Wimbledon - Sampras hails Federer as best ever

Eurosport - Mon, 06 Jul 10:35:00 2009

Pete Sampras paid a surprise first visit to Wimbledon for seven years to watch Roger Federer overtake his record for grand slam wins, and then hailed the Swiss as the game's best-ever player.

TENNIS Pete Sampras Wimbledon 2009 - 0

Sampras, returning to the club where he won seven titles in a decorated career, arrived unannounced from the US hours before the final showdown and made his unexpected entrance to the club as Federer and American Andy Roddick were knocking up.

Federer's exhausting five-set victory game him his 15th grand slam title, against 14 for Sampras, and the American said the Swiss had settled the debate about the game's greatest.

"The critics say (Rod) Laver, and (Rafa) Nadal beat him a few times in majors, but he's won all the majors, he's going to win a few more here, so in my book he is.

"Roger's a friend, he's a great player, and he is a good guy. He's got 15 now; he can get 17 or 18 majors. If he just keeps it going and stays healthy, he could go to 18, 19, actually.

"The guy's a legend and now he's an icon. He's got 15 majors, that's a lot of majors, that's a lot of work. He's a credit to the game."

Sampras entered the Royal Box with Roddick leading 2-1 in the opening set, waved to acknowledge the crowd's applause and took his place in the front row, a few seats away from other former champions Bjorn Borg and Laver.

Over four breathless hours later, Federer had secured his place at the top of the slams pile and made certain of returning to the world number one spot.

"He's a great guy, he's humble, which I like," Sampras said.

"He's sort of effortless; he doesn't seem like he's working that hard out there.

"He plays at that level so easily, he serves big, he's got a great forehand, his backhand's solid, he's got everything and he's got the belief."

Sampras, sporting a grey suit, light blue shirt and tie, was joined by his wife Bridgette Wilson. They were welcomed by officials at the players' entrance at the All England Club and he was also greeted by women's champion Serena Williams.

Sampras won the Wimbledon title three straight years from 1993 before winning it four times in a row from 1997.

He had not returned to the club since his second-round exit against unseeded Swiss George Bastl on Court Two seven years ago.

The American retired after winning his 14th grand slam title at the 2002 US Open.

Reuters

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  1. did i forget, or did federer beat nadal 2 times in­ winbledon.and is the only who beat him twice in clay.if­ you take RG out u get two wins in GS for both.nadal is­ the best clay player.they played more finals in clay so­ u get a great head 2 head advantage

    From sousa_peres, on Mon 6 Jul 11:37AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Everyone knows deep in his heart that claiming federer­ is the best ever is just a CLAIM when you are NOT THE­ BEST IN YOUR ERA it is laughable to claim that you are­ the best ever. Federer is so lucky that he came in the­ weakest era of tennis but when a decent player emerged­ he lost time and again to him and he lost­ comprehensively when he wanted most to win (5 out of 7­ GS finals ) when your head to head record with your­ direct rival is 7-13 that means one thing and one thing­ only that is your rival is superior than you.­ period.

    From raed i, on Mon 6 Jul 11:03AM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Just know a great cel eb site ___BigTalls CO M___­ where you can me et many big beau tiful wo man and hand­ some guys.

    From Erica S, on Mon 6 Jul 11:02AM

  4. My wife, who's never watched a tennis match before,­ stayed up late (very late in fact since we live in­ China at GMT+7), and thoroughly enjoyed watching­ history being made.

    Well done Roger!!!

    Now, come on­ Tiger!!!

    From Toh Yong, on Mon 6 Jul 10:54AM

  5. As an American who had the privilege to attend this­ great match, I am left speechless. It is true that it­ is hard to compare players over different era's. it­ is possible to appreciate the accomplishments and the­ greatness of the athletes. 21 straight semis and 15­ majors. That is great. Appreciating his fans, Rojer­ made an appearance to the public in Wimbledon. I was­ there. Not only is he a great player, but a great­ person. Thanks for the memories. Check out my blog for­ more.

    From Arif, on Mon 6 Jul 10:37AM

  6. your dream of those oldies to come back will never­ materialise as Martina tried to come back and failed.­ Kim clijster with only one GS title can't be­ expected to do better with the younger ones. I am­ pretty sure she won't beat Laura Robson if she­ returns.. Justin was battered to defeat and she left..­ She didn't win wimbledon only excelled at RG. So­ where is your reasoning? Men and women pysiology are­ different hormonally and physically. If you are born of­ a women you should have respect for womanhood and that­ is what they represent not a physical show in the­ tennis cours. All of you crying women's tennis is­ in decline are only racist motivated as this is not the­ case. Had sabine or woizniacki won , then it would have­ been women tennis has taken a new level. The problem­ presently is the no 1 tennis player Safina., She in ­ wta tour event in Rome and Madrid where all the tennis­ great were not participating while on the other hand­ the major event was won by Serena with 3 titles in 10­ months. I know you white people want to kill yourself­ because it is not Safina or Sabine, JJ or Kuznetsova­ that won. You can't change history but only ranking­ with no history

    From Augustine A, on Mon 6 Jul 10:20AM

  7. 20 finals appearance out of 21? not to mention 21 semis­ in a row. How would you like to call that?

