Sampras was one of the best players at making something happen, partly to do with the high risk tennis he played often. Many shots here you don't see today.
Lorraine Calder 🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
My all time favourite tennis player: Without a blink - PETE SAMPRAS ! Fluidic and powerful. Treat to watch this man play tennis, especially that serve & volley.
Sampras was more impressive physically, he had so much power and athletic ability. I've never seen another player brake a racket, in play...Sampras did this on one of his slam-dunk smashes...unbelievable
i remember growing up around 12-14 years old me and my tennis buddies we would choose a professional tennis player to imitate. For me Sampras was always the nr 1 choice just pure class....
In an article on the Agassi - Sampras rivalry, I read this: "Sampras is the sweetest, most fluid big cat in the jungle, with tremendous power in the thighs and calves. When he is playing well, everything is loose, flowing, silent and deadly, and Sampras seems to simply kick back and delight in what his body can do. For Sampras, tennis is a sensual experience." I think many Sampras fans felt that sensual experience too by watching him play. I certainly did.
Nicely said. I have long suspected my passion for Pete's game has a lot to do with my passion for cats. Nice to see other people have felt the same way.
Never had the chance to watch Sampras play but, watching now he looks to have maybe the best hands I've ever seen. The touch he displays around the net is awe-inspiring
there was a time back then when i watched all his matches on the tour, huge sampras fan i am, remember me skipping school only to watch his matches or stay up late for aussie open etc. Special era this was. True Champion he is and to me an idol in sportsmanship
I would say that Edberg and McEnroe are the two greatest volleyers of all time. Edberg's volleys were technically perfect while McEnroe's were pure genius. I would put Laver and Roche behind Edberg and McEnroe, with Sampras, Rafter ad Pancho Gonazalez after them.
Sampras = GOD OF TENNIS. Enough said .... Today they talk about Federer, Djokovic, Nadal etc..,. There`s no doubt that he is the best. The talent of this man ,...,... Jesus Christ ,.,,,.. Makes me speechless ,..,,.....He is chilli g ,.,,.. Getting goosebump`s just thinking about this man and the talent he possesses ,.,,..... He is by far the best player I`ve ever seen in tennis ,.,!,, AND I`VE SEEN THEM AAAAALLLLLLLLL,..,,... PERIOD, HE IS THE BEST.
Agreed Pete Sampras is One of The Best tennis players! During his era, he certainly was most unique of the competitors and competition. There are others who have their finest and unique qualities who overlap with Pete. There are those from previous, later and present eras also. Best is not exactly the same as the concept of G.O.A.T. nor is this (latter concept) actually determinable or definable. We can define and determine specific records though. So far, no One player has achieved, made, surpassed every record, nor probably will. Even within these records, there are actually many differences in each era to make the comparisons imbalanced, not exactly comparable, such the records alone cannot be used to define such a concept. However, individuals [mostly of recent times], with their individual bias, view, perspective, perception, prejudice have their opinions (they may term "facts"). This has resulted in a "popular" discussed and sometimes 'heavily debated' or argued topic among 'biased', 'fan favorite' types, social media, some tennis fans, extended into the sports media personalities, some of whom are former top professional players, coaches and trainers [maybe specifically because of its popularity]. Thus far, each the ATP and WTA Tour maintain records and do not have a G.O.A.T. heading, listing or definition. [Similarly they have a "Grand Slam" definition (winning Four GS events in a single calendar year, but not one for winning Four GS events in succession, nor in a lifetime nor a "Golden GS", though there are those who write such about things (also in the media)]. Individuals and groups sometimes decide themselves, upon their own, to define some new concept, and according to their bias, views also sometimes initiating new terms to elevate those currently since the original term and definition has been unachieved or so limiting or perceived as too difficult to obtain and achieve. (this seems to apply specifically to the "Grand Slam" achievement, and others too). On that note, how can any player be considered The G.O.A.T. and not have achieved the "Grand Slam", when there are women and a man who have?!! Only those with limiting, imbalanced bias, view, perspective, perception that choose to define G.O.A.T. according to the criteria and for whom they think, prefer, want, and desire. (Maybe some people who write about this, will consider, ponder, think more about these points, thus possibly affect their thoughts, view, perspective, perception, opinion, attitude and writing.) All The Best Much Success, In Tennis , Life and Tennis [including enjoyment] Sincerely, :-)
Watching old Sampras and Agassi matches is a million times more entertaining then any live grandslam finals with djoko murray nadal federer etc. - for me- miss those old times.....
I miss the attitude. The American players back in the day are more entertaining to watch cause they bring you in more now wonder these days were considered the Golden era.
🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES TO🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
At 20:55 says the commentator: "I don't know if you could understand what Muster is mumbling to himself, that everything is too precise and too exact what comes from Sampras, that is not possible". And then the netpost-backhand comes an he said: "Thats again the shot of the Tournament! A Dream! The absolute Dream!" Haha, Pistol is the Man!
Interesting to observe that Sampras was hitting many of the same type of shots that Federer would later hit in terms of the backhand flicks crosscourt on the run.
There is nothing new in them. Commentators and kids will say: wow!!! Fed “invented” a shot - but Sampras already did all of them, and truth be told, Laver did them decades before.
I realize most younger fans couldn't know this but...it wasn't just Pete. Mcenroe, Laver, Lendl....they all could do those shots. There has been a weird hyperbole and hype commentators have used in the last 10-20 years "WOW, nobody has ever done that shot before! Fed is a genius! You COULDN'T have done that shot before! Impossible!!!" - while old-timers like me, sort of roll their eyes......we have seen it before....all of it. There really isn't anything new under the sun. One good thing about youtube is that young people who are truly open-minded can go back and see bits and pieces of the past! :-) Unfortunately, the further you go back, the less footage there is. Go checkout matches like Borg/Laver - when Laver was old. Note their speed, their shot variety, their spin, all done with wood. The greatest players from any age were all comparable - just extremely gifted.
