when they compare Fed with Sampras, they get salty, and for good reason, namely:

Sampras has as many W and USO titles as Fed, they know deep down that in a prime for prime match in the Wimbledon final, Sampras is only one of 2 players who could beat Federer, Nadal being the other. They hate the fact that Sampras never lost in the world's most important annual match although Fed has lost 1, 2, 3.

They hate the fact that Sampras never got owned by his rivals when at his prime and they love to throw in Hewitt who was what, 10 ****ing years younger than Sampras when they were meeting in the later stages of tournaments. They also love to throw in the Krajicek match although they fail to mention that Sampras subsequently beat Krajicek at the USO.

They despise the fact that Sampras has more YE #1s than Federer so instead throw up weeks at #1 as the more important stat.

They hate the fact that Sampras played in a lot tougher era and Sampras was still head and shoulders above everyone else when he retired. Sampras never had to play an AO17 fight to the fealty type final that Fed played, he was simply a mile in front.

They hate the fact that Sampras won slams in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, thus spanning 3 decades.

And again, they know that Sampras would wipe Fed in a prime for prime match up at W, the USO and the WTF.

They can throw up 18 as much as they like, it does determine GOAT because you're comparing different eras which is so so apples with oranges.

Federer fans, insecure, jealous, salty, butthurt flogs. The lot of them.

That is all.
You've had lots of time to think about this:)
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
What's with the hate to a guy who won 14 slams, was YE #1 for 6 straight years, dominated all his main rivals, and retired on top as the GOAT in many people's eyes?

It's really is as simple as some Sampras fans have trolled Fed fans over the years and the latter troll them back. Don't read too much into it, anyone who respects the game appreciates someone like Sampras (and his rivarly with Agassi) and what he brought to the game.

Sure, federer's achievements have surpassed him altogether, but it's not clear at all that Nadal or Djokovuc have accomplished more, and given Sampras's 286 weeks at #1 and several year end championships, and sheer mental strength (seemingly unbreakable even down 0-40, 14 slams in 18 finals, 12/13 in his prime), it's easy to argue that Sampras had a greater career. Seriously you can make a case for this guy being the greatest Wimbledon and U.S open champ of all time, and he dominated Agassi so hard he ruined his career for some years. Shoutout to one of the all time greats and GOAT sever!

There's a 15+ year old gap between Nadal, Novak and Sampras, many fans of the former are too young to have even watched Pete in his prime and aren't aware of the various differences between two eras (polarized conditions, variety of playing styles, 16-seed system in slams, masters not being mandatory etc.) and they see few superstar baseliners dominating every tourney week-in week-out in homogenized conditions as the norm. That's not to say Novak and Nadal don't have the case but some things should be put into perspective.

For my money he's still one of the best ever (I don't put anyone over him). Sure, there's that clay blemish but he still got some big wins there (1996 FO run, Rome, DC win against Russia) and he played some scintillating on the surfaces I prefer to watch (HC, grass, carpet). Maybe he retired somewhat early (could have still given Wimbledon another go) but then I would have as well in his place if I accomplished so much and had Bridgette Wilson waiting at home.

On the whole, he symbolizes the 90s era which I'm definitely nostalgic about. I feel tennis was more fun to watch back then with the clash of different styles, surface specialists, many surfaces tailor made for attacking tennis etc. today it's baseline bashing all year long and given the conditions and current tennis academies that's gonna be tennis future as well.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
A little bit true for me too. ;)

That and the documentary done about him a few years ago. I found myself very much liking the man!

Nice to hear that. He genuinely is a really nice guy (although I know you're not keen on his style of play). ;)
 

Gary Duane

G.O.A.T.
Nice to hear that. He genuinely is a really nice guy (although I know you're not keen on his style of play). ;)
But I'm a fan of the guy because I'm (apparently) a lot like him. I'm very quiet, prefer to be with close friends and family, and very few people know what I really think about things.

I have a horrible trash-mouth and before I stopped playing sports I had an awful temper. It was just about JMac level, really awful. Murray at his absolute worst is a saint compared to me in my early 20s!

My father and his family all spoke with a very typical British accent, with many quirky habits peculiar to stereotypical Brits (good and bad). In addition, they were really Welsh by ancestry. My grandfather never lost his very thick Welsh accent.

I come from dark, brooding people. I suspect there is more in common between Wales and Scotland than I know. ;)
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
But I'm a fan of the guy because I'm (apparently) a lot like him. I'm very quiet, prefer to be with close friends and family, and very few people know what I really think about things.

I have a horrible trash-mouth and before I stopped playing sports I had an awful temper. It was just about JMac level, really awful. Murray at his absolute worst is a saint compared to me in my early 20s!

My father and his family all spoke with a very typical British accent, with many quirky habits peculiar to stereotypical Brits (good and bad). In addition, they were really Welsh by ancestry. My grandfather never lost his very thick Welsh accent.

So I take it your father was from Wales (which makes you part British)?

