Pete Sampras

Advantages: all
Disadvantages: nil

Sampras is the best I have ever seen. You can't get anyone better than him anywhere. He is a perfect athlete, by which I mean that he covers the full court in rallies. I have rarely found him lose rallies. He has the best serves and powerful return shots. He can play forehand and backhand with ease. He can play down-the-line shots, attack to the net, play at the baseline, good smasher, good at chop shots, … keep adding whatever you like to this list. ... Read review

Advantages Great eyebrows and hair
Disadvantages BOOOORING!!!

...tournament win and Pete Sampras had laboured like a navvy in beating unknown Briton Barry Cowan over five sets in an earlier round. But no one gave the 19 year old Swiss youngster Roger Federer even the remotest chance of dethroning the Giant. And as the match toiled on into its cataclysmic fifth set, we all knew the gallant unknown would fall at the last as the Grinding Man simply broke his spirit and his heart. Except.... It just didn't go that way. This David was tilting at Goliath in a way that was totally unexpected, playing the game of his young life and pulling off unexpected winner after unexpected winner - he was truly awesome and saw off one of the greatest tennis players of all time in one of the best games that will ever be seen at the All England Tennis Club and finally Pete Sampras, the Great Champion, was gone and an era... Read review

Advantages brilliant
Disadvantages not won french open

...In my opinion I do not think Pete Sampras is yet the greatest player. Tennis players like Bjorn Borg, Rod Lehman were much more accomplished. To stay fit and play well for such longs period of time was a major achievement in itself. There were no fitness coaches as there are today and training conditions were also not up to today’s high standards. It is difficult to rank Pete Sampras, but it would be naive of me to say that Pistol Pete has not dominated his sport for the last ten eight years. People call him boring, he rarely shows emotion, no tantrums like Mcenroe but that is an asset to Pete. However, it will be difficult to compare him to past players as things have changed so much.... Read review

Advantages Urrr - just 13 Grand Slam wins!
Disadvantages Clay courts??

...Well what can I or anyone else say? Noone can possibly deny this man's achievements and noone can deny that he is the greatest men's tennis player to have walked this world. At a relatively young age (28 is nowhere near the end of the road), Pete Sampras has the most Grand Slam wins in Men's history (13 in total). Granted he didn't beat anyone of any worthy note until the final of this year's Wimbledon but that is not his fault. If other seeds are collapsing around him in the wake of younger unheard players, it is assumed you can always rely on Pete Sampras to overcome all these new challeneges. Infact, it can be argued that if big seeds are falling, it puts an even greater pressure on him to succeed. There is just one last thing I would like to see Sampras achieve and that is success on the Clay courts of the French Open. If he... Read review