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Roger Federer, in his ultra-modern all-black getup, and Pete Sampras, in his old-school all-white outfit, showed off the skills that earned them a combined 26 Grand Slam titles and more than a decade of No. 1 rankings.
It was an exhibition, yes, but Federer still flicked his fancy strokes from all angles, just the way he does on tennis’ grandest stages these days.
Sampras still smacked big forehands and bigger aces, just the way he did back in his day.
Federer is closing in on Sampras’ record of 14 major tennis championships, a mark that truly exists only in black in white, written in a record book. For nearly 2 1/2 hours, before an appreciative and occasionally raucous gathering of 19,690 at Madison Square Garden, these two living, breathing greats of the game shared a court.
Pistol Pete vs. The Federer Express.
The Past vs. The Present.
“Good vs. Evil,” as Sampras said with a snicker earlier in the day.
And, as one might expect, youth was served.
Current No. 1 Federer beat former No. 1 Sampras 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6) in an encounter that certainly doesn’t settle the “Who is better?” debate, given that one participant is 26 and the other is 36, and nothing more than bragging rights was on the line. It did, however, raise tennis’ profile, make both men some money - $1 million for Federer, less for Sampras - and, well, allow people to say they saw Sampras, the best of his generation, face Federer, the best of his.
No one can say they saw Ali face Tyson in a boxing ring. Or Hogan face Woods on a golf course.
Tiger Woods, who happens to be pals with Federer, sat in the front row Monday, part of a sellout crowd that included Donald Trump, Regis Philbin and Anna Wintour. They sat around a blue, hard court, set up where the NBA’s Knicks and NHL’s Rangers play.
“This is maybe why so many people came out: You don’t often get the No. 1 in his prime playing against maybe the greatest player of all time,” said Federer, who recently recovered from a bout of mononucleosis that he thinks contributed to losses in his past two tour matches.
After Monday’s match, Federer referred to Sampras as “my childhood hero.”
It was the fourth Federer-Sampras exhibition; Federer won two of their three encounters in Asia late last year.
“I thought I had him there for a split second,” said Sampras, who led 5-2 in the third set Monday.
The two only played one real match, back at Wimbledon in 2001, when an up-and-coming Federer edged an on-the-way-out Sampras in a five-setter on Centre Court.
That ended Sampras’ 31-match winning streak at the All England Club; he would never add to his seven titles there. Federer would go on to win five consecutive championships at Wimbledon, a streak that he will try to extend this summer.
Sampras retired with 14 Grand Slam singles trophies, the last at the 2002 U.S. Open, the final tournament of his career. Federer’s count is already up to 12, and Sampras acknowledges he fully expects the record to change hands - and that the kid could wind up with 18 or 19 Slams.
On this night, Sampras showed off the serve-and-volley style that carried him to a record six straight years ranked No. 1. And Federer showed off the all-court game that has helped him enjoy a record streak of more than 200 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1.
Both players took things seriously at times. They also took things frivolously at times, such as when Sampras spiked his racket to the court in mock disgust at a line call. He glanced at Federer with a wink and smile and sheepishly continued play.
Moments later, Sampras hit a volley winner and pumped his fist and threw two uppercuts, proudly playing to the crowd in a way he rarely did during a professional career marked by equal doses of excellence and stoicism.
Before the match, Sampras spoke about hoping to find “some old magic” - enough just to keep things interesting. He did that and more, earning his first break point with a cross-court forehand winner that would win a real point in a real match in a real tournament right now.
“You still got it, Pete!” rang a cry from the stands.
And right on cue, as if to remind that spectator and maybe even himself that he enjoys retirement, Sampras proceeded to miss three consecutive shots and lose that game.
“It’s just amazing to see how well Pete still hangs in there,” Federer said afterward.
If there are tennis fans or insiders who harbor doubts or hold debates about which of these two was or is greater, Sampras sure sounded before the match like someone who’s made up his mind. He lavished praise on Federer as they sat elbow-to-elbow during a packed news conference Monday morning at a restaurant across the street from Central Park.
Thinking back on their lone professional encounter, seven years ago, Sampras was quick to point out: “I knew back then that he was special.”
Why?
Sampras nearly ran out of breath as he strung together a series of compliments, one right after the other.
“Roger moves great, he hits the ball great on the run, he serves very well, he can come in if he wants to, stay back. He possesses the best forehand in the game. He’s got the best mind out there,” Sampras said.
Not finished, Sampras continued the fawning moments later: “His movement is incredible - what he’s able to do on the run. I’ve played quick movers before, but he moves great. That’s what separates him from the rest. He has the whole package. There’s nothing he can’t do. It’s really incredible.”

via AOL

Roger Federer loves Pete Sampras’ game, even if the old guy last played a real match in 2002.

