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re: How come Pete Sampras never achieved the popularity of the Big 3 or Andre Agassi?
Posted on 8/28/26 at 9:54 am to lsupride87
Posted on 8/28/26 at 9:54 am to lsupride87
Agree with you 100%. Casual tennis fan here but watched a lot, clay court tennis is unique among most sports in that its a very small, but significant part of the sport. I would estimate of the top tennis pros, 95-97% off them are the best players on any court, including clay (I include Alcaraz and Nadal in that number). However, that last 3-5% are the clay specialist who have an outsized percentage of wins on that surface.
HOWEVER, that doesn't mean Sampras or Federer sucked on clay. Like your stat showed they were statistically better on clay than almost every other pro of their generation, but it was almost impossible to win the French or other clay matches at as high of a percentage as their career rate because they had to play that 3-5% of specialist more often, in addition to beating the other top 5%.
Not sure of any other major sport where such a small percentage of players with a very specific skill set skews the results as much as clay court tennis.
HOWEVER, that doesn't mean Sampras or Federer sucked on clay. Like your stat showed they were statistically better on clay than almost every other pro of their generation, but it was almost impossible to win the French or other clay matches at as high of a percentage as their career rate because they had to play that 3-5% of specialist more often, in addition to beating the other top 5%.
Not sure of any other major sport where such a small percentage of players with a very specific skill set skews the results as much as clay court tennis.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 9:59 am to NOLALGD
There was a Davis Cup final where he went into Moscow on indoor clay and carried the U.S. to a win.
I think I remember him saying that in his one French Open semi, he was craving a pizza the night before, but he stuck to his diet and stayed away. He had no juice in the match and thinks he should have eaten the pizza for energy.
I think I remember him saying that in his one French Open semi, he was craving a pizza the night before, but he stuck to his diet and stayed away. He had no juice in the match and thinks he should have eaten the pizza for energy.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 10:10 am to Hester Carries
quote:
That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of ACE
Oh man I had no idea he married her. Good for him.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 10:24 am to Paul Allen
Agreed on the personality consensus although older me finds that refreshing.
I’d love to be a sports superstar but would hate the celebrity. I bet Pete Sampras can go eat at a random restaurant in a random town and be somewhat anonymous today if wearing a hat.
I’d love to be a sports superstar but would hate the celebrity. I bet Pete Sampras can go eat at a random restaurant in a random town and be somewhat anonymous today if wearing a hat.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 11:15 am to Scoob
quote:and the mullet was a wig
Image Is Everything
Posted on 8/28/26 at 11:37 am to Paul Allen
I preferred Sampras over Agassi
Posted on 8/28/26 at 11:40 am to A12 Oxcart
quote:That’s a ridiculous thing to say
He kinda sucked on clay.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 11:44 am to Killboy58030719
quote:
Pete Sampras=Tim Duncan
A great comparison. Quiet champions.
Pete’s serve was something to behold at the time but it led to a lot of short points and boring matches.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 12:28 pm to Paul Allen
Pete was Tim Duncan, boring legend.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 12:53 pm to Cleathecat
I don’t consider Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic wild or really big personalities. They were all more tennis machines to me and more reserved. Sounds like Pete’s personality just differed from his peers.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 1:35 pm to Saint Alfonzo
quote:Or Tim Duncan.
As far as personality goes, and who has more, it's a toss-up between Pete Sampras, Scottie Scheffler, and a fresh corpse.
This post was edited on 8/28/26 at 1:36 pm
Posted on 8/28/26 at 1:43 pm to Paul Allen
He was more boring that Tim Duncan.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 1:44 pm to EmperorGout
He may be dull but that sob was awesome at winning.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 1:50 pm to NOLALGD
quote:
Not sure of any other major sport where such a small percentage of players with a very specific skill set skews the results as much as clay court tennis.
Posted on 8/28/26 at 2:25 pm to Paul Allen
quote:
How come Pete Sampras never achieved the popularity of the Big 3 or Andre Agassi?
Sampras has the personality of a dial tone
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