Posted on: September 12th, 2002
Aging Sampras in a class by himself
- petepageSeptember 12, 2002 GEORGE GROSS -- Toronto Sun
"He's a step and a half slow coming into the net. He's just not the same player. I lost the match. He didn't win the match tonight. He's not playing that great. I'll be surprised if he wins the next match."
-- Greg Rusedski, Sept. 2, 2002
These prophetic words were spoken by the former Canadian-turned British tennis traitor after Pete Sampras outlasted him in a five-set match in the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows and went on to win the prestigious tournament for the fifth time. It was Sampras' unprecedented 14th Grand Slam title.
It is painful to have to have to listen to this nouveau-Brit spewing such drivel in front of knowledgeable tennis journalists, who were quite aware that the Sampras at Flushing Meadow wasn't the same Sampras who had failed to win a tournament since capturing the 2000 Wimbledon championship after a virtuoso-like performance in the final against Australia's Patrick Rafter.
It is actually funny to hear Rusedski criticize Sampras since the closest sniff the former ever got of a Grand Slam title was one losing finals appearance in 1997 at the U.S. Open.
Sampras, at 31, is only two years older than the Montreal-born Rusedski and is in a class by himself. He plays the tennis racquet like Paganini used to play the violin. His serve is the most powerful and consistent in the history of the game.
The Californian, soon to become a father, has the most devastating second serve of any player -- present or past. His volleys are, most of the time, out of reach and he can hold his own with such baseliners as Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt.
I don't think I'd be going too much out on a limb to suggest that Pistol Pete Sampras is the best player in modern tennis history. No other player has won as many Grand Slam championships, which includes seven Wimbledons, five U.S. Opens and two Aussie Opens. The only one to escape him is the French Open at Roland Garos with its slow clay courts, ill-suited for a serve and volley player.
Who, then, should follow Sampras on a list of the top 20 tennis players in the modern era? I'm sure that I'll get arguments on that topic, but I've shied away from criticism. If we all were of the same opinion, the world of sport would be a very dull place.
My No. 2 on the list would be the greatest player from Down Under -- Rocket Rod Laver -- whom many consider the best player ever. The left-hander, whose forearm is as large as that of a heavyweight boxer's, excelled at all aspects of the game. He twice completed the Grand Slam sweep -- winning Wimbledon, the French, U.S. and Aussie Opens the same year -- once in 1962 as an amateur and then in 1969 as a pro.
Sliding into third on my list is American Donald Budge, who also won all four Grand Slams in 1938 and dominated tennis in those days on all surfaces.
Following these three is a group of superstars, who ruled the over-the-webbing sport on different occasions: Andre Agassi, who won all four Grand Slam events, albeit not in the same year, is a superb player, even at 32, and just last week gave Sampras a serious run in the U.S. Open final.
Add to that the quartet of Bjorn Borg -- winner of Wimbledon five times in a row -- who retired much too soon from the tennis scene; John McEnroe, probably the best doubles player in history to go with some of his Grand Slam titles in singles; Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Lew Hoad, Stefan Edberg, Ilie Nastase, John Newcombe, Guillermo Vilas, Boris Becker, Roy Emerson, Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, Fred Perry and Vitas Gerulaitis round out my top 20 list.
Where is Greg Rusedski's name, you may ask? I think he'd make my top 20 list of Canadian tennis players who changed passports to become British tennis players.
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