“He’s so fluent, you know? His whole technique is so smooth,” Federer said. “And it was funny sometimes, because when I played him, it was intimidating. Because he reminded me so much of myself.”

How’s that for a compliment?

Similarly, Sampras loves Federer’s attitude, even if the youngster is fast approaching Sampras’ record for career Grand Slam titles.

“I don’t think he gets too overwhelmed, too worked up,” Sampras said.

Sound familiar?

Sampras, the best of his generation, and Federer, the best of his, bring two eras of excellence together Monday night, when they play an exhibition match at a sold-out Madison Square Garden. It’s the first men’s professional tennis match at the New York arena in a dozen years.

Pistol Pete vs. The Artful Roger.

The past vs. the present: Sampras is 36; Federer is 26.

A total of 26 major singles championships, 14 for Sampras vs. 12 for Federer.

A total of 10 year-end No. 1 finishes in the rankings, a record six for Sampras vs. four for Federer.

Sampras’ serve-and-volley style, something rarely seen these days.

Federer’s all-court brilliance, conjuring up shots rarely if ever seen.

They only played each other once on tour, in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2001, when Federer beat Sampras in five sets.

That came after Sampras had won the last of his seven titles at the All England Club, and before Federer began his current streak of five consecutive championships there.

“I knew he was extremely talented then - a lot of power, didn’t have holes in his game,” Sampras said. “He figured it out, kind of how I figured it out in my early 20s. Then, the way he started winning majors pretty much with ease, I just accepted that he was going to break my record.”

They have started to get acquainted with each other’s personality and tennis, having played three exhibitions in Asia in November.

Federer won the first two, and Sampras won the third.

Now comes their first matchup in the United States, a best-of-three-sets encounter on an indoor hard court.

“Look, Roger Federer obviously is a huge favorite, just based on the fact that he’s 10 years younger and is playing full-on. He certainly is not going to go out there in front of 19,000 people in New York City and want to lose to Pete Sampras,” U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said. “And Sampras is going to want to show that he can still play. … Will it have the same intensity as a U.S. Open final? No. But it will be very competitive. Both guys will want to play as well as they can.”

For Federer, Monday’s match might represent an exhibition with no trophy at stake and a guaranteed payday, but it also represents a chance to get in some work.

He’s coming off consecutive losses, in the Australian Open semifinals and the first round of an event in Dubai, so there hasn’t been much activity of late for a guy accustomed to playing all the way to the end of tournament after tournament.

It wasn’t until Friday that word emerged from his camp that Federer was diagnosed last month with mononucleosis, an energy-sapping infection caused by a virus.

“The good news really is to be certain of what has occurred,” Federer said in a posting on his Web site. “The bad news is that I have quite some catching up to do in terms of fitness as I am not in the physical state that I would normally be in at this time of the year.”

via MSN

Pete Sampras was hardly at the height of his powers when he handed Roger Federer the keys to Centre Court at Wimbledon, losing their only head-to-head encounter that counted.

Sampras would go on to win only one more match at the All England Club after that 2001 defeat, never coming close to adding to his seven championships at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Federer, a decade younger, would go on to supplant Sampras at No. 1 in the rankings, assume Pistol Pete’s status as a perennial power at Wimbledon with five consecutive titles there, and begin to chip, chip, chip away at his record for major trophies.

So perhaps fair’s fair, considering that Federer has been, well, rather un-Federer-esque heading into his latest exhibition match against Sampras, which is Monday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Yes, Federer actually is on a rare losing streak. The Swiss star was upset in the Australian Open semifinals in January - preventing him from adding to his 12 Grand Slams, two shy of Sampras’ total - and then in the first round of a tournament in Dubai this month.

That’s right. Gasp! Two consecutive losses.

