Former coach reveals a major difference between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras


Former coach reveals a major difference between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras

roger federer pete sampras 1

Former tennis star Paul Annacone has one big achievement he could be really proud of- He has coached the two men who have won more Wimbledon titles than anyone else: Roger Federer (8) and Pete Sampras (7). The two men have dominated the center court at Wimbledon for almost 2 decades.

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During the 1990s when Sampras dominated at Wimbledon, there was far more serve and volleying on grass. But since the 21st century, it was all Roger Federer dominance. He won a record 8 titles, his last coming in 2017.

When asked whether Federer would dominate on grass during Sampras’ era and vice versa, Annacone said: “I don’t really like to compare eras, because I just think the great players are going to figure it out. The tennis has changed. I just think that great players figure it out, they know what to do, and they would’ve adapted to different circumstances if they were in that era.”

‘Roger is a citizen of the world’: Paul Annacone

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Apart from tennis, Annacone also recently pointed out the difference in the nature of the two greats. He said that Federer is more of an outgoing person while Sampras is introverted.

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He said: “Roger is a citizen of the world, he loves to travel around and loves having his family and friends and seeing museums and architecture and shows. Pete (Sampras) was not like that. He was more introverted and needed to live more in a bubble to be successful.”

Roger Federer will play two tournaments this Clay season. He will be playing the ATP 250 event in Geneva before playing the French Open. But his prime target this season will be Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics.

Also read: Daniil Medvedev to return at the Madrid Masters after recovering from COVID-19