I love Sampras' game, and believe that he's amongst the top 3 greatest of all time, maybe #1.....I really believe that his forward, "in-you-face" style would have given Federer fits, when Sampras was at his best on a fast court. HOWEVER, he had to be the only person on the planet who didn't like Rafter. What was up with the hand-shake at the end of the match? Total disrespect and arrogance on Sampras' end. Like Rafter said, "we all know how great Pete is...He doesn't need to prove anything".
Cool guy Pat seems to be and what a fantastic athlete too. Compare to nowadays, they were both such amazing volleyers and have they ever slowed the courts down. No wonder few dare come to the net now and it also explains why, when they do get there, so may of them can't put away even the most basic of volleys or overheads.
It's not the players fault, but In my own opinion, the best tennis players are able to win on all 4 surface speeds : Very Fast ( Wimbledon ), Medium Fast ( US Open ), Medium ( Australian Open) , Slow ( French Open ). Those categories simply don't exist anymore and the competition is one-dimensional now ... baseline orgy.
Unfortunately, in today's tennis era, because of the surface modifications, it's not possible to see the best tennis out there. By slowing down the surfaces at Wimbledon and US Open, the two fastest surfaces, they have basically eliminated serve & volley from the circuit and cut the competition in half.
Yes, when you slow down all the courts serve and volley does become less effective. But boring ? No lol. 30 rally baseline fests with no variety is boring.
They were trying to say they prefer Rafter over Sampras because Sampras was a ' jerk ' and ' emotionless '. I prefer 14 grand slams over a rock star and then I went on to explain why Sampras may have appeared to be a jerk to Rafter. This is really getting boring. Peace out.
What ??? I just explained how it does ... lol. The initial conflict was that they preferred Rafter over Sampras because they saw Rafter as less of a jerk and more emotional than Sampras. My counter comment indicated that I prefer Sampras because he was simply a better player ( head to head record and ' grand slam tally ' ). I then explained that Sampras wasn't as much of a jerk as they may like to think ( closing sentence of first comment). Get all that ?
@splendid1000 What ??? So you prefer one player over another based on success? Hilarious.
And there's no doubting Rafter's a better guy. Rafter's always seemed like a warm, genuine and funny guy whereas Sampras, though I don't dislike him, has always come across as self righteous and quite arrogant.
Wow man, you almost made me tear up there for a second. Oh wait no, those are tears of laughter haha. You know what's even more hilarious ? People thinking they know a player personally from watching them play tennis on tv and a couple post match interviews ( usually after a match they just won ) where they cater to fans and sponsors ... You know ... the people that sign their paychecks lol. All of the real greats have come across as arrogant ( confident ) at times.
Sampras came across as arrogant from time to time as a counter attack against people who called him emotionless, etc. He let people know that he does his talking on the court ( something most other players couldn't do ). Tennis is entertainment and I prefer to watch the best tennis out there ... that's why I preferred to watch Sampras. If I wanted to watch a couple ' nice ' guys play tennis I would have gone and watched the seniors league at the courts down the street every Saturday lol.
@splendid1000 Sorry but when you're watching tennis at the very highest level, you're not going to naturally favour one over the other because he's winning more matches, unless you're a glory hunter who wants to use the 'my favourite player is better than your favourite player; card. There were far more entertaining players out there than Sampras. Just because they were less consistent doesn't make them any less entertaining. I love unpredictability.
Sorry but I DO happen to favor one player ( Sampras ) over Rafter and NOT because I'm a bandwagon fan, but because he played the best tennis at the time and that's what I like to watch. I liked watching Rafter too, dont get me wrong, but Pete was more exciting and athletic. I don't do the ' my favorite player is better than yours ' game lol ... I just like to watch the best tennis available and Sampras was the best . Rafter's style was anything but unpredictable btw.
A lot of people DO favor the player who wins more. Not solely because on paper he has more wins, unless you're playing Fantasy Tennis or you really are a 'my player is better than yours' type of person, but because often times the player with more wins plays better tennis and that's what a lot of people like to watch. For me that's not always the case though. Nadal has more slam wins then Djokovic for example, but I prefer to watch Djok cuz he plays more aggressive than Nadal, at least recently.