Federer is considered the best player in Tennis history, but after watching so many videos of Sampras, i honestly can't see something on his abilities that could be overshadowed by Roger. I mean look at this man. He was a genious of a player! His game was flawless! Maybe the strongest backhand and his accuracy along with his speed should be a nightmare for Federer if he had played against him. Again, look how he recovered opponents' shots while running and achieving impossible accuracy at the other ends of the court! If i had a time machine i would love to watch those two players playing a final. I believe this would be the derby of the century! And maybe Sampras could win. WHY NOT?
It's insane how naturally good Sampras was. I mean the guy won wimbledon 2000 with a leg injury. Winning a grand slam healthy is hard enough but to do it injured? Wow.
And remember he didn't even hit on his off days. The only practicing he could do at Wimbledon in 2000 was the 15-minute warm-up before the match started. Absolutely unbelievable!
The first point @ 0:14 is simply amazing. Andre was in a bad position, out of balance on the BH side, yet he came up with such beautiful placement taking Pete completely by surprise with that angle. Pete however nails the PERFECT back spin drop shot which Agassi missed with just a few milliseconds...
So sad that a number of shots that fans used to see from players in men's pro tennis like the topspin lob (both forehand and backhand versions) have just about completely vanished from the game. The topspin lob has vanished from the game because no one rushes the net in tennis anymore. They just rigidly grind out points in monotonous, boring fashion from the baseline. The drop volley, stop volley, underspin backhand lob, underspin forehand lob, the flat forehand approach shot, flat backhand approach shot , the sidespin forehand approach shot (which was a shot most notably utilized by Pam Shriver in women's pro tennis) and lob volleys are other examples of shots that sadly are no longer played in pro tennis.
@ Burns Tennis ; Thank You for this well done compilation. My amount of seeing all of Pete Sampras's matches and all of the 1990's-2010 time frame is limited to the videos, but had extensive experience fro the 1970's-1980's and viewing some of those who were able to continue to play from the earlier era into the early Open Era. Have returned to seeing tennis again via the ease of access We have now. [And have returned to playing after a hiatus too (enjoying more than ever)] My appreciation is for talent, abilities, use, execution, strategy, methods, athletics, determination, persistence in each era. Sincerely, :-)
@@BurnsTennis That seems like it must have been amazing! Where did You see Pete in London? At Wimbledon, in matches, and which years? [Am residing in Israel sin 1993, thus more limited]
@@newtonfirefly3584 I saw him at Queens in 2001 against Schalken, briefly in 1995 against Rusedski at Wimbledon (end of match). Then in 2008 at the Masters against McEnroe (which was fun) and finally in 2014 against Agassi at the World Tennis Day exhibition. I got to speak to him briefly after the match when he was signing autographs. I told him I wrote this which he was aware of www.laurietennisarticles.net/2012/06/pete-sampras-indepth-look-at-his-game.html?showComment=1580613276409
Pete the Great ! I was always more of a Agassi-guy, but have to admit that Pete's highest level was a littlbe bit above Andre's. Imho Roger and Pete are the best ever. Petes running forehand was just ridicilous. Making Pete run to his forehand side was the biggest tactical error you could make. It had to be a perfect shot otherwise Pete countered it.
14 Slams to 8.... I'd say it was about 6X better! I will say this though, if Andre didn't have off-the-court issues he would have definitely had more slams. I also think Pete could have won a couple more if he hadn't hurt his back or had foot problems
betpow there was a clip from around the 92 us open that really showed the speed of Sampras. They showed him in isolation, and well behind the baseline in a rally. The opponent his the net and it dribbled over. You see young Sampras EXPLODE behind the baseline, legs moving like a cheetah, reaching the ball a few inches from the net and hitting a drop shot back, while stopping dead with his upper body actually over the net but not touching. Incredible.
chris boothby Pete, like all the GOAT candidates, has all the shots. But he did it relatively less compared to Roger who in his prime seemed to do it a few times every match, and on big points.
***** There is also the added factor of less available matches. Difficult to find a lot of Sampras matches. In other words, the many great shots he hit in matches are just not documented as much as Federer matches as in the 2000s recording became much easier, onto DVDs and then on computers. In the 1990s recording onto videotapes were a bit of a nightmare.
+Dave “RF” Demisio While I believe Federer to be GOAT. Sampras IMHO was the better athlete of the two. And we will never know how much the Thessalemia Minor affected Pete's game.
Too bad we have already forgotten about the greatness of Sampras... He was the GOAT until Federer came to fame and maybe under certain aspects he still is. What makes me laugh is that people now talk about Djokovic as the GOAT. Djokovic can win all the Grand Slam tournaments he wants but that won't make him a Champion with the same talent as Sampras or Federer or Agassi (or even the first Nadal). What makes him a good player is his endurance like no one else. Other players nowadays like Murray are not even near his mental strength. Another tennis player with the same talent of Sampras or Federer still has to be born. The tennis of today is just pure boredom with all these baseline hitters. Just a thought...
nadal and djokovic might be grinders but let's face the truth in any game if you have better athleticism you can beat anyone..That's what is most important when you go up against strongest opponents that's where fed and the likes of sampras would have had problem against nole and rafa..Their will to succeed and athleticism is way better..However yes roger,sampras etc had better technique but that doesn't make you better player alone.. By the way people often think novak's game is boring or simple but they don't understand he has the most consistent technique above that he uses powerful ground strokes,he hits the ball very deep at opponents feat that's why the likes of federer and even nadal struggle to play attacking game against him cause he doesn't let them come to the net by hitting deep at their feet. What do you mean by even first nadal that's what I hate most djokovic have defeated nadal since the age of 25,novak even used to defeat nadal since 2007..But if you are like those people saying that nadal's prime ended at age 22 in 2008 then that's wrong..Athletes greatness is measured by the longevity of their career.. And novak always gave nadal trouble since 2007 watch their matches in 2008,2009..Novak wouldn't let nadal play attacking game even in his younger days as much as nadal played his attacking game against federer..