I come from dark, brooding people. I suspect there is more in common between Wales and Scotland than I know. ;)

They are both Celtic people but, then again, so are the Irish except they have the opposite image of being outgoing and sociable. I am half English on my father's side and a quarter Irish and a quarter Scottish on my mother's but no Welsh as far as I'm aware (and I live much closer to Wales than either Scotland or Ireland). :cool:

Incidentally, is that a picture of you as your avatar by any chance? :)
 

FD3S

Hall of Fame
Some posters like to run down Sampras as a direct result of his obnoxious fans - we know who they are - which is absolute BS. I may hold Federer above Sampras when all is said and done, but the latter was still one of the best ever, no ifs ands or buts about it. When all the worst blemish on a player's career (Pete's clay record, on this case) does is sort of damage his standing in the GOAT debate, you know you're talking about a frighteningly capable tennis player, one that who at the peak of his powers could have been playing mediocre and still beaten the pants off others playing well. Dude needs more respect.
 

ZiggyStardust

Professional
Yeah the GOAT troll sure does rub people off wrong. But I've heard many say that they think Nadal and Djokovic have far surpassed him, etc he barely belongs in the ATC. Very few times do I see people praise him much.

Kidding right? Just look at the daft post above.

Absolutely, people do come off as dismissive of Sampras at times, but I feel like that is motivated by recency bias, or never having seen him play, than actual dislike of the player himself.
I have seen people on this board refer to Laver, Rosewall, etc. as scrubs and pretend that to respect Bill Tilden's tennis abilities is to scale the heights of human stupidity.
So yes, Sampras is underrated by several posters on this board ( and here I refer to those who believe he shouldn't be in the conversation with Rafole, not everyone who feels the latter may have achieved more). But that does not qualify as hate.
There are basically three tennis players on this board with full-time haters, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Murray may have a couple. Maybe Serena has a few. All the other "haters" are just ribbing in response to trolling.
 

Gary Duane

G.O.A.T.
So I take it your father was from Wales (which makes you part British)?
My father was born in Wallesey. If you have not been there the accent is nothing like London, from what I hear. So he was British. My grandfather moved to England where his three children were born.

This was a LONG time ago. My dad would be 110 in July of 2017.

My grandfather moved with his family to NYC when my dad was around 16. He and his two sisters never lost their British accent or customs.

My dad and mom were 41 and 31, respectively, when I was born. I grew up with Journeys through Bookland and Rupert Bear. I was quickly turning into a young Little Lord Fauntleroy, but I sound 100% American. ;)

I learned from that side of my family that "nonsense", delivered in a British accent, is THE final word and wins all arguments. ;)

I still have problems spelling because I "learnt" British English first and had to adapt later to American English.

My dad and his family sounded quite a bit like Patrick Stewart and Richard Burton and Richard Harris. Very strange!

Oh, yes, that's me in the picture...

But I may change back to Yoda - he's better looking!
 

Federer and Del Potro

Talk Tennis Guru
The hate is borne out of jealousy. Fed fans genuinely believe their man is supremo uno 1 and no one comes close. They ingrain it in to themselves on a ritual basis.

When they compare Fed with his co-era players, they just point to the slam count.

When comparing Fed to the Laver era players and earlier, they laugh it off.

But when they compare Fed with Sampras, they get salty, and for good reason, namely:

Sampras has as many W and USO titles as Fed, they know deep down that in a prime for prime match in the Wimbledon final, Sampras is only one of 2 players who could beat Federer, Nadal being the other. They hate the fact that Sampras never lost in the world's most important annual match although Fed has lost 1, 2, 3.

They hate the fact that Sampras never got owned by his rivals when at his prime and they love to throw in Hewitt who was what, 10 ****ing years younger than Sampras when they were meeting in the later stages of tournaments. They also love to throw in the Krajicek match although they fail to mention that Sampras subsequently beat Krajicek at the USO.

They despise the fact that Sampras has more YE #1s than Federer so instead throw up weeks at #1 as the more important stat.

They hate the fact that Sampras played in a lot tougher era and Sampras was still head and shoulders above everyone else when he retired. Sampras never had to play an AO17 fight to the fealty type final that Fed played, he was simply a mile in front.

They hate the fact that Sampras won slams in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, thus spanning 3 decades.

And again, they know that Sampras would wipe Fed in a prime for prime match up at W, the USO and the WTF.

They can throw up 18 as much as they like, it does determine GOAT because you're comparing different eras which is so so apples with oranges.

Federer fans, insecure, jealous, salty, butthurt flogs. The lot of them.

That is all.

Why are you scared of posting on your real account 90's Clay?
 

-NN-

G.O.A.T.
The hate is borne out of jealousy. Fed fans genuinely believe their man is supremo uno 1 and no one comes close. They ingrain it in to themselves on a ritual basis.

When they compare Fed with his co-era players, they just point to the slam count.

When comparing Fed to the Laver era players and earlier, they laugh it off.

But when they compare Fed with Sampras, they get salty, and for good reason, namely:

Sampras has as many W and USO titles as Fed, they know deep down that in a prime for prime match in the Wimbledon final, Sampras is only one of 2 players who could beat Federer, Nadal being the other. They hate the fact that Sampras never lost in the world's most important annual match although Fed has lost 1, 2, 3.

