On July 2, 2001, future Wimbledon king Roger Federer defeated seven-time champion Pete Sampras 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 in three hours and 41 minutes in the fourth round! It was the first and only game between two of the greatest players of all time, both of which made sure they delivered a remarkable game, with the full offensive lawn tennis that we would often miss in the sacred Wimbledon places afterwards.
Federer was the rising star at 19 years and 10 months, moving to the All England Club after reaching the first major quarter-finals in Paris and winning the first ATP crown in Milan earlier this year.
On the other hand, Sampras was not in top form this year, although he was always dangerous in these places, chasing the fifth title in a row and eighth overall, hoping to put his name in the record books again.
For him it should not be that day, however, he lost for the first time since 1991 before the quarter-finals and only played one match at Wimbledon a year later. Pete had 31 straight wins at Wimbledon and 56 in the last 57 games before Roger ended that streak.
He starts his third campaign without wins and becomes the first player to win in five sets over Pete in the Tennis Cathedral. Federer took ten points more than Sampras, fended off nine of eleven break chances and delivered four service breaks from 14 opportunities to cross the finish line and dethrone the legend.
They scored 174 service winners in 370 points (89 for Roger, 85 for Pete), with 47% of the points seeing no rally at all! 325 rallies also ended in the shortest area up to four strokes, and the Swiss forged a 170-155 lead in these by doing more damage with the first forehand or the first volley in order to make the decisive difference.
Pete had a 24-19 lead in the middle-distance rallies with five to eight shots, which wasn’t enough to get him across the finish line, with just two points going over eight shots, a great indicator of how fast those were Encounter was.
Roger got off to a good start in his first match on center court and shot four service winners in the opening game, followed by a similar response from Sampras, who equalized the score with four booming serves.
After three mistakes, the American faced three breakpoints in the fourth game and erased them in no time with five winners who kept him on the positive side of the scoreboard. At 3: 3, Federer faced the first break chance, remained calm to defend himself against it and to stay in contact until the tie break, where he saved a set point at 5: 6 with a service winner and after Sampras’ casual mistake with 9: 7 gained a massive boost.
In the second set, Sampras fended off all six breakpoints and stole Roger’s serve in the closing stages to win it 7-5 and restore order. The young Swiss made five mistakes (5-6) to hand the set over to Pete and start over if he wanted to cause a surprise.
He did so in the third set after finding the formula to crack Pete’s serve and break it twice for 6-4.
Federer defeated Sampras after epic five sets at Wimbledon in 2001
In game three, Roger placed a return winner to take the lead and only stayed in the lead for a few minutes when Sampras made the break with three winners.
The American survived a 3-3 break chance with a service winner before wasting a 40-15 lead in game nine and making four mistakes to put Roger 5-4 ahead. In one of the most important games of the encounter, Federer scored four good serves to win the set 6-4 and move closer to the finish line and a brilliant triumph.
With no margin for error, Sampras increased his game in the fourth set, had no breakpoints and made two at 4: 3, which Roger gave away with winners. The Swiss reached a tiebreak, which the more experienced player won 7-2 to equalize the total score to 2-2 and send the fight into a fifth set.
There, Federer left the drama and excitement behind and lost just six points behind the first shot, four of them at 4-4 as he blocked two breakpoints to avoid an inevitable defeat. Pete lost six points in their first five service games, but that changed when the pressure peaked.
The American suffered a break in the 12th game after Rogers two return winners carried the youngster across the finish line and into the first Wimbledon quarter-finals. “It feels amazing to beat Pete Sampras at Wimbledon.
I mean, I went on the pitch today and tried to beat him, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I am satisfied with my performance today, from the first point to the last. It’s just a great feeling that I’ve never had.
I would say the return was the key to my win because I felt I had more chances than him. I always had chances to break him, especially in the first three sets, but he came up with some big serves.
Then suddenly I had no break chances in the fourth and fifth set. He’s serving too well. Maybe I was a bit passive about the returns in those moments, but I’m still happy with my game.
I’ve felt great on the pitch since I won my first service game. It’s never easy to grasp, especially after playing one of my former idols on center court for the first time.
I won it with zero or 15 and that gave me a little boost to get into the match; the whole place was full; There is no way you will stop fighting. Sometimes it was strange to look across the web and see Pete, but that feeling eventually disappeared; You think about your serve and where you are going; then it’s like playing against another player. But of course it was special for me to play against Pete, “said Roger Federer.
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