Watched a few old Sampras matches

[Quasar44]

Best serve of all -time
Terrific volleys
Crushing forehand
Versatile backhand

How would he do against the big 3 ??

Depends on the court speed ??
In the 90s : you had lighting fast courts and the balls were much faster

2000s - you hand very slow courts , fake grass and the tennis balls seem very slow

Also today’s game allows poly strings ,which gives you insane power and spin and control

Sampras beats all 3 on real grass
Sampras loses to all 3 on clay

On hard courts ? It depends on the speed but Djokovic would be tops on any speed then Federer then Samp then Nadal

 

[Quasar44]

Sampras and Federer the most fun
Djokovic is as fun as an aneurism

By stroke
Serve - Sampras then Fed
FH - Federer then nadal
BH-Djokovic
Volleys - Sampras
Versatility - Federer
Defense - Djokovic
Speed - Nadal
Return - Djokovic

 

[the other mike]

I wonder why tennis lost the magic and popularity of the 70's early 80's and the Borg-McEnroe era ?

 

[DGS49]

I'm not sure why, but today's ground strokes are more powerful than anyone was displaying while Sampras was King. It is obvious even on video. The combination of more powerful and accurate ground strokes, and the advent of the topspin lob KILLED serve&volley, which was Sampras bread&butter. He could never beat Djokovich in a baseline contest. Nobody could.

What many fail to recognize in Djokovich's matches is the number of times when an opponent believes he has hit a winner, but the ball comes right back. This is very discouraging, and the key to his success.

Maybe the groundstroke improvement is due to improved strings or whatever, and if that is the case, then one would have to remove that factor from the discussion, but Djokovich is apparently the best player ever.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Sampras had that wrist snap that devastated opponents by disguising which corner he was aiming for so well. Andy Roddick could have taken a lesson from that. Roddick would launch 130-140mph serves, but people could read where he was serving to. Even a properly struck 125mph Sampras serve down the T was usually a winner, if not an ace.

Also, His second serve was so aggressive yet reliable.

 

[AMart]

I wonder why tennis lost the magic and popularity of the 70's early 80's and the Borg-McEnroe era ?

There hasn't been any real top shelf dominant Americans (not including the women) for a long time. When was the last time an American man won a grad slam event? 2003?

 

[DGS49]

The lack of dominant Americans is the result of a couple of factors. Obviously, the rest of the world has become friendlier to tennis, and in the U.S., tennis players tend to be kids who have privileged backgrounds, and can afford the lessons, court time, travel expenses and other costs of nurturing a top-flight player. But this weeding out limits participation to a relatively small demographic, and not masses of kids all striving to rise to the top.

It's a shame, and not likely to change soon.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

The lack of dominant Americans is the result of a couple of factors. Obviously, the rest of the world has become friendlier to tennis, and in the U.S., tennis players tend to be kids who have privileged backgrounds, and can afford the lessons, court time, travel expenses and other costs of nurturing a top-flight player. But this weeding out limits participation to a relatively small demographic, and not masses of kids all striving to rise to the top.

It's a shame, and not likely to change soon.

Roddick was the heir to Sampras/Agassi, but I chalk him up to being a top pro at the same time Roger Federer was.

Despite the racial network desires, James Blake was often over-hyped and never panned out.

Taylor Dent, John Isner, Sam Querry.. all moderate success but not tour-changing players

Noone on the horizon.