March 25, 2010
Pete Sampras --- An in Depth Look at His Game: Part 1
By Tribal Tech
There has been so much talk and so many articles about the Agassi-Sampras tete a tete in Indian Wells two weeks ago, I thought that it was time to get back to tennis! I would like to take a look at Sampras' game in detail. I think I will break this article into two parts. In the first part I will discuss his game in technical detail with some of my youtube clips. And in the next part I will take a look at some of his most important rivalries throughout his career.
Pete's serve
This has to be the most talked about and most recognised part of Pete's game, and for good reason, it was a tremendous shot! What made it so good? I've read a lot of theories over the years, from his very flexible shoulder to his ability to put the ball on a dime as the Americans would say. To me all of that is true. Also, it's often said he had the best second serve in the business, was not afraid to go for deep second serves, or even aces in tricky situations, and if his opponent got the ball back he was ready for a volley, a forehand or passing shot.
To me, it's the thought process which made his serve stand out, along with the ability to hit slice and kick with equal ability. On the deuce court, Pete liked to go to the forehand to open up the court for the next shot. Going to the forehand is always a risky shot but you have to take risks to win. Pete discussed in his book that by going to an opponent's strength you can break it down, a tactic he often used against Jim Courier for example.
On the ad court, this is where Sampras' serve stood out and where other players, male and female, have studied him and implemented the tactic in their games. As we know the ad court is the decision court where games are won and lost and break points saved.
Sampras stood very close to the centre line and with the same ball toss, often slightly behind him or above his head, he could hit it out wide to the backhand or go down the middle. When he went down the middle, he often came over it with topspin whilst adding slice, so the ball straightened after pitching, going away from the opponent's forehand --- anywhere between 110 to 135 mph.
He was capable of hitting second serves there over 120 mph. Many players' serves angle in to the returner;s forehand because they stand further away from the cenrtre line so they have to add more sidespin than slice. The ball may be fast but it's easier to return if they don't place it well. With that serve to the forehand Sampras really upped the ante often, challenging the opponent to come up with something, often they couldn't.
The other benefit of this tactic was reverse psychology, when the opponent was inching to the forehand side, Sampras would go to the backhand and the ace count would rise.
Some of the players who have used this technique and tactic of standing close to the centre line and swinging the serve to the forehand on big points? Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Maria Sharapova (pre shoulder problem). Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Juan Martin Del Potro are also attempting to use this tactic.
Here's an example of his serve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLEzs3f_vE
Pete's return of serve
Clearly this was not as good as his serve, but it was plenty good enough to win just under 1,000 matches on the tour. In his early years, Pete liked to run around the backhand to hit big forehand returns. In his later years he employed the chip and charge tactic a lot more, especially between 2000 and 2002 (a Paul Annacone influence).
One thing Sampras has always said is that it's the return of serve which wins Wimbledon. That's something a lot of people and journalists never focus on. There have been many players who serve just as well and maybe even better, especially the first serve like Karlovic, Kevin Curren, Philippoussis, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, and Roddick. Many of these players have never won Wimbledon because they don't return as well and are not athletic enough to get around the court.
Pete also knew when to step up return games, if he wanted to crush an opponent, he would go after them every game, if he wanted to conserve energy, he would focus on certain games to raise his returning level. He was a smart player.
An example of his returning game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REBLJwzdRH8
Pete's Forehand
A shot not too dissimilar to Steffi Graf's in the sense that Pete used that shot to do a lot of damage in the baseline rallies, although Pete was much more willing than Graf to use the topspin backhand to set up the forehand.
Pete and Jim Courier modeled their games on Ivan Lendl by often covering the backhand side to be able to hit the inside out forehand or inside in forehand (down the line in plain English!) to dictate play. Sampras' grip was a conventional eastern/semi western depending on his choice of shot, he often changed his grip to hit his shots, unlike an Edberg who used the same grip for all shots (who does that now?). Sampras' forehand is up there among the very best in history because he was able to generate incredible pace and get a lot of spin on the ball with reasonably high net clearance for control, unlike an Agassi who often hit it flatter on average. Sampras in my opinion has the best running forehand, crosscourt and down the line, in history, along with Ivan Lendl.
Two examples here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnUZtuOGKUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5rxZhVjrVM
Pete's Backhand
A shot often described as a weakness by the media, it wasn't as good as his forehand. It was seen as more reliable than his forehand in his early years on the tour. It was a damned good shot and of course everything is relative.
On clay he didn't like it up high, but not many players do, even players with two hands struggle up there, like Kim Clijsters. What Sampras was good at was trading topspin backhands with the likes of Agassi and Courier who tried to stay away from his forehand. Sampras hit them very high over the net with a lot of loop, quite deep, trying to get a short ball he could attack.
He would also use the slice to mix up the play trying to get his opponent off balance to take over the rally, a tactic I like and something Amelie Mauresmo did often. Sampras also was not afraid to use the backhand down the line to stretch his opponent.
Here are two exmples of his backhand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx5dDAILnyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXacOtT0RBk
Pete's Passing Shots
This is clearly one of the reasons Pete won so many Wimbledons in an era of attacking players. He was able to return serve and hit passing shots better than his attack minded rivals of that era on grass, mainly Becker, Edberg, Stich, Krajicek, Henman, Ivaneisvic, Philippoussis, and Rusesdski. Pete had the ability to hit any passing backhand and forehand down the line, cross court and lob, or go to the body, opening up the next shot.
Two examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFiOslvMvXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8IH0SHMoQ&feature=related
Pete's Movement
Pete was a very smooth mover around the court. And in his book he discussed why he often felt he had the measure of Agassi, he said that he moved better than Agassi and therefore in the baseline rallies he could hold his own and often come out on top. Fred Perry's quote sums it up best "Sampras moves like oil, you don't hear him, you just hear the other guy, and the other guy's losing"
An example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF_cL1NbIKs
Sampras' Net Game
I think its fair to say that from that era, Edberg and Rafter had better volleys, but Pete is not far off their level. I think Pete had a better forehand volley because of his firm wrist, but Edberg and Rafter had better overall volleys.
Pete came into his own on half volleys and stop volleys. Due to his athleticism he came up with amazing volley winners out of nothing, often leaving his opponent dumbfounded. Amelie Mauresmo is the one player from the last few years I've seen do similar feats with similar effect on her opponents.
As for overheads, Pete probably has the best overhead in history. Not too many players got lobs over him, his athleticism up there was incredible and his slam dunk a signature shot. As the commentator Bill Threlfall said once, Sampras has rubber legs!
Volleys example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hvNrdXIrJE
Example of his Overhead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXTrby91BtY
In the next part, I will look at Sampras against his rivals and his how his game changed and evolved under Tim Gullickson and then Paul Annacone.