McEnroe was a tennis genius. How can anyone hit a forehand with a continental grip other than Mac? His serve was also weird as well, but it worked. I watched a video in a match with Lendl where Mac hit the most outrageous drop volley - literally defied any logic. One can say the McEnroe in 1984 was a good as any player to play the game. IMHO, Mac was/is the greatest doubles player of all time. Personal issues came into play after.
I respect all athletes, it's hard to be a seeded pro in tennis no matter the era and I was like 5 when Pete Sampras played that 1st clip.. having said that, I can't handle it when people call Djokovic GOAT, even LeBron for basketball.. it's a shame Pete's class play had to age.
Awesome compilation! But why people are still doing the comparison Sampras / Federer?. From 2002 onwards, most of the current players are based in some way on the analysis of the game form of the great legends (hits, movement, mechanic), nothing new someway, maybe it is the evolution of tennis. I'm just sure that if the time of these players had been the other way round, Sampras would still be No. 1
Angello López Aguayo 🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
Sampras un des tous meilleurs serveurs - volleyeurs à comparer avec Edberg en plus puissant et rapide; moins solide en fond de court que fedex , il bouge comme un félin avec un rythme entre chaque frappe inimitable, j'étais fan et je le suis encore au delà des statistiques à l'avantage de Rodger, 3 monuments du tennis offensif.
Un immense attaquant. Un pur génie des 90's comme Mcenroe dans les 80's. Il était "faible" sur terre battue, mais injouable sur les surfaces rapides. Pour moi, nettement plus plaisant que Federer. Une concurrence nettement plus forte sur surfaces rapides (Stich, Agassi,Becker,Krajicek,Ivanisevic, Rafter) que les années Federer. Sampras à été vite oublié...et c'est bien dommage.
SAMPRAS most returns are at the net and it's basically placement shots. Between Federer & SAMPRAS I will choose Federer simply for the love he had for the game. While SAMPRAS never really tried to improvise his game as Federer did.
Se puede entrenar el tenis y conseguir mayor punteria, agilidad, precision, resistencia y potencia, Sampras tenia todo eso, pero ademas tenia algo natural que no se puede entrenar, la estetica en el movimiento y en la ejecucion de los golpes, para mi Sampras fue el tenista mas tecnico y bello de la historia con diferencia.
The makeup and special effects crew from The Walking Dead working their magic at 5:57? wtf, that's messed up, but hey, can't blame him for sun protection. dude doesn't mess around..
Exactly! The reason I included this, he was out of position and still hit a crosscourt forehand winner without using his lower body to get in position, literally turning his upper body only. Any normal player trying that would for sure injure their side or leg......
Players like Federer, Sampras, Nadal and whomever should not be replicable in the first place. That’s how you know they are great for the game, when they bring something that likely no one can bring again. No one should be able to hit clutch second serves and slam dunks as frequently well as Sampras. No one should be able to replicate the combination of fluidity, grace and style of Federer (Dimitrov is not as fluid and such). No one should be able to replicate the mentality, intense style, and insane clutch, especially passing shots of Rafa. There are more that I’m missing, I’m sure, but the key to these players is how unique they are to the point that people not only remember them, but also note that there will never be another like them.
Great stuff! I'm wondering why I can't find a cool Sampras poster that highlights his jumping overhead slams! I would LOVE to have that, or see that image online somewhere. :-)
Dear Sampras , you did not win French open though you played good game and reached SF. The Federer fans must see this match . federer too won French Open when Nadal did not play. But when you played in french open there were atleast 10 french champions ( 10 nadals) and other strong clay court players like Sedric pioline, Snachez Brothers, Guy Forget, Leconte , Macello Rios, peter Corda,Wayne Periera and many others. hence considering the very tough compeitive era you are sure an all time great.If you would enter after 2000 Federer would have bagged , i doubt, even 6 titles. Lucky guy Federer as he had toplay one Nadal and one Jokovich
@ pradeep kumar ; the points shown here of the 1994 Final in Rome between Boris Becker vs Pete Sampras, indicates these great serve-and-volley players played very well on red clay too.
This guy was selfish, did you watch the sampras - ivanisevic wimbledon final of 1998. The referee asked to replay a goran serve tie break point just because sampras said "nooo I thought it was long". It was supposed to be an ace and goran should have gone 2 sets up. Instead goran just lost his head and ended up losing the match. What a stupid ref and on sampras' part bad fair play.
To me THE greatest player ever. His prime level was unparalleled, unmatchable. With or without FO. And fuck the clay anyway, it is a different game than tennis. His GS and No1 records are broken, but so are the Schwarzenegger's or Senna's. Coleman and Haney have 8 Olympias, Schumacher has more titles than Ayrton. But when the question who's is the greatest comes up, people always say Arnold and Senna.
It´s easy to improvise when ¨competition¨ makes it easy. Sampras and Federer, record GS winners mainly due to weak competition during the time they won the bulk of their GS titles. I´d like to see those guys winning that much if they were in the position of, for instance, Ivan Lendl, who was thrown to the wolves´s den at a tender young age, getting thrashed by the likes of Connors, McEnroe and Borg, cutting down his GS wins and by the time those left and everyone thought he´d be number 1 by default, guys like Wilander, Edberg, Becker, just to name a few, showed up to make his entire career ¨miserable¨. Yet he got 8 GSs nonetheless. It´s insane that Lendl, Wilander, Edberg and Becker collected 27 GS title altogether, while competing with each other, whereas Sampras and Federer got their GSs by competing with rather mediocre opponents. I guess your average guy will look like a giant next to Chick Norris... No surprise Agassi quickly got another 4 GSs when Pete left, for the same reasons.
OK, these are the players Sampras hit these shots against in this order: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, Richard Krajieck, Tim Henman, Jonas Bjorkman, Thomas Muster, Scheng Shalken. All quality players, four former number 1s, most of the players won many titles and these shots are performed in semifinals and finals of ATP tournaments in full packed large stadiums, others performed in latter stages of slam tournaments. None of these shots are performed in the 2nd round of a 250 tournament, against journeymen players we've never heard of, these shots are performed in big moments in pressure situations.