I only threw the stats comment out there to show that I personally prefer quality tennis over drama. I dont really care if a player yells and screams and throws his racket around, that means nothing to me. Anybody dedicated enough to train and play a sport as hard as Sampras did, or any player on the tour really, is full of emotion and passion for the sport, otherwise they wouldn't be where they are. Some just don't have to put on a dramatic play to show it. They use a tennis racket instead.
And i'm not saying Rafter was over-emotional or too dramatic, he was actually pretty well mannered on the court. Like I said before, my comment was really just to make a point about quality tennis over drama and was aimed at those criticising Sampras and not so much an attack on Rafter. I actually loved watching Rafter play as well. Sampras, Agassi and Rafter were my favorite players at the time, along with a few others.
@splendid1000 Djokovic has been winning matches this year mainly on the consistency of his groundstrokes and level of defence, not on his attacking ability. He attacks against Nadal far, far more than against any other opponent. He's a nightmare match-up over Nadal. You're saying that now because Djokovic is winning more. Anyway, you've made yourself very clear. Bye.
Actually its all that INCLUDING more aggressive play. He said himself that he's playing more confident, consistent AND aggressive in a many interviews LoL. I can see it when he plays, simple as that. He's not my favorite player either ... I have always liked him and he has ALWAYS been a more aggressive player than Nadal though, even when he wasn't No. 1. Once again my comment was mainly to show that while Nadal was No. 1 in the world I still didnt prefer his defensive style.
@theloya1965 I appreciate Pete more now. Agassi said no one had a fifth gear in crunch time like Pete. He didn't choke, as a rule. Pete was so darn smooth and coordinated. As a kid, he said he could always throw a ball perfectly straight. If you put a wine glass on the line, he could've hit it with his serve, I bet.
If not for some bad luck, Sampras could have won five straight U.S. Opens from 1995-1999. He won in 95 and 96, lost to a steriod pumped Petr Korda in 1997, came up lame here when he was well on his way to winning, and was easily the hottest player on the tour going into the 99 Open, when he got hurt.
@therevphil i remember Sampras wasn't gracious enough to show respect to Rafter here. As great as Sampras was, he seemed to bring up excuses when losing. Plenty of players battle through injuries, on this occasion he lost, as he did to Pat on other occasions!
@absolutebore well i think he didnt respect rafter. i believe it was because when pat won this the year before he didnt beat sampras to do it....... so he didnt think he was worthy of his respect or something.
@absolutebore he beat pat most of the time, samp beat him 12 times and lost 4 times, sampras's career win loss was 762/222 and rafters was 358/191 and pete won 64 career titles and pat only had 11, you cant even hardly comprare
@AlexIverson333 Indeed there is no doubt that Sampras had more wins than Rafter, yet I always preferred Pat's style of play as well as his gracious and warm personality. Rafter was and remains a true gentlemen and a wonderful ambassador for tennis. Personally, I always found Sampras to be a joyless, sourpuss and I was thrilled when Federer surpassed his record for most slam wins.
@therevphil Much as I like Sampras, I dunno if he really was hurt here. Maybe that initial part, but the rest (and the cause) was probably fatigue. Sampras was anemic or something, right? Here's a player who made him work for some points and got it :/
@therevphil Had Bjorn Borg not retired at 25 he could have won 5 more French opens. Had Mark Philipousis not injured his knee, he would have won Wimbledon at least once. Had Sampras not showed a lack of respect to his opponent he would have been liked more! Had Justine Henin or Klijsters not been injured etc etc etc.
Respond to this video... Had Myskina not married, had Coria not injured severely etc. But the most dramatic one is definitely Borg's career, 11 GS titles at age 25, now that is HARD, lol.