They hate the fact that Sampras never got owned by his rivals when at his prime and they love to throw in Hewitt who was what, 10 ****ing years younger than Sampras when they were meeting in the later stages of tournaments. They also love to throw in the Krajicek match although they fail to mention that Sampras subsequently beat Krajicek at the USO.

They despise the fact that Sampras has more YE #1s than Federer so instead throw up weeks at #1 as the more important stat.

They hate the fact that Sampras played in a lot tougher era and Sampras was still head and shoulders above everyone else when he retired. Sampras never had to play an AO17 fight to the fealty type final that Fed played, he was simply a mile in front.

They hate the fact that Sampras won slams in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, thus spanning 3 decades.

And again, they know that Sampras would wipe Fed in a prime for prime match up at W, the USO and the WTF.

They can throw up 18 as much as they like, it does determine GOAT because you're comparing different eras which is so so apples with oranges.

Federer fans, insecure, jealous, salty, butthurt flogs. The lot of them.

That is all.

I'm guessing what you meant to remember is that Sampras has won Slams as a teenager, in his 20s and in his 30s? If so, so what. This arbitrary crap is completely irrelevant. Refer to his winning span instead, perhaps. (Or, it's about whether a "decade" beginning ends with a 0 or 1 - perish the thought at more inane nonsense. Players don't choose when they were born.)



We should never judge a player by their supporters.

Oh I know. It might happen with Rafa every now and then but any negative feelings about him are short-lived. I actually love Murray because of you:p

Very pleased to know that. :)


lol.
 

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
The hate is borne out of jealousy. Fed fans genuinely believe their man is supremo uno 1 and no one comes close. They ingrain it in to themselves on a ritual basis.

When they compare Fed with his co-era players, they just point to the slam count.

When comparing Fed to the Laver era players and earlier, they laugh it off.

But when they compare Fed with Sampras, they get salty, and for good reason, namely:

Sampras has as many W and USO titles as Fed, they know deep down that in a prime for prime match in the Wimbledon final, Sampras is only one of 2 players who could beat Federer, Nadal being the other. They hate the fact that Sampras never lost in the world's most important annual match although Fed has lost 1, 2, 3.

They hate the fact that Sampras never got owned by his rivals when at his prime and they love to throw in Hewitt who was what, 10 ****ing years younger than Sampras when they were meeting in the later stages of tournaments. They also love to throw in the Krajicek match although they fail to mention that Sampras subsequently beat Krajicek at the USO.

They despise the fact that Sampras has more YE #1s than Federer so instead throw up weeks at #1 as the more important stat.

They hate the fact that Sampras played in a lot tougher era and Sampras was still head and shoulders above everyone else when he retired. Sampras never had to play an AO17 fight to the fealty type final that Fed played, he was simply a mile in front.

They hate the fact that Sampras won slams in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, thus spanning 3 decades.

And again, they know that Sampras would wipe Fed in a prime for prime match up at W, the USO and the WTF.

They can throw up 18 as much as they like, it does determine GOAT because you're comparing different eras which is so so apples with oranges.

Federer fans, insecure, jealous, salty, butthurt flogs. The lot of them.

That is all.

Wow, you certainly have issues. Serious issues.


And you talk a lot like 90sclay.
That is all.
 

lud

Hall of Fame
Who hates Sampras??;He was THE guy who popularized tennis, IMHO. I didn't follow tennis in 90's(I was kid), but he was ALWAYS on the news. Sampras this,Sampras that. Sampras is legend and always will be. Agassi, on the other hand is jealous,arrogant guy with Napoleon complex.
 

mattennis

Hall of Fame
It is just a joke, we can't stand some trolls here, just that. (Everybody with a brain knows he is one of the greatest ever and what he was able to accomplish under the special conditions of his era was nothing short of amazing).
 

Druss

Hall of Fame
Sampras was boring, dead boring to watch. Many big matches against Agassi, he was not the better player, Agassi had him covered but that serve of his would get him out trouble time and time again. He was dull on the court, he slouched, and off the court he had no persona/character, plus he was a bad tipper.
 

TheMusicLover

G.O.A.T.
New user, new troll. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like it's the same people getting banned over and over again just making new accounts.
90's Clay is banned??? :eek:
He's my favourite troll... :(

As for the subject at hand: nobody 'hates' Sampras. I'm pretty sure some 99% of the poasters here at least respect him a lot. Doesn't mean we actually all have to like him, that's something completely different, but everyone at least regards him as one of the ATGs and/or GOAT-candidates (the entire GOAT-concept being a failure imho, but that's beside the point here).

People putting Nadal, or even Djokovic, 'above' him, is a clear case of recency bias: the silly belief that sportsmen always get 'better' with time.
Which is nonsense, as one cannot compare different era's with completely different circumstances, but a lot of fans do get affected by all of this kind of silly talk by the pundits, Matts Trollander being about the worst of them all.
 
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