Any intelligent person would have just watched the video and known that without the need to have it pointed out to them. The 'weak competition' argument is most commonly used by fangirls in an attempt to denigrate a pro player they don't like.
+Tennis19999 I think the two go hand and hand. In my opinion it is not possible to have bad footwork but have a great shot. To have a great forehand, you must have great footwork, like Lendl or anyone. The only difference I can see is like Graf, sometimes Sampras took the ball late and cracked it off the hip, but still had enough power to make it work. Sampras had a great inside out forehand which requires great footwork.
+Tennis19999 sad to see idiots misrepresent the talent of great players because of their ignorance.... i am sure half the people like you haven't followed tennis live in the 90s.... I suggest you watch some stretch volleys and low volleys and slam dunks hit by sampras and other classic serve-volley players, maybe that will teach you something about footwork.
+deadman walking It really has nothing to do with watching tennis in the 1990s, or 1980s, 1970s or 2000s. If a person is not very smart, they are not very smart. To aquire knowldege you have to teach yourself and it is not even logical to have bad footwork but a great shot. That would apply to any sport such as cricket batsmen etc etc
In many ways you can see that Sampras was not a guy who had proper forms or techniques of the modern tennis like Federer, but his confidence and athleticism, calmness at pressure , improvisations were unmatchable. one can also say that when compared to today's tennis, his tennis was boring. mostly serve and volley tennis.
+Manu Pillai Have you seen him play live? He has phenomenal technique. Ask yourself how many players today can serve and hit groundstrokes so fluently with such a small racquet head and natural gut strings.
+jsala080 I have to agree on this occasion. In all seriousness, how can you hit amazing improvised shots if you don't have clean and phenomenal technique.
he wasn't much of a technique guy when it came to swings.maybe the rackets were not so light in his times. he had great movement and stability which compensated the lack of swing technique that Federer has. clearly his backhand was way short of proper technique compared to new age players. also his racket was 85 sq.inch which is very small area.he used very thick grip size. his play was mostly crafted for serve and volley/drive/smash and not mainly for groundstrokes play like Federer.
Listen, you have enlightened us with your extra ordinary remarks. We should never have doubted you, I have no doubt Sampras has the technique of someone ranked 250 in the world which you can clearly see in his results over a 14 year period. How on earth did he manage to play tennis with that technique? Mind boggling eh? Thanks for bringing your superior thoughts and intelligence to everyone here.
Pete is the greatest player of all time in my eyes
Lorraine Calder 🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
My all time favourite tennis player: Without a blink - PETE SAMPRAS !
Fluidic and powerful. Treat to watch this man play tennis, especially that serve & volley.
kids from today are totally ignoring the brilliance of these players… Sampras was a true legend of the game and still is…
Sampras is the most beautiful player to watch. Love watching Federer, who is pure class, but Pete was something special to see in action.
so powerfull and fast....
فيلم إيراني
Sampras was more impressive physically, he had so much power and athletic ability. I've never seen another player brake a racket, in play...Sampras did this on one of his slam-dunk smashes...unbelievable
+Roborav You hit the nail on the head!
Pistol Pete - the perfect blend of coolness and power.
Sampras is the best volley/ net player in tennis. His reflexes and volley skills are unmatched.
The greatest fast court player till date.
i remember growing up around 12-14 years old me and my tennis buddies we would choose a professional tennis player to imitate. For me Sampras was always the nr 1 choice just pure class....
In an article on the Agassi - Sampras rivalry, I read this: "Sampras is the sweetest, most fluid big cat in the jungle, with tremendous power in the thighs and calves. When he is playing well, everything is loose, flowing, silent and deadly, and Sampras seems to simply kick back and delight in what his body can do. For Sampras, tennis is a sensual
experience." I think many Sampras fans felt that sensual experience too by watching him play. I certainly did.
Nicely said. I have long suspected my passion for Pete's game has a lot to do with my passion for cats. Nice to see other people have felt the same way.
Footwork, anticipation, skills... Pete definitely had the whole package.
Beautiful athlete, great temperament, fabulous to watch! Thank you Pete for many years of tennis enjoyment 👏🏻
Never had the chance to watch Sampras play but, watching now he looks to have maybe the best hands I've ever seen. The touch he displays around the net is awe-inspiring
there was a time back then when i watched all his matches on the tour, huge sampras fan i am, remember me skipping school only to watch his matches or stay up late for aussie open etc. Special era this was. True Champion he is and to me an idol in sportsmanship
Pete is THE living legend
sampras volleys are masterfull..
I would say that Edberg and McEnroe are the two greatest volleyers of all time. Edberg's volleys were technically perfect while McEnroe's were pure genius. I would put Laver and Roche behind Edberg and McEnroe, with Sampras, Rafter ad Pancho Gonazalez after them.
I dont know those other players volleys very well, so I cant really have an opinion on that..
+Bradley Whipple Greatest hands and touch.. without a doubt McEnroe!
Pete Sampras, king of the tennis
Pete Sampras is the best player ever....you just watch his amazing talents and athleticism....!!!
+polychronio Best player and very exciting to watch.!!
Nope! Federer is the best ever. If Sampras wasn't so weak on clay, then you can make an argument in the goat conversation. But he is top 5.
Sampras = GOD OF TENNIS. Enough said .... Today they talk about Federer, Djokovic, Nadal etc..,. There`s no doubt that he is the best. The talent of this man ,...,... Jesus Christ ,.,,,.. Makes me speechless ,..,,.....He is chilli g ,.,,.. Getting goosebump`s just thinking about this man and the talent he possesses ,.,,..... He is by far the best player I`ve ever seen in tennis ,.,!,, AND I`VE SEEN THEM AAAAALLLLLLLLL,..,,... PERIOD, HE IS THE BEST.
