Pete Sampras was the greatest tennis player of all time till the time the Big 3 were not here. He was the poster boy for tennis around the world and why not. He had won the most number of Grand Slam titles at 14 and he was also World number 1 for many years. He was the hero for a lot of the tennis players of today and especially from the USA. We will talk about his Records and best performances below. It is one of my life’s regrets that I was not able to see Pete Sampras play live during his prime.
Pete Sampras is a name that all the tennis fans from the 1980s and beyond would know. He has won 14 Grand Slam titles among which he has won Wimbledon 7 Times and the US Open 5 times but he was unable to win the French Open In his career. He has a win loss record of 762-222 which gives him a win % of 77.4% which is very good. His career prize money was $43,280,489. Let’s look at the Top 5 Performances of Pete Sampras.
1993 Wimbledon Final vs Jim Courier
The first performance that we will talk about is the 1993 Wimbledon Final against his USA compatriot Jim Courier and Pete Sampras won the match and the title in a four set thriller. The first 2 sets were some of the best tennis that both the players had Played but in both the tie breaks it was Pete Sampras who edged out Jim and won the first 2 sets 7-6 and 7-6. In the 3rd set Jim Courier came back to win it by 6-3 and it was looking like it would go to a 5th but Pete Sampras won the 4th set 6-3 and won the 1993 Wimbledon title.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Roger Federer
1990 US Open Final vs Andre Agassi
This was the first Grand Slam win for Pete Sampras and it came against his greatest rival Andre Agassi who was ranked 8 places higher than him in this match, but Pete Sampras was so dominant in this final that it sent shockwaves throughout the tennis World and the fans and fellow players took notice of Pete Sampras. He dominated the whole match from start to end and won it in 3 sets and each set he got better and won more convincingly. The scoreline was 6-4,6-3 and 6-2. It was the first Grand Slam of 14 in his career.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Novak Djokovic
1994 Australian Open Final vs Todd Martin
This was his first Australian Open title and it came in another dominating match in 1994 when he was the world number 1 and no one could bear him. Pete Sampras showed his fellow Americans how great he was by winning the match in just 3 sets and under 2 hours. He won the 1st set in a tie break 7-6 but the next 2 sets were easy for Pete as he won them 6-4 and 6-4 and won his maiden Australian Open title. It was a statement performance that he was the best in the world.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Rafael Nadal
1995 Wimbledon Final vs Boris Becker
Boris Becker was another one of the great rivals of Pete Sampras and they would clash in the 1005 Wimbledon Final and it was a thrilling match as it was the number 2 vs number 3 in the final. Boris Becker won the 1st set in a tie break and was leading by 7-6 but what then followed was the great comeback of Pete Sampras which the fans did not get to see all the time. He won the next 3 sets back to back 6-2,6-4 and 6-2 and won the Wimbledon title yet again in a match that the world applauded. Both players were at their prime.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Serena Williams
1997 Australian Open Final vs Carlos Moya
The last performance that we will talk about is the 1997 Australian Open Final vs a new young player in Carlos Moya who had an unbelievable tournament to reach the final but he stumbled across the best in the world in Pete Sampras who won the match easily in 3 sets and the readers who are in the look for 5 set thrillers in this list need to blame Pete Sampras for being so good. He won this final 6-2,6-3 and 6-3 and yet again it was Pete Sampras who added to his Grand Slam tally.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Performances of Andre Agassi