I love Sampras' game, and believe that he's amongst the top 3 greatest of all time, maybe #1.....I really believe that his forward, "in-you-face" style would have given Federer fits, when Sampras was at his best on a fast court. HOWEVER, he had to be the only person on the planet who didn't like Rafter. What was up with the hand-shake at the end of the match? Total disrespect and arrogance on Sampras' end. Like Rafter said, "we all know how great Pete is...He doesn't need to prove anything".
theatlantean3 1 week ago
Cool guy Pat seems to be and what a fantastic athlete too. Compare to nowadays, they were both such amazing volleyers and have they ever slowed the courts down. No wonder few dare come to the net now and it also explains why, when they do get there, so may of them can't put away even the most basic of volleys or overheads.
Truthasvictim 2 weeks ago
Last great serve and volley players.
Corbon440 1 month ago
Rafter is the reason i started to love tennis...
roumbezo 4 months ago
It's not the players fault, but In my own opinion, the best tennis players are able to win on all 4 surface speeds : Very Fast ( Wimbledon ), Medium Fast ( US Open ), Medium ( Australian Open) , Slow ( French Open ). Those categories simply don't exist anymore and the competition is one-dimensional now ... baseline orgy.
splendid1000 4 months ago
Unfortunately, in today's tennis era, because of the surface modifications, it's not possible to see the best tennis out there. By slowing down the surfaces at Wimbledon and US Open, the two fastest surfaces, they have basically eliminated serve & volley from the circuit and cut the competition in half.
splendid1000 4 months ago
Not to mention Sampras was hurt in this match lol.
splendid1000 4 months ago
serve and volley------silly and boring tactics
emiltsuimunsang 5 months ago
@emiltsuimunsang And endless moonballing rallies down the middle of the court awaiting the error are so ridiculously exciting.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@emiltsuimunsang
Yes, when you slow down all the courts serve and volley does become less effective. But boring ? No lol. 30 rally baseline fests with no variety is boring.
splendid1000 4 months ago
Comment removed
emiltsuimunsang 5 months ago
Sampras - Rafter head to record :
Sampras - 12 : Rafter - 4
_______________
Sampras - Rafter Grand Slam wins
Sampras - 14 ( Would have had 16 if he didnt get injured )
Rafter - 2 ( LoL !!!! )
_______________
Sampras didn't show respect to Rafter because Rafter was acting like a fucking idiot long before this match.
splendid1000 5 months ago
@splendid1000 Wow, someone's bitter.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
bitter about what ? Sampras spanked Rafter 80% of the time LOL.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 So relevant in this video.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
Huh ? You asked me if I was bitter ... I explained why I wasn't bitter ... I'd say it's completely relevant lol.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 It's evident that you're for whatever reason completely bitter about the result of this match.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
Nah, my original comment was a response to the people saying Sampras was a jerk.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 What does grand slam titles have to oppose this fact?
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
They were trying to say they prefer Rafter over Sampras because Sampras was a ' jerk ' and ' emotionless '. I prefer 14 grand slams over a rock star and then I went on to explain why Sampras may have appeared to be a jerk to Rafter. This is really getting boring. Peace out.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 So you've basically just admitted that the grand slam tally means nothing in terms of the initial conflict. Yep, bitter.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
What ??? I just explained how it does ... lol. The initial conflict was that they preferred Rafter over Sampras because they saw Rafter as less of a jerk and more emotional than Sampras. My counter comment indicated that I prefer Sampras because he was simply a better player ( head to head record and ' grand slam tally ' ). I then explained that Sampras wasn't as much of a jerk as they may like to think ( closing sentence of first comment). Get all that ?
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 What ??? So you prefer one player over another based on success? Hilarious.