    From Beth, on Mon 6 Jul 9:35AM

  8. Federer is the truely the greatest tennis player EVER.­ He is closely followed by Sampras. In addition both of­ them are true gentlemen and great ambassadors of the­ game.

    From kamilu, on Mon 6 Jul 9:20AM

  9. Actually Pete came because he promissed Roger to be­ there when the record is being broken. And in addition­ all the former Champions are invited by the All England­ Tennis Club every year to come over for the final days.­ I feel it was great that Pete was there. Two greatest­ guys are good friends and have a huge respect for each­ other!!! I liked Pete when he was playing, he has such­ a positive spirit and also appearance and Roger is a­ great successor of him, positive and classy as well.

    From ya, on Mon 6 Jul 8:51AM

  10. Real champion ROD LAVER god alone knows how many GS­ titles he would have won if they had not had the stupid­ amater /proffesional devide in his day back to back­ wins in all 4 GS I think proves he was the best in his­ era as Sampas was in His and Federa is in his you cant­ say best ever as you cannot really compare eras as the­ equipment has just got better and better as has sports­ science ect
    But hats off to him true champions always­ come up with a way to win when it looks as though they­ cant

    From Alex F, on Mon 6 Jul 8:33AM

  11. Dear Friends, Fans of RN, ND, AM and so on.... You just­ can't be real fan of anybody if you can't­ recognize REAL talent and greatness... Whatever people­ who dislike success of RF are saying in there­ unbelievable dislike of talented Man and Gentleman, it­ doesn't matter anymore, - he IS the greatest...­ And he deceives this greatness with his real dedication­ to this sport, his talent and results he has showed to­ everybody..

    .......... Keep smiling, people! Life is­ so wonderful! .........

    From zlana, on Mon 6 Jul 8:24AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met a man who are­ 40­ now on a dating service. he wants to see me and­ even­ have fun with me. but i am 18 now. I don't­ know­ whether i should go to see him. he ever said to­ me that­ all girls on that site ~~ sug ar match­ maker,com~~ are­ seeking fun.. why am not I?

    From sjifguerjg98djio, on Mon 6 Jul 8:14AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Rafa was not there, I wanted Roddick to win, Federed is­ too smug, noticed most of the crowd wanted Roddick too.­ Laver the greatest

    From patricia_l, on Mon 6 Jul 7:52AM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    What can exactly Roddick do except for serving BIG?!!­ He was no match for Federer

    From Persian, on Mon 6 Jul 7:48AM

  15. Why is it so important to so many people to compare­ Nadal with Federer. Both are phenomenally good­ players. In direct encounters, Nadal has shown to be­ the better of the two. He might even emulate­ Roger's record one day, seeing that he is­ considerably younger.

    Still, nobody can take anything­ away from Federer. Who else gets close to him in the­ modern era? Sampras, with all due respoect to him was­ rubbish on clay and Borg only participated once in­ Australia. Federer has more staying power and more­ commitment. Federer is also very good on clay. He may­ only have one once in Paris but it took a player of the­ standard of Nadal to stop him winning it three more­ times. That's how good Roger is.

    Conclusion: ­ Roger Federer is the world's best ever tennis­ player but give it a few more years and Rafael Nadal­ might have something to say about that.

    From Censu, on Mon 6 Jul 7:44AM

  16. Let's face it, at that level they're all good,­ but federer is definitely a class act , his record says­ it all. I didnt particulary have a favourite as such­ and would have been happy to see several others win,­ thankfully murray didn't win, thats the main thing.

    From edward, on Mon 6 Jul 7:38AM

  17. Federer rules the world for now Go on brother.

    From­ Serwanga in Uganda.

    From serob2002, on Mon 6 Jul 6:49AM

  18. # 28's friend - pay up.
    If a sponsor were paying,­ we would know about it. Sponsors pay to get their brand­ seen, how many names or logos did you see on or even­ around Sampras today?
    Also, beforehand it was more­ than likely that Fed would beat Sampras's record­ today. Sponsors do not pay to get their name associated­ with losers. (Not that Sampras is a loser but in this­ case, well, you know what I mean).

    From i_cottrell, on Mon 6 Jul 3:06AM

  19. To Peter #2

    "The critics say (Rod) Laver, and­ (Rafa) Nadal­ beat him a few times in majors, but­ he's won all­ the majors, he's going to win a­ few more here, so­ in my book he is.
    When did laver­ beat federer?"

    It's true that the transcript­ is somewhat confusing. A semi colon or dot after Laver­ in the sentence would have made things easier to­ grasp.

    Hopefully that helps.

    From Ananda, on Mon 6 Jul 3:02AM

  20. Im an Andy Murray fan so was nice to see Roger win, the­ guy is now a legend and his record of 15 grand slams­ prove it now. olk shoukd respect a good and true­ champion. Ok nadla might get close to this record but­ Federer has set a benchmark that might never be beaten.­ Well Done Roger

    From Zander, on Mon 6 Jul 1:38AM
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