Rafter gives racquet to ballkid after Sampras passing shots

[lorpira]

Italiano <3

[bull864]

Why did Sampras have a problem with Rafter? Rafter was a great player and a cool cat to boot. Honestly, Sampras was a prick anyway. Never liked him.

[cain2335]

@bull864 they both made bad remarks about each other, but they patched it up. both were class acts, not pricks at all

[guiguitebeka]

year?? 99?

[cain2335]

@guiguitebeka im pretty sure this was in 98

[abcjc1]

i gotta admit i never liked sampras, but rafter will i always be my favorite player of all time, SERVE AND VOLLEY!!!!

[dottorcozza88]

Rafter was able to smile after this sort of humiliation... I don't know how many people could do it... Congratulations to Pete for the passing shots, but also congratulations to Pat for his irony and exemplar behaviour

[spacecowboy95]

do these fucking commentators ever shut up?

[bubermark]

The more I see the style of today with few people coming forward I wonder how Pete would have handled them in his prime. Pat served and volleyed well here but was still punished; with the exception of the last point. Pete was a cold hearted killer, and I think I appreciate his seriousness the older I get, but I don't think he was ever disrespectful (that I can remember), he was just serious about winning points quickly, which is perhaps why some thought he was a bit boring.

[fierte]

@bubermark Personality wise I think he was inward focused. which is besides the point. But on to the other question, i feel that he had a great serve, forehand, a pretty good backhand (single-handed too) and his net skills are pretty awesome. I think he would done fine. All the player needs, is a chance to get used to the court. He'd probably still blast everyone (including Rafa) away on slower Wimbledon. Grass was his to dominate. Ridiculous skills there...

[altohart]

Rafter was cool about it, but damn Sampras hit some ridiculous shots.

[raikahoken]

what ridiculous passes!!!

[DustOnTheRoad]

Rafter was a true warrior and the most exciting player in tennis at this time.

[AceGuitarR7]

sampras still couldnt crack a smile

[Techtribal1990]

@AceGuitarR7

He did smile actually, but the cameraman understandly focused immediately on Rafter once they realised he gave the racquet away.

[keijimuto]

@AceGuitarR7

What do you expect from a bad tipper ;-)

[AT32123]

The irony is Sampras had no respect for Rafter, for whatever reason, even though Rafter is a fantastic player and person.

[Techtribal1990]

@AT32123

I think they have patched up their differences.

[AT32123]

@Techtribal1990 Oh thanks for putting the video up by the way.

[TheSenkie]

@AT32123 I'm not saying if that's true or not, or if i don't believe you. I'm just curious to know,...how do you know something like that? How do you know if Sampras respects Rafter or not? Maybe he's just very focused on winning the game?

[yoChris76]

that's some angle @ 2.45 !!!

[SHREDCHAMBER]

damn sampras was good...

[hubertus35]

gotta love kimberly williams

[miltyu97]

Yet another great example of Sampras toying with Rafter. Awesome!

He was playing better, cleaner tennis than me playing Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii!

[cammpinno]

I must admit Pats sense of humour and gritty guts to eventually win this match. Super.

[raff23]

@cammpinno i would have done the same thing, outrageous passing shots that you could do nothing about but have a laugh.

[cammpinno]

Yep, me too. I miss these 2 great guys BIG TIME.

Thanks to guys like Techtribal1990 we can still enjoy such a gem moments and the style of tennis that is gone forever..

[Techtribal1990]

I thank you for your kind comments. I will continue to upload some great moments from Sampras.

[Techtribal1990]

Thank goodness for youtube, and thank goodness I upload these clips ;-)

Because the mainstream media always talk about the Sampras serve, usually negelecting the other great areas of his game, one of those been returning serve and hitting passing shots against attacking players.

The usual wisdom is to attack the 2nd serve, Rafter put in 4 good 1st serves and got picked off with world class passing shots.

The technique of the 1st two forehands are incredible, taken extremely early.

[pradeepanisonline]

@Techtribal1990 : Thank goodness for people who can appreciate this style of play. It is gone forever sadly.

[1978utreg]

@Techtribal1990 thank god that Sampras didn't play a lot of those against Krajicek in 96 otherwise we still wouldn't have a slam ;-)

[federerthaman12345]

owned bt sampras

[tarig77]

the greatest