March 10 2007
Federer, Sampras's backyard battle
Indian Wells, California --- Roger Federer never got the opportunity to face Pete Sampras in a Wimbledon final but they will forever be linked for their Grand Slam achievements.
They are the benchmark for greatness in men's professional tennis and sadly they played in different eras and so they only faced each other once in the early rounds of the 2001 Wimbledon.
But Federer revealled Friday that he recently visited Sampras at his home in Los Angeles and practised with the seven-time Wimbledon champion for two days.
"He was very good, surprisingly," Federer said. "Very good you know, but not good enough to beat me."
Federer and Sampras met just once in their pro careers in the round of 16 at the 2001 Wimbledon with Federer winning in five sets 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5.
"Beating him in his backyard in Wimbledon was so special to me, so I wanted to try to beat him in his house," Federer joked Friday as he prepared to play his opening match in the 5.3 million dollar ATP/WTA Pacific Life Open.
Sampras said in January that he expects Federer will break his record of 14 Grand Slam singles crowns one day. Federer picked up his 47th career singles and 10th Grand Slam title by winning the Australian Open in January.
Sampras turned pro in 1988 and Federer ten years later. Besides the seven Wimbledons, 'Pistol Pete' won two Australian Open crowns and five US Open titles, including the 2002 championship in the final match of his career.
"I knew I was coming to LA so I rang up Pete," Federer said.
"I'm totally excited. I had the idea of seeing how good he plays, you know, because he was one of my favourite players when I was growing up."
Federer doesn't rule out seeing if he can arrange an exhibition match in public against Sampras.
"It would be kind of cool to maybe play an exhibition against him. We'll see. But he was playing very well."
They played several sets and tiebreaks but when asked to reveal the score Federer replied, "I can't tell you. But it was good fun."
Here is what Federer had to say about their practice sessions this week:
Q. I'm not sure I heard you correctly. You say you practiced with Pete?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, we hit together for two days.
Q. How did he play?
ROGER FEDERER: Very good, surprisingly. Very good, you know. Not good enough to beat me (laughing).
Q. If you could describe a little bit about playing with Pete. I mean, you get some flashes of his great shots, the winning forehand. What was it like?
ROGER FEDERER: That was great. Well, I knew I was coming to L.A., so I'm kind of thinking, who's around in L.A.? So, I rang up Pete and said, "Any chance?"
He was like, "Yeah, sure."
I'm totally excited. So right away I had the idea, anyway seeing how good he plays because he was one of my favorite players, when I was growing up and beating him in his backyard in Wimbledon was so special to me. I wanted to try to --- I wanted to beat him in his house. So it was very enjoyable to actually hit with him. It would be kind of cool to maybe play an exhibition against him. We'll see. But he was playing very well.
Q. Did you play some sets or?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, we did play some games and sets and tiebreaks and ---
Q. What was the score?
ROGER FEDERER: Can't tell you. But it was good fun.
Q. You talked about relations you had with Tiger Woods and now you've spent some time with Pete Sampras. Is there any similarities in the conversations you've had with the two guys, them both being legends?
ROGER FEDERER: A little similarities, but still very different, you know. Because with Pete, I can speak so much of that, you know, how is it for you, how it is for me, you know. And played the same tournaments, we even played against the same opponents. There's many more similarities with Pete than I had with Tiger, you know, off court. So you know, when we --- when I came up, you know, I never hardly spoke to Pete because you know, first of all, he was never around at the club, you know, hanging out. And when he would come into the locker room, everything was quiet, you know, because it was such respect from all the other players, you know.
And I only practiced with him once in Hamburg, and it started to rain. I was so disappointed. He was happy to get off, you know. You know, I'm happy now I played against him and it was great. And I'm happy to see that he's actually still enjoying tennis. He's actually back into tennis after probably being golfed out and the whole thing, so, you know, we'll see.