Pete Sampras: An In-Depth Look at His Game, Part Two
There can never be enough analysis of one of tennis' most successful players, so following last week's look at Pete Sampras’ technical game and core elements, I am now going to discuss how he did against his biggest rivals in the 1990s and early 2000s.
(In case you missed it, here is the link to Part One: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/368989-pete-sampras-an-in-depth-look-at-his-game-part-1)
Sampras vs. Courier
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This is one of many of Sampras' rivalries that started in the junior ranks. During his reign as ranked No. 1 seed in 1992, Jim Courier was often compared to Ivan Lendl, including by Brad Gilbert in his book, Winning Ugly .
Jim used Lendl’s tactic of trying to dominate each match with his forehand, which resulted in his success on clay. As far as I can see, there was one thing that Jim didn’t have, and that was the natural athletic ability of Lendl, so once his level started slipping at the young age of 23, he found it hard to get it back.
You could argue Sampras played a major part in that, because he frustrated Courier a lot in Grand Slam tournaments, he was often in Courier’s way and that would frustrate anyone. Jim did beat Pete in the 1991 US Open quarterfinal and 1994 French quarterfinal but lost the 1995 Australian Open quarterfinal and 1996 French Open quarterfinal despite being two sets up in each match.
Sampras said in his book, A Champion's Mind , that he targeted Courier’s forehand when serving because Courier’s extreme grip meant that returning fast sliding serves wasn’t his strength. So undoubtedly that frustrated Courier as well, as his best weapon was neutralized. The rivalry ended 16–4 to Sampras.
Sampras vs. Rafter
This was a fascinating rivalry for me because Patrick Rafter was a very tough and athletic player who fought to the end, but there were times when Sampras made mincemeat out of him, including during an eight-match winning streak that stretched from 1994 to 1998.
The most interesting aspect was that Sampras returned serve and passed Rafter better than anyone else he faced in his career, including Andre Agassi. Sampras was the better mover across the baseline and thus hit better when on the run, so consequently came up with incredible passing shots.
Rafter did give Sampras a lot of trouble with the kick serve, but often he played Sampras’ backhand into form because he focused so much on it. As I said earlier, Sampras played reverse psychology on Courier by going to his strength, but Rafter often went to Sampras’ perceived weakness and often payed the price.
Rafter did have a surprising three-match win streak between 1998 and 1999, including in Cincinnati and the US Open semi final but Sampras won the last four meetings and the head-to-head finished 12–4.
Sampras vs. Hewitt
This was another interesting rivalry because of the 10-year age difference. As you can see, the rivalry had two halves, because Sampras won four of the first five meetings but Lleyton Hewitt won the last four, to make it 5-4 to Hewitt.
There’s no doubt Hewitt gave Sampras a lot of problems with his speed around the court and his good returning, getting it low to Sampras’ feet when he came in. I think Sampras was right when he said that Hewitt liked the fast courts (which helped his game) and playing attackers. I also think that Hewitt was lucky to catch Sampras in the 2001 US Open final when he had ran out of steam after beating Rafter, Agassi, and Safin back to back, the three former champions in a row.
Hewitt also took advantage of the fact that Sampras played more at the net in his "old age." Had Sampras been a few years younger, I have no doubt he would have had too much game for Hewitt.
Sampras vs. Krajicek
Richard Krajicek really gave Sampras a lot of trouble. At 6'5" he was a great player, if a little underrated due to the fact he had a lot of injuries and only won one major title.
Krajicek was able to get to Sampras’ backhand probably more than any other player, unlike an Agassi second serve which Sampras was able to get on top of, Krajicek put more slice on his serve, so the ball jumped at Sampras a lot, as opposed to slow kickers that can sit up waiting to be punished.
At one point, the head-to-head was 6-2 to Krajicek but Sampras won the last two meetings in Cincinnati in 1999 and the US Open in 2000, the tiebreak in the second set being one of the most memorable moments of his career.
Sampras vs. Boris Becker
This historical rivalry was between two of the best players of the Open era who both had an attacking game but liked to play from the baseline.
Their rivalry is most fondly remembered in Germany where so many of those matches took place, such as the 1996 Stuttgart final, which Becker won in five sets, and the 1996 ATP Masters final, which Sampras finally won after four hours.
Their 1995 Wimbledon final is remarkable because Sampras hit over 20 passing shot winners and made less than 15 unforced errors the entire match—Sampras was unbeatable that day.
The rivalry finished 12-7 to Sampras.
Sampras v Edberg
This rivalry was very close, they both liked to attack, although at this stage, Sampras liked to stay back a lot and Edberg exploited that, especially in their 1992 US Open final. It’s interesting that in 2000 and 2001, Sampras would decide to do to other players what Edberg did to him in 1992 and 1993, which is to chip and charge a lot and try to destabilise him.
Sampras did have the 1992 US Open final in his hands but blew it when serving for the 3rd set and got broken, and then seemed to lose heart for the rest of the match. Sampras also described in his book that Edberg’s forehand was better than it looked, he called it an “odd shovelling motion”.
Their matches were great to watch. Edberg didn’t rally as well as Becker but he had a great backhand and was a very smooth mover. Their rivalry ended 8 -6 to Sampras but Edberg won the 1992 US Open final and 1993 Australian Open semi final.
Sampras vs. Ivanisevic
Sampras really sumed this rivalry up better than anyone when he said they were a bad match up! What a lot of people remember about Wimbledon is two guys with big serves, which is unfair to both men. These two guys played each other 18 times, with Sampras having a 12-6 edge, but unfortunately none of their matches are memorable, other than the 1998 Wimbledon final which Sampras won in five sets. Sampras was so tense that Goran Ivanisevic was able to make it a long match, but couldn’t take the initiative to win the title.
Sampras vs. Agassi
Sampras’ most famous rivalry is now his most infamous as well! These two players produced some of the best tennis ever seen, especially on hard court between 1994 and 1995. The rivalry was renewed in 1999 but Sampras had a distinct edge despite Andre Agassi’s resurgence, winning four out of the five matches including the 1999 Wimbledon and ATP Championships finals.
Again, Sampras in his book says that he is a better mover and more athletic than Agassi, so felt he was able to compete in the baseline rallies and hold his own. Agassi liked to control the middle of the court, so Sampras’ job was always to try to get Agassi out of that comfort-zone and into the corners.
These two powerhouses played on all surfaces, at all the Grand Slams. Agassi won the meetings at the French and Australia, Sampras at Wimbledon and the US Open. The matches in Australia were close and could have went either way. Sampras also beat Agassi on clay twice but Agassi never beat Sampras on grass. On hard court it was neck and neck. Their rivalry ended with 20–14 to Sampras.
For me, the thing I remember most about Sampras-Agassi matches is the amazing rallies, especially between 1993 and 1995 when they were both coming up vying for the top spot. In 1999, Sampras won four out of their five meetings and the tennis was again of the highest quality.
Sampras v Henman
Probably a non rivalry, but Henman did make it to those 2 Wimbledon semi finals and took a set off Sampras each time, actually winning the 1st set in the 1999 Wimbledon semi final when Sampras was tense. Henman had the crowd on his side and gave a good account of himself but never looked he was going to win either match.
Henman made a strange comment last year in one of the British newspapers where he claimed Sampras didn’t return serve that well and you could always take him to tiebreaks. Well, Henman clearly wasn’t able to get to a tiebreak in two Wimbledon semifinals.
In fact, Sampras always had the upper hand on Henman’s 2nd serve as Henman didn’t have much to hurt Sampras other than a few nice shots here and there. The rivalry ended 6-1 to Sampras with Henman winning their last ever meeting in Cincinnati in 2000.
One match sums up their rivalry, the 1998 Vienna quarterfinal. Sampras won the match 6-0 6-3 in 50 minutes, breaking Henman 5 times but Henman never saw a breakpoint. Sampras played amazing Tennis, right in the zone - anyone who was there or who has seen it on Eurosport on video knows what I mean.
Sampras vs. Chang
This is strangely similar to a rivalry that would take place 10 years later—Federer vs. Hewitt. Sampras beat Michael Chang in the juniors, then changed from his two-handed backhand to one-handed and Chang started beating him. This continued in the seniors, with Chang winning their first six or seven meetings on the tour.
It all turned around in 1993 when Sampras beat Chang at the US Open quarterfinal. Chang won the first set tiebreak 7-0, Sampras won the second set tiebreak, then the third and fourth sets 6-1, 6-1.
At one stage, Sampras won 10 games in a row, you have never seen Chang so absolutely dominated off the ground for an hour, Sampras ran Chang ragged all over the court with winners everywhere, it was breath taking tennis, in the course of that match, McEnroe said it was rare to see a serve and vollyer have such an all round game from the baseline as well. And after that match Illie Nastase made a famous quote where he said it was the best hard court tennis he’d witness at that stage.
I think Chang only won one more match after that and the rivalry ended 12–8 to Sampras including a comprehensive US Open final win in 1996.
To wrap up, other notable Sampras rivalries from that era include:
Ivan Lendl, Michael Stich, Marat Safin, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Sergei Brugera and Mark Philippoussis.
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