Who was better, Sampras or Federer?

[Riotbeard]

For me the question isn't "who's the greater" but who was the first one, the original one and its' Sampras, Federer is the copy, the second one behind Sampras

:laydownlaughing Fed's game is nothing like Sampras' so it would be hard for him to be a "copy." Not even close. Sampras didn't have half the shots in his arsenal that Roger has. That's not a knock on Pete. He played in a different era and had a different skill set. When his game started to fall behind the younger players he wasn't able to make adjustments to be competitive week in and week out the way Roger has. In the end though Pete was able to win 1 final Slam before hanging it up. The question is - will Roger be able to say the same? Never say never - but let's just say it's unlikely he'll get to #18 unless someone else takes out Djokovic for him. And given that Roger is the only player to have beaten Djokovic more than once last year? I'm not holding my breath waiting on that.

Most likely Roger already did this in 2012, but he still has a good fighting chance to do it one more time I guess, if he can keep putting himself in the opportunities. At some point, djokovic might not be on the other side.

 

[El Dude]

:laydownlaughing Fed's game is nothing like Sampras' so it would be hard for him to be a "copy." Not even close. Sampras didn't have half the shots in his arsenal that Roger has. That's not a knock on Pete. He played in a different era and had a different skill set. When his game started to fall behind the younger players he wasn't able to make adjustments to be competitive week in and week out the way Roger has. In the end though Pete was able to win 1 final Slam before hanging it up. The question is - will Roger be able to say the same? Never say never - but let's just say it's unlikely he'll get to #18 unless someone else takes out Djokovic for him. And given that Roger is the only player to have beaten Djokovic more than once last year? I'm not holding my breath waiting on that.

Riotbeard said part of what I was going to say. Fed was exactly the same age in 2012 as Sampras was in 2002: just a month or so before their 31st birthdays.

The difference between the two is that Fed has been able to adjust and remain a top 3 player beyond that point. Pete had already plummeted out of the top 10 a couple years before.

And let's be honest: the only way Roger wins another Slam is if someone takes Novak out earlier at Wimbledon or the US Open. Roger can beat anyone else in either tournament.

 

[the AntiPusher]

:laydownlaughing Fed's game is nothing like Sampras' so it would be hard for him to be a "copy." Not even close. Sampras didn't have half the shots in his arsenal that Roger has. That's not a knock on Pete. He played in a different era and had a different skill set. When his game started to fall behind the younger players he wasn't able to make adjustments to be competitive week in and week out the way Roger has. In the end though Pete was able to win 1 final Slam before hanging it up. The question is - will Roger be able to say the same? Never say never - but let's just say it's unlikely he'll get to #18 unless someone else takes out Djokovic for him. And given that Roger is the only player to have beaten Djokovic more than once last year? I'm not holding my breath waiting on that.

Riotbeard said part of what I was going to say. Fed was exactly the same age in 2012 as Sampras was in 2002: just a month or so before their 31st birthdays.

The difference between the two is that Fed has been able to adjust and remain a top 3 player beyond that point. Pete had already plummeted out of the top 10 a couple years before.

And let's be honest: the only way Roger wins another Slam is if someone takes Novak out earlier at Wimbledon or the US Open. Roger can beat anyone else in either tournament.

I still take Rafa vs Fed in a best of 5 format on any surface