Agreed Pete Sampras is One of The Best tennis players! During his era, he certainly was most unique of the competitors and competition. There are others who have their finest and unique qualities who overlap with Pete. There are those from previous, later and present eras also.
Best is not exactly the same as the concept of G.O.A.T. nor is this (latter concept) actually determinable or definable. We can define and determine specific records though. So far, no One player has achieved, made, surpassed every record, nor probably will. Even within these records, there are actually many differences in each era to make the comparisons imbalanced, not exactly comparable, such the records alone cannot be used to define such a concept. However, individuals [mostly of recent times], with their individual bias, view, perspective, perception, prejudice have their opinions (they may term "facts"). This has resulted in a "popular" discussed and sometimes 'heavily debated' or argued topic among 'biased', 'fan favorite' types, social media, some tennis fans, extended into the sports media personalities, some of whom are former top professional players, coaches and trainers [maybe specifically because of its popularity]. Thus far, each the ATP and WTA Tour maintain records and do not have a G.O.A.T. heading, listing or definition. [Similarly they have a "Grand Slam" definition (winning Four GS events in a single calendar year, but not one for winning Four GS events in succession, nor in a lifetime nor a "Golden GS", though there are those who write such about things (also in the media)]. Individuals and groups sometimes decide themselves, upon their own, to define some new concept, and according to their bias, views also sometimes initiating new terms to elevate those currently since the original term and definition has been unachieved or so limiting or perceived as too difficult to obtain and achieve. (this seems to apply specifically to the "Grand Slam" achievement, and others too).
On that note, how can any player be considered The G.O.A.T. and not have achieved the "Grand Slam", when there are women and a man who have?!! Only those with limiting, imbalanced bias, view, perspective, perception that choose to define G.O.A.T. according to the criteria and for whom they think, prefer, want, and desire.
(Maybe some people who write about this, will consider, ponder, think more about these points, thus possibly affect their thoughts, view, perspective, perception, opinion, attitude and writing.)
All The Best Much Success, In Tennis , Life and Tennis [including enjoyment]
Sincerely,
:-)
Absolutely no way to call him the greatest. Absolutely no clay game,weak backhand,no good baseline game
The real Greatest .
Watching old Sampras and Agassi matches is a million times more entertaining then any live grandslam finals with djoko murray nadal federer etc. - for me- miss those old times.....
called nostalgia ^^
I miss the attitude. The American players back in the day are more entertaining to watch cause they bring you in more now wonder these days were considered the Golden era.
🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES TO🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
At 20:55 says the commentator: "I don't know if you could understand what Muster is mumbling to himself, that everything is too precise and too exact what comes from Sampras, that is not possible". And then the netpost-backhand comes an he said: "Thats again the shot of the Tournament! A Dream! The absolute Dream!" Haha, Pistol is the Man!
Interesting to observe that Sampras was hitting many of the same type of shots that Federer would later hit in terms of the backhand flicks crosscourt on the run.
Farid Damasio Federer has said Pete was his Idol and molded his game after Pete’s. Federer had to adjust to the baseline game early 2000’s.
I'm not surprised because Fed idolized Sampras. He literally grew up mimicking his shots.
There is nothing new in them. Commentators and kids will say: wow!!! Fed “invented” a shot - but Sampras already did all of them, and truth be told, Laver did them decades before.
I realize most younger fans couldn't know this but...it wasn't just Pete. Mcenroe, Laver, Lendl....they all could do those shots. There has been a weird hyperbole and hype commentators have used in the last 10-20 years "WOW, nobody has ever done that shot before! Fed is a genius! You COULDN'T have done that shot before! Impossible!!!" - while old-timers like me, sort of roll their eyes......we have seen it before....all of it. There really isn't anything new under the sun. One good thing about youtube is that young people who are truly open-minded can go back and see bits and pieces of the past! :-) Unfortunately, the further you go back, the less footage there is. Go checkout matches like Borg/Laver - when Laver was old. Note their speed, their shot variety, their spin, all done with wood. The greatest players from any age were all comparable - just extremely gifted.
Federer is considered the best player in Tennis history, but after watching so many videos of Sampras, i honestly can't see something on his abilities that could be overshadowed by Roger. I mean look at this man. He was a genious of a player! His game was flawless! Maybe the strongest backhand and his accuracy along with his speed should be a nightmare for Federer if he had played against him. Again, look how he recovered opponents' shots while running and achieving impossible accuracy at the other ends of the court!
If i had a time machine i would love to watch those two players playing a final. I believe this would be the derby of the century! And maybe Sampras could win. WHY NOT?
BEST Player All time
benni MAIER you’re joking. Federer, Nadal are both better. Sampras was absolutely world class but those two are on a different level.
Sampras is amazing!
Two of the greatest players of all time at the start
It's insane how naturally good Sampras was. I mean the guy won wimbledon 2000 with a leg injury. Winning a grand slam healthy is hard enough but to do it injured? Wow.
And remember he didn't even hit on his off days. The only practicing he could do at Wimbledon in 2000 was the 15-minute warm-up before the match started. Absolutely unbelievable!
Serve and volley is a dying art. The game is now about pure rallies, which for me takes the finesse out of the game. Sampras miss you bro!
Manu so because there is no serve and volley anymore (which isn’t true) there is no more finesse? Wow how one sided!
Pete. el mejor de todos los tiempos
16:41 One of the most extraordinary improvisations I've ever seen. Absolutely incredible backhand smash. No wonder Henman was caught unprepared.
I am planning a video of high backhand volleys because he did some ridiculous high backhand volleys in his career, incredible athleticism.
Burns Tennis, great news. Looking forward to it. :-)
Best serve, smash and volley in history
dont forgot Krajicek
Don’t forget the forehand too
🔥👍you absolutely right,..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
@@markdivaoi4075 LOL there is no comparison between the two
1:09 at first glance it looked like a half volley but he actually took the return out of the air. Amazing shot.
