Federer takes 2 of 3 matches from Sampras

[illini43]

Pete Sampras and Roger Federer played a 3-match exhibition tour in Asia last week. Federer won the first two matches 6-4, 6-3 and 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Sampras won the last match 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Even though this was an exhibiton, a 36-year old Sampras beating the most dominant tennis player in the world today (age 26) sparks a little debate over who was better in their primes...

[Semtex]

Tough to say. 3 set matches have more of the crapshoot factor. This is evidenced by Federer getting taken down in many of the Masters Series events even though he finished unbeaten in the Grand Slams. I still love it though Sampras is one of my idols

[BobJoeJim]

Interesting that Federer won the first match convincingly, was taken to tie-break in both sets of the second match, then lost the third in straight sets... Sampras just needed some time to get back in the groove, perhaps? Or... perhaps Federer needed some time to figure out how much to slack off to keep it interesting for the fans?

[NT!]

yeah if anyone thinks these matches are serious or that sampras could come back and beat federer in a major, please send him some letters begging him to come out of retirement. lol.

[pokergrader]

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Or... perhaps Federer needed some time to figure out how much to slack off to keep it interesting for the fans?

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And I think he did perfectly. Show the fans he can obviously dominate Sampras, then play a close one, then lose the last one so Sampras fans feel happy, yet he still wins the best of 3. Fed is very smart.

[EvilSteve]

If by "serious" you mean that both players are trying to win, then yes I think the matches are serious. I can't imagine Federer intentionally tanking a match, period. Sampras winning a best of three certainly doesn't prove that he's better than Federer overall, but it does show that if he's serving well he still has a chance against anyone on a fast surface. That to me is impressive for Sampras. It won't happen, but I think if this year Sampras decided to train for a comeback at Wimbledon, nobody would look forward to seeing him in their section of the draw.

[illini43]

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yeah if anyone thinks these matches are serious or that sampras could come back and beat federer in a major, please send him some letters begging him to come out of retirement. lol.

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If Sampras for some reason came out of retirement to play Wimbledon, he would easily be at least the #2 player in the world on grass right now and if himand Federer played a series of matches on grass for "real" I think the results would be closer than a lot of people think.

[gumpzilla]

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yeah if anyone thinks these matches are serious or that sampras could come back and beat federer in a major, please send him some letters begging him to come out of retirement. lol.

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If Sampras for some reason came out of retirement to play Wimbledon, he would easily be at least the #2 player in the world on grass right now and if himand Federer played a series of matches on grass for "real" I think the results would be closer than a lot of people think.

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What? This wasn't even very close to true when Sampras actually retired, I don't think.

[THAY3R]

They played once :

http://www.tenniscorner.net/index.php?co...id=794690244164

7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.

[gumpzilla]

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They played once :

http://www.tenniscorner.net/index.php?co...id=794690244164

7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.

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I watched that match. It was good.

The next year Sampras lost in the 2nd round to an unknown, I'm pretty sure. At that point there's pretty much no way he was the 2nd best grass court player in the world.