And there's no doubting Rafter's a better guy. Rafter's always seemed like a warm, genuine and funny guy whereas Sampras, though I don't dislike him, has always come across as self righteous and quite arrogant.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
Wow man, you almost made me tear up there for a second. Oh wait no, those are tears of laughter haha. You know what's even more hilarious ? People thinking they know a player personally from watching them play tennis on tv and a couple post match interviews ( usually after a match they just won ) where they cater to fans and sponsors ... You know ... the people that sign their paychecks lol. All of the real greats have come across as arrogant ( confident ) at times.
splendid1000 4 months ago
Sampras came across as arrogant from time to time as a counter attack against people who called him emotionless, etc. He let people know that he does his talking on the court ( something most other players couldn't do ). Tennis is entertainment and I prefer to watch the best tennis out there ... that's why I preferred to watch Sampras. If I wanted to watch a couple ' nice ' guys play tennis I would have gone and watched the seniors league at the courts down the street every Saturday lol.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 Sorry but when you're watching tennis at the very highest level, you're not going to naturally favour one over the other because he's winning more matches, unless you're a glory hunter who wants to use the 'my favourite player is better than your favourite player; card. There were far more entertaining players out there than Sampras. Just because they were less consistent doesn't make them any less entertaining. I love unpredictability.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
Sorry but I DO happen to favor one player ( Sampras ) over Rafter and NOT because I'm a bandwagon fan, but because he played the best tennis at the time and that's what I like to watch. I liked watching Rafter too, dont get me wrong, but Pete was more exciting and athletic. I don't do the ' my favorite player is better than yours ' game lol ... I just like to watch the best tennis available and Sampras was the best . Rafter's style was anything but unpredictable btw.
splendid1000 4 months ago
A lot of people DO favor the player who wins more. Not solely because on paper he has more wins, unless you're playing Fantasy Tennis or you really are a 'my player is better than yours' type of person, but because often times the player with more wins plays better tennis and that's what a lot of people like to watch. For me that's not always the case though. Nadal has more slam wins then Djokovic for example, but I prefer to watch Djok cuz he plays more aggressive than Nadal, at least recently.
splendid1000 4 months ago
I only threw the stats comment out there to show that I personally prefer quality tennis over drama. I dont really care if a player yells and screams and throws his racket around, that means nothing to me. Anybody dedicated enough to train and play a sport as hard as Sampras did, or any player on the tour really, is full of emotion and passion for the sport, otherwise they wouldn't be where they are. Some just don't have to put on a dramatic play to show it. They use a tennis racket instead.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000
And i'm not saying Rafter was over-emotional or too dramatic, he was actually pretty well mannered on the court. Like I said before, my comment was really just to make a point about quality tennis over drama and was aimed at those criticising Sampras and not so much an attack on Rafter. I actually loved watching Rafter play as well. Sampras, Agassi and Rafter were my favorite players at the time, along with a few others.
splendid1000 4 months ago
@splendid1000 Djokovic has been winning matches this year mainly on the consistency of his groundstrokes and level of defence, not on his attacking ability. He attacks against Nadal far, far more than against any other opponent. He's a nightmare match-up over Nadal. You're saying that now because Djokovic is winning more. Anyway, you've made yourself very clear. Bye.
MaratSafinVideos 4 months ago
@MaratSafinVideos
Actually its all that INCLUDING more aggressive play. He said himself that he's playing more confident, consistent AND aggressive in a many interviews LoL. I can see it when he plays, simple as that. He's not my favorite player either ... I have always liked him and he has ALWAYS been a more aggressive player than Nadal though, even when he wasn't No. 1. Once again my comment was mainly to show that while Nadal was No. 1 in the world I still didnt prefer his defensive style.
splendid1000 4 months ago
LoL, Sampras wasnt even trying at the end.
splendid1000 5 months ago
90s > this shit called nadal
andunusblick 5 months ago
Rafter's "push-push" style rules !!! Beautiful tennis, very good lookin' man, friendly mate and true gentleman - thank You, Pat !
4pendragon 6 months ago 3
"Sorry mate..." I miss u Pat...
zlat76 7 months ago
i missed these players...
benzcool29 7 months ago
Goooo Patrick Rafter!!!
tennisroxs100 8 months ago
dont believe in this bullshit trainer crap. tennis is one vs another. if you get worn down and cant continue thats too bad i think
AceGuitarR7 8 months ago
@nasnek the way they play looks like vt1. i know rafter was in vt2. "U idiot"
scooterward100 8 months ago
Rafter was a very good player and he was simply better than Sampras on this day. There is no shame in losing to a 2-time US Open champion.