Def the best
The first point @ 0:14 is simply amazing. Andre was in a bad position, out of balance on the BH side, yet he came up with such beautiful placement taking Pete completely by surprise with that angle. Pete however nails the PERFECT back spin drop shot which Agassi missed with just a few milliseconds...
So sad that a number of shots that fans used to see from players in men's pro tennis like the topspin lob (both forehand and backhand versions) have just about completely vanished from the game. The topspin lob has vanished from the game because no one rushes the net in tennis anymore. They just rigidly grind out points in monotonous, boring fashion from the baseline. The drop volley, stop volley, underspin backhand lob, underspin forehand lob, the flat forehand approach shot, flat backhand approach shot , the sidespin forehand approach shot (which was a shot most notably utilized by Pam Shriver in women's pro tennis) and lob volleys are other examples of shots that sadly are no longer played in pro tennis.
Difference between Pete and Federer, I would pay to watch Pete all day everyday, couldn’t pay me to watch the Swiss cheese
That sit-down volley is classic
@ Burns Tennis ; Thank You for this well done compilation.
My amount of seeing all of Pete Sampras's matches and all of the 1990's-2010 time frame is limited to the videos, but had extensive experience fro the 1970's-1980's and viewing some of those who were able to continue to play from the earlier era into the early Open Era. Have returned to seeing tennis again via the ease of access We have now. [And have returned to playing after a hiatus too (enjoying more than ever)]
My appreciation is for talent, abilities, use, execution, strategy, methods, athletics, determination, persistence in each era.
Sincerely,
:-)
Thanks. I got to see Pete play live a few times here in London
@@BurnsTennis That seems like it must have been amazing!
Where did You see Pete in London? At Wimbledon, in matches, and which years?
[Am residing in Israel sin 1993, thus more limited]
@@newtonfirefly3584 I saw him at Queens in 2001 against Schalken, briefly in 1995 against Rusedski at Wimbledon (end of match). Then in 2008 at the Masters against McEnroe (which was fun) and finally in 2014 against Agassi at the World Tennis Day exhibition. I got to speak to him briefly after the match when he was signing autographs. I told him I wrote this which he was aware of www.laurietennisarticles.net/2012/06/pete-sampras-indepth-look-at-his-game.html?showComment=1580613276409
SO GOOD !
Pete the Great ! I was always more of a Agassi-guy, but have to admit that Pete's highest level was a littlbe bit above Andre's. Imho Roger and Pete are the best ever. Petes running forehand was just ridicilous. Making Pete run to his forehand side was the biggest tactical error you could make. It had to be a perfect shot otherwise Pete countered it.
14 Slams to 8.... I'd say it was about 6X better! I will say this though, if Andre didn't have off-the-court issues he would have definitely had more slams. I also think Pete could have won a couple more if he hadn't hurt his back or had foot problems
downright fast in his prime...speed isn't often mentioned when listing his attributes but he had major burst... 7:00 coming forward to get the volley
betpow there was a clip from around the 92 us open that really showed the speed of Sampras. They showed him in isolation, and well behind the baseline in a rally. The opponent his the net and it dribbled over. You see young Sampras EXPLODE behind the baseline, legs moving like a cheetah, reaching the ball a few inches from the net and hitting a drop shot back, while stopping dead with his upper body actually over the net but not touching. Incredible.
without a dude this guy was the GOAT or the 90's
Pete said about Federer he can hit this flick backhand which honestly I couldn't do. In this video there's examples of 4 which he hit!
chris boothby Pete, like all the GOAT candidates, has all the shots. But he did it relatively less compared to Roger who in his prime seemed to do it a few times every match, and on big points.
***** There is also the added factor of less available matches. Difficult to find a lot of Sampras matches. In other words, the many great shots he hit in matches are just not documented as much as Federer matches as in the 2000s recording became much easier, onto DVDs and then on computers. In the 1990s recording onto videotapes were a bit of a nightmare.
Very true. That's slowly happening with Federer too. More and more of his matches and highlight reels are leaving the net.
+chris boothby He uses the lowest tension in the game so it's very possible he could just flick it and still get lots of power.
+Dave “RF” Demisio While I believe Federer to be GOAT. Sampras IMHO was the better athlete of the two. And we will never know how much the Thessalemia Minor affected Pete's game.
Too bad we have already forgotten about the greatness of Sampras... He was the GOAT until Federer came to fame and maybe under certain aspects he still is. What makes me laugh is that people now talk about Djokovic as the GOAT. Djokovic can win all the Grand Slam tournaments he wants but that won't make him a Champion with the same talent as Sampras or Federer or Agassi (or even the first Nadal). What makes him a good player is his endurance like no one else. Other players nowadays like Murray are not even near his mental strength. Another tennis player with the same talent of Sampras or Federer still has to be born. The tennis of today is just pure boredom with all these baseline hitters. Just a thought...
nadal and djokovic might be grinders but let's face the truth in any game if you have better athleticism you can beat anyone..That's what is most important when you go up against strongest opponents that's where fed and the likes of sampras would have had problem against nole and rafa..Their will to succeed and athleticism is way better..However yes roger,sampras etc had better technique but that doesn't make you better player alone..
By the way people often think novak's game is boring or simple but they don't understand he has the most consistent technique above that he uses powerful ground strokes,he hits the ball very deep at opponents feat that's why the likes of federer and even nadal struggle to play attacking game against him cause he doesn't let them come to the net by hitting deep at their feet. What do you mean by even first nadal that's what I hate most djokovic have defeated nadal since the age of 25,novak even used to defeat nadal since 2007..But if you are like those people saying that nadal's prime ended at age 22 in 2008 then that's wrong..Athletes greatness is measured by the longevity of their career..
And novak always gave nadal trouble since 2007 watch their matches in 2008,2009..Novak wouldn't let nadal play attacking game even in his younger days as much as nadal played his attacking game against federer..
what about the Talent of MceEnroe?
