Sportsnob – Critics Corner

Tennis fans the world over were treated to a three-match exhibition series between the current world no.1 Roger Federer and former world champion and perhaps the greatest serve and volleyer of all-time – Pete Sampras. The matches were thoroughly enjoyable with Sampras relying on his rock-solid serve and an accurate forehand (yes! after all these years, his running forehand is still a great shot to watch) and Federer playing his trademark all-court game with finesse.

In the first match at Seoul, Sampras looked quite rusty and lost to Federer in straight sets 6-4 6-3. At one point Sampras led 4-2 in the first set before allowing Federer to level the score and take the next two games. Sampras did trouble Federer considerably in this match, mainly because Federer has not played a quality serve-and-volleyer in recent times – apart from his friend Tim Henman. Sampras found ample success coming to the net, but was not consistent enough to cause greater damage.

The second leg of the series was held at Kuala Lumpur and the match was a very close affair, Federer winning it with two close tie-breaks 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5). Pete was slowly finding his rhythm and his attacking style forced Federer to go on the defensive. Though coming off a long and grueling season, Federer could still find sufficient ammunition to beat the seven-time Wimbledon Champion by playing a good blend of attacking and defensive tennis. His defensive skills often came to his rescue, by putting a great number of balls back into play.

Sampras beats Federer:

The third and final match was held at Macau and Sampras came out on top this time in straight sets. Sampras took the highly competitive first set in a tie-break (10-8 in the tie-break). Playing smart and quite aggressive tennis, he managed to secure a crucial break at 4-4 in the second set and then held his serve to clinch the victory. Sampras played down the significance of his victory in the third match and said he thoroughly enjoyed playing Federer, an opinion reciprocated by Roger himself. Sampras also denied having any interest in making a comeback to competitive action next year.