Roger Federer cites Wimbledon tradition in revealing why Pete Sampras was his favorite over rival Andre Agassi
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Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi
A few years ago, former World No.1 Roger Federer revealed that the 14-time Grand slam Champion Pete Sampras‘ game style made him his favorite and he was not a big fan of 8-times Grand slam champion Andre Agassi. Federer came to the limelight of tennis in 2001 when he beat Pete Sampras in 5 sets to move into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2001.
“For me, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are different players. Pete was my favorite when I was young, while Andre was not. I do not know, it was more special at Wimbledon than here in Miami, even though I like this place a lot. Wimbledon has a bigger tradition, and I can not compare my Wimbledon match against Sampras with the one I played against Agassi here in Florida,” said Roger Federer in December 2021.
Also read: Serena Williams or Monica Seles: Who won more titles as a teenager?
Roger Federer leads both Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in Head to Head
Roger Federer played against Pete Sampras only once in their career and he won that epic at Wimbledon Fourth Round 2021. The 5-set thriller lasted three hours and 41 minutes. The final score was 7-6 (9-7) 5-7 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 and it is considered one of the best matches ever played in Wimbledon.
This match later came to be known as the “passing of the torch” since Roger Federer went on to become the ‘Greatest Player of All time’ When he won the 15th grand slam title and surpassed Pete Sampras’ tally of 14 slams until Rafael Nadal took over the tag by winning the 2022 Australian Open.
Roger Federer leads Andre Agassi 8-3 in their head-to-head. He went on to win the last 8 matches played against Agassi after losing three times consecutively to him in the first 3 matches. Federer ended his remarkable career with 20 Grand slams-2 less than the all-time leader Rafael Nadal and 1 less than Novak Djokovic.
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Vipul Payattuparambil
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