McEnroe was a tennis genius. How can anyone hit a forehand with a continental grip other than Mac? His serve was also weird as well, but it worked. I watched a video in a match with Lendl where Mac hit the most outrageous drop volley - literally defied any logic. One can say the McEnroe in 1984 was a good as any player to play the game. IMHO, Mac was/is the greatest doubles player of all time. Personal issues came into play after.
En zo Sampras married the mortal kombat chick from part one . did u all know that
I respect all athletes, it's hard to be a seeded pro in tennis no matter the era and I was like 5 when Pete Sampras played that 1st clip.. having said that, I can't handle it when people call Djokovic GOAT, even LeBron for basketball.. it's a shame Pete's class play had to age.
13:09 AMAZING
Awesome compilation! But why people are still doing the comparison Sampras / Federer?. From 2002 onwards, most of the current players are based in some way on the
analysis of the game form of the great legends (hits, movement, mechanic), nothing new someway, maybe it is the evolution of tennis. I'm just sure that if the time of these players had been the other way round, Sampras would still be No. 1
Angello López Aguayo 🔥👍you absolutely right,this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
Sampras'service is a masterpiece 6:26 !!
@ Lara ; Agreed, and the one previous is nearly as amazing!
Sampras un des tous meilleurs serveurs - volleyeurs à comparer avec Edberg en plus puissant et rapide; moins solide en fond de court que fedex , il bouge comme un félin avec un rythme entre chaque frappe inimitable, j'étais fan et je le suis encore au delà des statistiques à l'avantage de Rodger, 3 monuments du tennis offensif.
There is no player in the game today who could hit the volley at :54.
When debating the mythical ‘goat’ Lendl has to be in the mix, the man had no right to make as many Wimbledon finals as he did.
Un immense attaquant.
Un pur génie des 90's comme Mcenroe dans les 80's.
Il était "faible" sur terre battue, mais injouable sur les surfaces rapides.
Pour moi, nettement plus plaisant que Federer.
Une concurrence nettement plus forte sur surfaces rapides (Stich, Agassi,Becker,Krajicek,Ivanisevic, Rafter) que les années Federer.
Sampras à été vite oublié...et c'est bien dommage.
Sampras grew Van Dike.That's new to me.Thanks :D
Wish there was a clearer replay of that way-out-of-court BH winner he hits against Muster. Amazing is not the word.
Secondo me PP is the best of all times
Sampras la classe mondiale
Yep you rarely see a half-volley drop-shot or a jumping smash.
SAMPRAS most returns are at the net and it's basically placement shots. Between Federer & SAMPRAS I will choose Federer simply for the love he had for the game. While SAMPRAS never really tried to improvise his game as Federer did.
Clear Sampras is not far off Federer overall, pity fans never warmed to him until he was about to retire.
Se puede entrenar el tenis y conseguir mayor punteria, agilidad, precision, resistencia y potencia, Sampras tenia todo eso, pero ademas tenia algo natural que no se puede entrenar, la estetica en el movimiento y en la ejecucion de los golpes, para mi Sampras fue el tenista mas tecnico y bello de la historia con diferencia.
That yelp at 13:09 is me 😅 Sampras is very deceptive. You can just see the way he surprised opponents with his quickness and flexibility.
back when tennis was still good.
The makeup and special effects crew from The Walking Dead working their magic at 5:57? wtf, that's messed up, but hey, can't blame him for sun protection. dude doesn't mess around..
14:36 Yaaaaaaaaaaa
@ gendale ; Yes, an unusual Yell, but nice for a change!
il migliore di sempre...
O samprass e o Andrés Agassi jogavam demais
18:44 he wins a point without playing it...
Exactly! The reason I included this, he was out of position and still hit a crosscourt forehand winner without using his lower body to get in position, literally turning his upper body only. Any normal player trying that would for sure injure their side or leg......
i like the fist point of the vidéo ! a lot of improvisation ! (service fault)
huge federer fan but tennis can't produce sme1 like pete again...
I like that you describe it exactly right!
Players like Federer, Sampras, Nadal and whomever should not be replicable in the first place. That’s how you know they are great for the game, when they bring something that likely no one can bring again. No one should be able to hit clutch second serves and slam dunks as frequently well as Sampras. No one should be able to replicate the combination of fluidity, grace and style of Federer (Dimitrov is not as fluid and such). No one should be able to replicate the mentality, intense style, and insane clutch, especially passing shots of Rafa. There are more that I’m missing, I’m sure, but the key to these players is how unique they are to the point that people not only remember them, but also note that there will never be another like them.
Great stuff! I'm wondering why I can't find a cool Sampras poster that highlights his jumping overhead slams! I would LOVE to have that, or see that image online somewhere. :-)
11:00 Young Sampras is moving like old Lendl
@ Isjawu ; Two great top spin lobs in a row; forehand, then backhand!
🔥👍this generation of tennis is bullshit..I MISS THOSE OLD TIMES🥺😞⭐️😪....🤩😍🔥👍💪FOR ME THE REAL GOAT IS ALLWAYS PETE SAMPRAS💛💛💛🏸🎾🎗
Superrrrrrrtt
Pete was one of the best tennis players of all times... along with Laver, Fed, Gonzales, Nadal and Tilden
Fck that first clip! And against Agassi no less.. fvk.. got goosebumps..
this is the real deal, not Shankerer
Berluskaiser oky doke
13:30 beautiful
This isn't eye-cathing tennis according to Nadal, just serve serve serve.
anyone have a better vod of the 21:05 point, i cant see the ball :(
No doubt Sampras is the best of all.
0:55 holy fuck
If Pete Sampras had played three years more, federer would not win about 4grand slam titles.....
6:17 Let's go RAFA!!! Back then someone knew he was coming!!
Rafter. Nadal is boring.
Zero shiki drop shot
great video. can you make more?
colemanelf Yes planning some more.