“I think it’s a cause of concern for Federer, to be honest,” U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said. “To me, it’s really big that these guys go out there and don’t seem to be intimidated by Federer and have sort of figured out that if you play consistently and can run a lot of balls down and make Federer hit a lot of shots, that you can beat him. Certainly, I wouldn’t say it’s a crisis for Federer. But I’d say that his days of utter domination may be coming to an end.”

An explanation emerged Friday, though: It turns out Federer was diagnosed in February with mononucleosis, an infection caused by a virus with symptoms that include fever, sore throat, headaches and feeling tired.

“This gave him a reason for why he wasn’t able to move and why he wasn’t able to recover,” said Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick. “It was annoying for him to not have reasons for why his body wasn’t responding.”

Sampras, who beat Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final in his last professional match, paid quite a compliment recently by comparing tennis’ current top player, Federer, to its former standard-bearer, himself.

“He’s got a good perspective. Doesn’t get too high or low on losses or wins. You know, just sort of has that attitude that I had: single-minded focus,” Sampras said. “He just goes out there and wins.”

And make no mistake: While there’s no Grand Slam championship or winner-take-all cash prize on the line Monday, that drive could very well be on display.

“He’s not going to want to lose; I’m not going to want to lose,” Sampras said. “That’s what people are coming to really see. It’s not us doing cartwheels. It’s about me serving 130 (mph) on the line.”

After all, for the two of them, just as for the more than 19,000 people who will be in the arena and however many might be watching live coverage on the Tennis Channel, it represents a rare instance of a “Who would win?” argument coming to life.

Tiger Woods vs. Jack Nicklaus.

Mike Tyson vs. Muhammad Ali.

It just does not happen often.

“There’s going to be a never-ending debate about who is the best or who would have done what against people from the previous era. We can talk about this for days and not come to a conclusion. That’s part of why this match is attracting a lot of attention and a sellout crowd,” said Ivan Lendl, who won eight Slam titles and is helping promote Monday’s event.

“They didn’t get to the top of the field in their time - and most likely top two or three or four all-time - by not being competitive,” Lendl said in a telephone interview. “So, yes, there may be a little lightheartedness, but at the end of the day, I think both will want to win rather urgently.”

So who will win, Ivan?

“If it goes the way I think it will go, in terms of atmosphere and a good match, the winner, in my mind, will be tennis,” he said. “How’s that for avoiding the question?”

The current edition of Madison Square Garden opened in 1968, and has hosted Sinatra, Ali-Frazier, and Knicks and Rangers championship teams. But it’s been a dozen years since a men’s tennis match was played there.

That could be why MSG told the Federer-Sampras promoter, Jerry Solomon, it would be pleased if 2,500 tickets were bought during the first three days of sales in January. Instead, more than 8,000 were gone within 72 hours, Solomon said, and the whole thing effectively was sold out in three weeks.

“There’s just a tremendous interest in these two guys. Pete retired after winning the U.S. Open and then sort of wasn’t around anymore. Roger has not been, until recently, all that high-profile in America,” said Solomon, who worked to promote a tennis event at the Garden at the start of his career in the 1970s.

“So I think there’s just a real fascination with these two guys, who are not only great champions but great people and great ambassadors for the sport. They don’t get in trouble. They’re not throwing rackets. They’re really world-class guys, in addition to being world-class tennis players.”

He hopes it’s enough of a success that it sets the stage for an annual tennis evening at the site.

McEnroe, slated to be on hand Monday for a prematch tribute to his Davis Cup-winning team, agrees the sport benefits from this kind of showcase event.

“The buzz in New York is pretty big. It’s a great idea. They’re giving the people what they want,” he said. “Quite honestly, tennis needs more of this kind of thing. We’re a little behind the ball when it comes to things like this, unique kinds of things. With all the personalities that tennis has, whether it’s current players or former players, it proves that there’s a market for that.”

Federer, 26, and Sampras, 36, faced each other three times in Asia in November, and by all accounts wound up as friends and mutual admirers. Federer took the first match 6-4, 6-3 in Seoul, and the second 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in Kuala Lumpur, while Sampras claimed the third 7-6 (8), 6-4 in Macau.

Federer came away impressed, saying Sampras’ volleys would match up with the best on tour these days and acknowledging that Sampras’ serve still stings.

“You can wake him up at 2 in the morning,” Federer said, “and he’ll hit a monster serve.”

via MSN