Wimbledon Tennis 2012 Finals: Comparing Roger Federer's Success to Pete Sampras'

Another Wimbledon title on Sunday could make Roger Federer the best player in the history of the tournament, even better than Pete Sampras.

Whenever you compare two players in sports who have accomplished similar goals, examining the quality of their competition is a good way to determine whose run is more impressive.

Here is a breakdown of Sampras' and Federer's triumphs at Wimbledon.

Sampras

Year	Opponent	Score
1993	Jim Courier	7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 6–3
1994	Goran Ivanišević	7–6, 7–6, 6–0
1995	Boris Becker	6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2
1997	Cédric Pioline	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
1998	Goran Ivanišević	6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
1999	Andre Agassi	6–3, 6–4, 7–5
2000	Patrick Rafter	6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 6–2

Federer

Year	Opponent	Score
2003	Mark Philippoussis	7–6, 6–2, 7–6
2004	Andy Roddick	4–6, 7–5, 7–6, 6–4
2005	Andy Roddick	6–2, 7–6, 6–4
2006	Rafael Nadal	6–0, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3
2007	Rafael Nadal	7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 2–6, 6–2
2009	Andy Roddick	5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14
2012	Andy Murray	?

I would have to give the edge to Sampras when you look at the quality of these two player's competition at Wimbledon.

Sampras had to defeat quality players such as Andre Agassi (8 singles titles), Boris Becker (6 singles titles), Jim Courier (4 singles titles), and Patrick Rafter (2 singles titles) for his seven Wimbledon titles.

Federer has defeated Nadal twice at Wimbledon, which is quite impressive since the Spaniard is one of the sport's all-time best. Nadal was able to defeat Federer in 2008 in arguably the best Wimbledon final ever. Federer's other opponents, Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis, have a combined one Grand Slam singles title. In the end, Sampras had to defeat tougher opponents for his Wimbledon titles.

It's tough to compare eras, but Sampras' run is a bit more impressive than Federer's right now. However, since Federer's career isn't over yet, he could pass Sampras with an eighth title in the near future. That would make him the best Wimbledon player ever.