Dear Sampras , you did not win French open though you played good game and reached SF. The Federer fans must see this match . federer too won French Open when Nadal did not play. But when you played in french open there were atleast 10 french champions ( 10 nadals) and other strong clay court players like Sedric pioline, Snachez Brothers, Guy Forget, Leconte , Macello Rios, peter Corda,Wayne Periera and many others. hence considering the very tough compeitive era you are sure an all time great.If you would enter after 2000 Federer would have bagged , i doubt, even 6 titles. Lucky guy Federer as he had toplay one Nadal and one Jokovich
@ pradeep kumar ; the points shown here of the 1994 Final in Rome between Boris Becker vs Pete Sampras, indicates these great serve-and-volley players played very well on red clay too.
"Many shots here you don't see today." When Roger's not playing maybe :p
If Sampras's name happened to be Wayne or MacCarran,and if over and above he was blond, WOW man!!!Then again ,he won't be Greek.
This guy was selfish, did you watch the sampras - ivanisevic wimbledon final of 1998. The referee asked to replay a goran serve tie break point just because sampras said "nooo I thought it was long". It was supposed to be an ace and goran should have gone 2 sets up. Instead goran just lost his head and ended up losing the match. What a stupid ref and on sampras' part bad fair play.
Sampras has nice drama.
To me THE greatest player ever. His prime level was unparalleled, unmatchable. With or without FO. And fuck the clay anyway, it is a different game than tennis.
His GS and No1 records are broken, but so are the Schwarzenegger's or Senna's. Coleman and Haney have 8 Olympias, Schumacher has more titles than Ayrton. But when the question who's is the greatest comes up, people always say Arnold and Senna.
Never liked Sampras since it was revealed by Agassi that he's a lousy tipper. I can't abide a cheapskate.
6:30 "let's go rafaa":(
Rafter actually ;-)
It´s easy to improvise when ¨competition¨ makes it easy.
Sampras and Federer, record GS winners mainly due to weak competition during the time they won the bulk of their GS titles.
I´d like to see those guys winning that much if they were in the position of, for instance, Ivan Lendl, who was thrown to the wolves´s den at a tender young age, getting thrashed by the likes of Connors, McEnroe and Borg, cutting down his GS wins and by the time those left and everyone thought he´d be number 1 by default, guys like Wilander, Edberg, Becker, just to name a few, showed up to make his entire career ¨miserable¨. Yet he got 8 GSs nonetheless.
It´s insane that Lendl, Wilander, Edberg and Becker collected 27 GS title altogether, while competing with each other, whereas Sampras and Federer got their GSs by competing with rather mediocre opponents. I guess your average guy will look like a giant next to Chick Norris...
No surprise Agassi quickly got another 4 GSs when Pete left, for the same reasons.
An ill-formed opinion devoid of fact.
Ironically, an empty response devoid of arguments, therefore irrelevant.
Still no facts, eh Kid?
OK, these are the players Sampras hit these shots against in this order: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, Richard Krajieck, Tim Henman, Jonas Bjorkman, Thomas Muster, Scheng Shalken. All quality players, four former number 1s, most of the players won many titles and these shots are performed in semifinals and finals of ATP tournaments in full packed large stadiums, others performed in latter stages of slam tournaments.
None of these shots are performed in the 2nd round of a 250 tournament, against journeymen players we've never heard of, these shots are performed in big moments in pressure situations.
Any intelligent person would have just watched the video and known that without the need to have it pointed out to them. The 'weak competition' argument is most commonly used by fangirls in an attempt to denigrate a pro player they don't like.
1:45 He hit the ball into the ground, Agassis point...
..every shot does Federer newer, better, more elegant...😁
too sad that Sampras does not show up much on the ATP, he turned his back to tennis. Sad
He has his family & kids to focus on.
Sampras footwork was bad, but his forehand was very strong, and his serve and volleys too.
+Tennis19999 I think the two go hand and hand. In my opinion it is not possible to have bad footwork but have a great shot. To have a great forehand, you must have great footwork, like Lendl or anyone. The only difference I can see is like Graf, sometimes Sampras took the ball late and cracked it off the hip, but still had enough power to make it work. Sampras had a great inside out forehand which requires great footwork.
+Tennis19999 sad to see idiots misrepresent the talent of great players because of their ignorance.... i am sure half the people like you haven't followed tennis live in the 90s.... I suggest you watch some stretch volleys and low volleys and slam dunks hit by sampras and other classic serve-volley players, maybe that will teach you something about footwork.
+deadman walking It really has nothing to do with watching tennis in the 1990s, or 1980s, 1970s or 2000s. If a person is not very smart, they are not very smart. To aquire knowldege you have to teach yourself and it is not even logical to have bad footwork but a great shot. That would apply to any sport such as cricket batsmen etc etc
Sampras was the best mover, and very graceful too, not just fast. So you saying his footwork was bad is ridiculous!
In many ways you can see that Sampras was not a guy who had proper forms or techniques of the modern tennis like Federer, but his confidence and athleticism, calmness at pressure , improvisations were unmatchable.
one can also say that when compared to today's tennis, his tennis was boring. mostly serve and volley tennis.
+Manu Pillai Have you seen him play live? He has phenomenal technique. Ask yourself how many players today can serve and hit groundstrokes so fluently with such a small racquet head and natural gut strings.
+Manu Pillai I haven't seen a comment this ignorant in a long time.
+jsala080 I have to agree on this occasion. In all seriousness, how can you hit amazing improvised shots if you don't have clean and phenomenal technique.
he wasn't much of a technique guy when it came to swings.maybe the rackets were not so light in his times. he had great movement and stability which compensated the lack of swing technique that Federer has.
clearly his backhand was way short of proper technique compared to new age players.
also his racket was 85 sq.inch which is very small area.he used very thick grip size.
his play was mostly crafted for serve and volley/drive/smash and not mainly for groundstrokes play like Federer.
Listen, you have enlightened us with your extra ordinary remarks. We should never have doubted you, I have no doubt Sampras has the technique of someone ranked 250 in the world which you can clearly see in his results over a 14 year period. How on earth did he manage to play tennis with that technique? Mind boggling eh?
Thanks for bringing your superior thoughts and intelligence to everyone here.