DanielSong39 8 months ago
This is real or is Virtual Tenis 1? jaja
scooterward100 8 months ago
@scooterward100 U idiot Rafter was in Virtua Tennis 2, Philippoussis was in VT1.
nasnek 8 months ago
00:38: and hewitt was born
TheRoserver 10 months ago
Pete, the greatest, Rafter a great player and fun to watch, Love them both and miss them both
theloya1965 11 months ago
@theloya1965 I appreciate Pete more now. Agassi said no one had a fifth gear in crunch time like Pete. He didn't choke, as a rule. Pete was so darn smooth and coordinated. As a kid, he said he could always throw a ball perfectly straight. If you put a wine glass on the line, he could've hit it with his serve, I bet.
DexterHaven49 9 months ago
SERVE VOLLEY!
DirtyDeegz 11 months ago
Shame rafter didn't pick up at least one wimbledon title.
incredibleXMan 11 months ago
sampras always had an excuse whenever rafter beat him. yes he was injured, but rafter looked the goods.
sultanabran1 1 year ago
Comment removed
TheAthlete43 1 year ago
Comment removed
TheAthlete43 1 year ago
If not for some bad luck, Sampras could have won five straight U.S. Opens from 1995-1999. He won in 95 and 96, lost to a steriod pumped Petr Korda in 1997, came up lame here when he was well on his way to winning, and was easily the hottest player on the tour going into the 99 Open, when he got hurt.
therevphil 1 year ago
@therevphil i remember Sampras wasn't gracious enough to show respect to Rafter here. As great as Sampras was, he seemed to bring up excuses when losing. Plenty of players battle through injuries, on this occasion he lost, as he did to Pat on other occasions!
absolutebore 8 months ago
@absolutebore well i think he didnt respect rafter. i believe it was because when pat won this the year before he didnt beat sampras to do it....... so he didnt think he was worthy of his respect or something.
AceGuitarR7 8 months ago
@absolutebore he beat pat most of the time, samp beat him 12 times and lost 4 times, sampras's career win loss was 762/222 and rafters was 358/191 and pete won 64 career titles and pat only had 11, you cant even hardly comprare
AlexIverson333 7 months ago
@AlexIverson333 Indeed there is no doubt that Sampras had more wins than Rafter, yet I always preferred Pat's style of play as well as his gracious and warm personality. Rafter was and remains a true gentlemen and a wonderful ambassador for tennis. Personally, I always found Sampras to be a joyless, sourpuss and I was thrilled when Federer surpassed his record for most slam wins.
LizBen77 6 months ago
@LizBen77 who gives a flyin fuck about what u prefer
cammpinno 4 months ago
Had Sampras not come up lame in the 3rd set, he would have won this match and won his fifth Open...and we wouldn't have had to wait until 2002!
therevphil 1 year ago
@therevphil Much as I like Sampras, I dunno if he really was hurt here. Maybe that initial part, but the rest (and the cause) was probably fatigue. Sampras was anemic or something, right? Here's a player who made him work for some points and got it :/
asdfuogh 10 months ago
@therevphil Had Bjorn Borg not retired at 25 he could have won 5 more French opens. Had Mark Philipousis not injured his knee, he would have won Wimbledon at least once. Had Sampras not showed a lack of respect to his opponent he would have been liked more! Had Justine Henin or Klijsters not been injured etc etc etc.
absolutebore 8 months ago
Respond to this video... Had Myskina not married, had Coria not injured severely etc. But the most dramatic one is definitely Borg's career, 11 GS titles at age 25, now that is HARD, lol.
nasnek 8 months ago
ffs Pat.. he was hurt lol
yoChris76 1 year ago
What a great attacking player was Pat Rafter. He could have played a few more years and finally win Wimbledon but he retired
Walthamstow29 1 year ago