December 4, 2010
Sampras: One of the best to watch when in the zone
By Tribal Tech
Last week I went to the ATP World Tour finals here in London. I watched Nadal beat Berdych in fairly routine fashion, although it was a tight first set which went to a tiebreak. As usual Nadal played a solid match and his athleticism is always an incredible sight.
I've seen Nadal play before twice at the French Open in the last three years defeating Moya and Almagro fairly easily. But it got me thinking that I wouldn't consider Nadal as a player that would get into the Zone (ah yes the mythical zone!!) and play Tennis that would blow his opponent away and have people talk about it for years afterwards.
And extending on this theme, there haven't been too many players who've done that in the last 25 years. Of course there have been great performances by one player over the other for example Nadal against Federer in the 2008 French final, Edberg against Courier in the 1991 US Open final or Becker against Edberg in the 1989 Wimbledon final.
But I think Pete Sampras was one player that when in the zone, would blow his opponent away. In this current generation, Roger Federer has clearly done something similar to many opponents.
However, I like the fact that Sampras did it in matches when no one was expecting it, and against opponents who were considered on a par with him. For instance, Federer's performance against Roddick in the 2007 Australian semifinal was astounding, but Roddick was and is a clear league below Federer in talent and in my eyes is not a naturally talented player anyway.
In more recent times, Tsonga's destruction of Nadal in the 2008 Australian semifinal was unbelievable but Tsonga has played nowhere near that level since, which is unfortunate. In the modern game, players like Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are very good, but neither have the power to really blow away opponents from start to finish, they are more grinders --- even if both players are extremely talented.
What I find intriguing about watching Sampras when he was in the zone is the pace he played at, he was always ready to serve! If I think of Lendl, Nadal, Courier, Becker, Djokovic, these guys played at a very deliberate pace especially when stepping up to serve, so their game was not just about what they are / were going to do, it also has the effect of breaking the rhythm and concentration of the opponent. Because Sampras' serve was so rhythmical, he appeared to be rushing his opponent which aided their feeling of helplessness. I'm not sure if Sampras did this intentionally, but it certainly had that effect.
Notable examples of players being in the zone over another top opponent include:
2000 ATP Masters final: Gustavo Kuerten defeated Andre Agassi in straight sets (3 sets). Kuerten had the ability that when his backhand flowed, he came up with amazing shots, plus he had a very good first serve as well. He gave Agassi no chance although Agassi tried everything in his experience to break Gustavo's rhythm.
2007 Australian Open final: Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. In my opinion, Serena's greatest performance, she returned Sharapova's serve like it was nothing, it was a remarkable performance.
2000 US Open final: Safin defeated Sampras in straight sets. Safin never hit so many clean passing winners in one match, and never did it again. Safin also showed that a guy 6 ft 5 can also be a great mover around the court.
2004 US Open final: Federer defeated Hewitt 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 --- What a scoreline! Federer blew away Hewitt in the 1st set, Hewitt serves for the 2nd set and gets broken. Federer takes the tiebreak then blew away Hewitt in the 3rd set.
These are matches where Sampras was in the zone, and played near perfect Tennis:
1999 Wimbledon final: Sampras defeated Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Agassi went into this match as a slight favourite by the bookies and commentators (not by me!) probably because they were looking for a new champion and Sampras didn't start the year well.
And Agassi started very well, matching Sampras in every department including the serve for the first 7 games of the match. But from 3:3 love 40 on the Sampras serve, the rest is well history as they say, Sampras went to another level. I think the stretch of 5 games won by Sampras between late in the 1st set and early 2nd set is the best tennis ever played by one player over another top opponent who was actually playing very well.
1999 ATP final: Sampras defeated Agassi 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. The scoreline is emphatic and Sampras played so well and Andre was so deflated, he declined the invitation to address the audience after the match. Andre beat Pete in the round robin match but got a drubbing in the final. The announcer summed it up when he asked Pete "You said you wanted to use this match as a test for next season, is this how you test?!"
1993 US Open quarterfinal: Sampras defeated Michael Chang 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, 6-1. Sampras lost the 1st set on a tiebreak 7-0! But then won the 2nd set on a tiebreak, then after going 2-1 up in the 3rd set, won 11 games in a row and Chang managed to avoid the bagel at the end of the 4th set. But it was the way Sampras played which was so incredible, he went into the match with a 6-1 deficit against Chang but ended hitting winners left and right in an all court masterclass. That was a stage of Sampras' career where he didn't do as much serving and volleying on hard courts.
Other notable Sampras master class performances include:
1990 US Open final: defeated Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
1997 Davis cup semifinal: defeated Patrick Rafter 6-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
1997 Australian Open final: defeated Carlos Moya 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
2000 US Open quarterfinal: defeated Richard Krajicek 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2
1995 Wimbledon final: defeated Boris Becker 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Finally, three videos of Sampras "in the zone"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAsmtp1nSqE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q84AZ1Qsys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozxjmfIuvEo