The tale of two Wimbledon greats: Sampras vs Federer

Roger Federer (L) and Pete Sampras (R) : the two Wimbledon Greats

Is greatness genetic or deliberate? Is it a function of talent or practice or both? What is the yardstick for measuring greatness? Is it beyond any form of quantification? Greatness defies precise definition.

Greatness spans over a broad spectrum of domains. Athletic greatness involves a set of skills, traits and abilities that are usually possessed by geniuses. In the context of tennis, male players, Wimbledon and greatness two geniuses reign supreme.

Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

While William Renshaw might turn in his grave, he has accomplished one feat at Wimbledon which these two great men would never be able to.

Wimbledon, also called ‘The Championships,’ is the most prestigious Grand Slam. The grass tournament has defined and redefined the greatness of several tennis players with every possible achievement on the hallowed turf.

Roger Federer and Peter Sampras are familiar with every inch of the Centre Court at Wimbledon. They played with such imperiousness that it appeared as if every shaft of grass and every tramline colluded with them and conspired against their opponents. While it would be unfair to call one greater than the other at this point in time, we could possibly assess who is better based on some objective criteria and numbers that corroborate them.

Wimbledon Record as a Junior

Federer: the Junior Champion at Wimbledon 1998

Roger Federer takes an early lead over Pete Sampras in the tally with this achievement.

Federer won Wimbledon in the Boys Singles category in 1998. In the Final of the Junior Championships, he defeated Irakli Labadze of Georgia in straight sets. He also won in the Doubles category. Federer partnered Belgium’s Olivier Rochus to defeat Michael Llodra of France and doubles partner Andy Ram of Israel in straight sets.

Roger Federer had started to gun for Wimbledon glory at the tender age of 16 – and begun his success right away.

Federer – 1; Sampras – 0

Total number of Wimbledon titles

Both Federer and Sampras are tied at 7 Wimbledon titles.

Roger Federer : 7-time Wimbledon Champion

‘The King of Swing’, Pete Sampras won his 7 titles from 1993-1995 and 1997-2000. ‘The Maestro’, Roger Federer won his 7 titles from 2003-2007, 2009 and 2012.

Federer – 2; Sampras – 1

Consecutive number of Wimbledon titles

While both players have had their run of dominance in parts, the benchmark was always Bjorn Borg’s run of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles.

Pete Sampras fell short of this yardstick as he managed a haul of 4 consecutive titles. Roger Federer matched Bjorn Borg’s record.

Federer – 3; Sampras – 1

Consecutive number of Wimbledon Finals

Pete Sampras has an unassailable winning percentage in the Wimbledon Finals. A 100%!

However, he made it to the Finals only 4 consecutive times. Federer, on the other hand, reached the Finals 7 consecutive times from 2003 to 2009. He won 6 out of these 7 Finals; his only loss was to Rafael Nadal in the epic Final of Wimbledon 2008.

Federer – 4; Sampras – 1

Number of sets dropped in the Finals

When Sampras was in his prime, his serve and volley game on grass was second to none. His game on grass had reached such dizzying levels that even taking a set off him was unthinkable of for his opponents. Sampras dropped a total number 5 Sets only over the 7 Wimbledon Finals he triumphed in.

Roger Federer faced much stiffer opposition in most of his Finales. He dropped a total of 7 Sets and more number of games than Sampras over the Finals he triumphed in.

Federer – 4; Sampras – 2

Winning percentages at Wimbledon

So far, Roger Federer has a win-loss record of 73-9 at Wimbledon that translates to a Win% of 89.06.

Pete Sampras has his nose ahead of Federer in this criterion with an enviable Win% of 90.

Federer – 4; Sampras – 3

Early exits:

Federer celebrates his win against Pete Sampras at Wimbledon 2001

Before we dive into finding out who has fared better in this criterion, it should be clearly defined in the interest of objectivity. Early exits are those where a player does not make it to the Second Week of a Grand Slam (Fourth Round and beyond).

In his 14 appearances at Wimbledon, Pete Sampras has had 4 early exits. One of these 4 early exits was a result of Sampras losing to Federer in Wimbledon 2001. Federer in his 16 appearances so far has suffered 4 early exits too.

As they say the devil lies in the detail. When the early exits of both players are further scrutinized, Sampras has made it slightly deeper into the tournament than Federer on a couple of occasions.

Federer – 4; Sampras – 4

Winning streak at Wimbledon

Federer and Borg : unbeaten on 41 at Wimbledon (pictured here with Andy Roddick)

Pete Sampras’s 31 match winning streak ended in Wimbledon 2001 when he lost to Roger Federer in the Fourth Round.

Roger Federer was unbeaten in 41 matches at Wimbledon from 2003 to 2008. Federer’s winning streak ended in Wimbledon 2008 when he lost to Rafael Nadal in a tough 5 Set battle. Roger Federer is the only tennis player to emulate Bjorn Borg’s winning streak of 41 consecutive matches at Wimbledon.

Federer – 5; Sampras – 4

Records held in a Wimbledon Final

Federer and Roddick: Wimbledon 2009

While Pete Sampras has won all his Wimbledon Finals, Roger Federer has won 7 out of 9 Wimbledon Finals that he has been a part of.

The Final of Wimbledon 2009 was by far the most fiercely contested Final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. In a see-saw battle that saw both players at their very best, Roger Federer set a record for most number of aces in a Grand Slam Final. He fired 50 aces against Andy Roddick who was an ace machine himself. The final set, that Federer won 16-14, was the longest in Grand Slam history.

None of the finals that Sampras was a part of came close to the Final of Wimbledon 2009 in terms of ferocity and competitiveness.

Federer –6; Sampras – 4

The quality of competition and handling surface change at Wimbledon are two other possible criteria. However, in the realm of these two criteria, not many factors could be controlled by these two greats. Federer played against a more varied competition when compared to Sampras. While Sampras faced serve and volley specialists in almost all his Finals, Federer faced Mark Philippoussis, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Federer appeared in Wimbledon for the first time in 1999 when the courts were made up of 70% ryegrass and 30% creeping red fescue. In 2001, there was a change in the composition of the surface. The courts were made of 100% ryegrass in order to cope with the increasing intensity of the game. This surface change had other consequences as well. The new surface resulted in the ball bouncing higher than before and did not suit serve and volley. Federer responded well to this surface change but not Sampras who was almost in the twilight of his career.

Roger Federer seems to have fared marginally better than Pete Sampras based on the above criteria. With a record 8th title at Halle, Federer has given himself one more chance in this year’s Wimbledon to go past Pete Sampras and win a record 8th Wimbledon title. Is he destined for more Wimbledon glory? Time will tell.

Back to William Renshaw.

William Renshaw won 7 Wimbledon titles between 1877 and 1886

As per the information provided on the official Wimbledon website, the current Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy was first presented in The Championships of 1887. This trophy replaced The Field Cup (1877-1883) and The Challenge Cup (1884-1886), both of which were won by William Renshaw.

He twice won the Gentlemen’s Singles title three times in a row. Since the All England Club was not willing to lose a third trophy to another three-times Champion in the future, they decided to scrap the rule and made the decision that the trophy would remain the property of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

While all other Champions got to keep a miniature version, Renshaw is the only player in Wimbledon history to be the proud owner of two original Wimbledon trophies.

That is one feat which neither Sampras nor Federer nor any future Wimbledon great can ever emulate.

For now, however, Federer finishes ahead of Sampras in the polls.