Wimbledon Rewind: Roger Federer vs. Pete Sampras 2001

Changing of the Guards, Pt. 2

Gary Cooper in stark black and white stands alone against the bad guys in High Noon.  John Wayne, crippled and dying, draws one last time in The Shootist.  In American cinema, the Western is an art form with traditional plot conventions and classic heroic characters. 

The image of the aging gunfighter being challenged and eventually defeated by the youngster with the faster draw is part of western lore. 

Its equivalent is mirrored in the world of sports when Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time, is defeated in the ring by Larry Holmes, and Edwin Moses goes down to defeat in the 400 meter hurdles to Danny Harris in 1987.

Age is the great equalizer in life.  As we get older, our reflexes slow and our endurance lessens.  The sadness escalates because our desire still motivates us to try—like Brett Favre reluctant to call it a career.

On July 2, 2001, at Centre Court in Wimbledon, Pete Sampras was gunning for his fifth straight Wimbledon title, allowing him to equal the great Bjorn Borg’s record.  Sampras had not lost a match at Wimbledon since 1996 when he fell to Richard Krajicek in the quarterfinals.  The 29-year-old Sampras held a 31-match winning streak. 

On this day he was to meet 19-year-old Roger Federer in the fourth round.  It was Federer’s first appearance on Centre Court in a major tournament and Pete expected a tough match, but a victory. 

Federer had a penchant for losing on the big stages—often folding to players with lesser abilities because his emotions would overtake him and he would lose focus, trying too hard to please and forcing the action at inappropriate times.

The tennis world was growing weary of waiting for Federer to live up to his promise.  Now they waited for him to self-destruct.  That was becoming his primary method of operation.

Sampras, however, was not brimming with confidence because he had not won a tournament since last year’s Wimbledon victory.  In fact, he had not even made a quarterfinal appearance in Grand Slam tournaments in 2001.

The press was hounding him about his lack of success and trying to outguess his motivation to continue.  “Retirement” always surfaced as a topic in press conferences to Sampras’ great annoyance. 

So it was that both players—the youngster and the seasoned veteran—had much to answer for on this fateful afternoon as they strapped on their weapons of choice and headed out to Centre Court to do battle in the heat of the sun on this Monday afternoon.

The first set was settled in a tiebreaker.  The combatants tested and prodded each other all the way to 6-6, each managing to hold serve. 

Sampras scrambled to secure a set point against Federer; but the cool Swiss erased it with a service winner, going on to take the first set four points later as Sampras lazily rebounded a backhand into the net.

The second set was equally as tight.  Federer blinked first at the conclusion and Sampras took the second set, 7-5.  The match was level.

Both players were dressed in white with Federer sporting a white headband and a ponytail.  In appearance they were in striking contrast—but in style of play, remarkably similar with Federer serving lights out and evincing striking perspicacity at the net.

Often Roger seemed to be out Sampras-ing Sampras.

With the match leveled and momentum swinging in Sampras’ direction, the end seemed inevitable.  But then the Swiss youngster broke the Sampras serve in the third set and went on to confidently close it out with three consecutive service winners. 

This match had suddenly become extremely interesting.

Sampras dug deep and called out some of his very best tennis in the last two sets, often serving in excess of 130 mph.  His net play was faultless most of the time.  He moved with ease and confidence. 

In the fourth set tiebreaker, Sampras plowed over the Swiss teenager and left him bleeding in the dust.  This match would be determined in the fifth set.  Sampras had never lost a fifth set at Wimbledon. 

It was time for Federer to choke and for Sampras to take charge.  Except it didn’t happen that way.  The old gunslinger was primed to take a fall.

In the 12th game of the deciding set, the teenager held Sampras in his sights having secured two match points.  He only needed one shot—a forehand winner to claim his victory over the No. 1 player and send him to Boot Hill—never to reign again on Centre Court.

According to Sampras, “You know something so great isn’t going to last forever...today I just came up a little bit short.”

Sports Illustrated featured a story on the match called “Changing of the Guard.”  It was a remarkable piece that began..."Defeated and dethroned, a somber Pete Sampras lingered at his changeover chair, engulfed by cheers that weren’t for him…"

Federer lost in the next round.  His glory would not begin until two years later when in 2003 he won his first Wimbledon championship against Mark Philippoussis. 

He would win the next five championships and equal the great Bjorn Borg’s record—the same one Sampras was trying to equal in 2001.

Roger Federer would hold onto this trophy until 2008, when he lost in five sets to Rafael Nadal in perhaps the greatest grand slam final of all times. 

The question remains—did that loss also represent another changing of the guard—another dying gunslinger reaching for his holster a moment too late?  Time and the 2009 Championships will tell...