Roger Federer against Pete Sampras, Clash of Times
Nov 23rd, 2007 by Neo
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Yo, it’s time to witness two of the world’s greatest ever tennis players take on each other. Roger Federer against Pete Sampras in what is touted as the Clash of Times! I reached Malawati Stadium early and still had plenty of time to check the place out. This time the place was packed with tennis fans and some Federer fans were seen taking photos with Federer himself. See below…
OK lar, this wasn’t Federer in person, but he’s as big as the real one. Haha… Anyway, it’s pretty warm outside and nothing much to see apart from heaps of people and some luxury Mercedes cars. Not sure why the heck did they display Mercedes here. We checked in and was surprised to see that they actually scan your tickets with a mobile device to make sure they were not forged tickets.
This time we were prepared. We had our dinner early before we came here… so no more expensive Haagen-Dazs for dinner… RM10 a cup. Anyway I couldn’t stand the temptation to see other chicks taking those creamy ice creams and had to buy one in the end. Haha…
As expected, some cultural and Malaysian performances prior to the game, exactly the same like what we had in the Nadal vs Gasquet game. This time we also had winner of 1st season of Malaysian Idol, Jaclyn Victor singing for the overwhelming crowd.
I enjoyed her songs although I couldn’t see her clearly. Couldn’t get a good shot of her also… don’t like my old Sony DSC P10. Perhaps it’s time to get a better digital camera… good for events such as this one. Just thinking only.
The stadium was about 95% packed this evening, obviously very good turn out rate as compared to two nights before. The MC, Mahadzir Lokman ushered the two players into the court at about 8:30pm and introduced them to us… He praised how many grand slams Pete Sampras had won in his career and how much prize money he had gathered in winning those matches.
Let’s cut the story short. The games progressed pretty well. Pete Sampras was still amazingly good despite that he has already retired for so many years. It was great to see this all time tennis great play again, in front of so many supporters and in front of yours truly!!! Can’t really describe the feeling. He was pretty humorous too, making fun of his muscular bicep, and arguing when a good ball was called out. 
Roger Federer on the other hand was as cool as always. Didn’t show any emotions and just played his usual game. He obviously didn’t win the exhibition match easy as both of the winning sets went on to tiebreaks. Federer came out winning, 7-6, 7-6. Really a hard fought match, I would say much better and more anxious to watch than that of Nadal vs Gasquet.
This was actually their 2nd stop. The first was played in Seoul, South Korea on 20 November, 2007 where Federer won with a more convincing 6-4, 6-3 score. If you missed these two matches, you have another chance. Go to Macau! They will play at Venetian Macau Resort, Macau, China, on 24 November, 2007.
Before that, let’s enjoy some videos of the Shah Alam match before we end today’s post.
The players walked into the court. The crowd was overjoyed that they could finally see their idols!
See how Pete got the better of Roger, in style!
Pete, still very strong and steady!
By the way, Che-Cheh was there too… but not sure which corner was she at. Didn’t get to say “hi” to her. Friend, let’s go to Melbourne for Australian Open next year, shall we?
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Aiyar paiseh I thought you want your privacy so I didn’t dare to contact you to meet. :p
I sat at the same area…east but higher compared to nadal-gasquet match.
If I have the money…sure I’ll go to Australia. We’ll stay at Wuching’s house ok? Ok ar Wuching? hahaha
I just think Pete Sampras is the best. Can you believe it, he’s 10 years older than Federer, retired 5 years….And all the best in the world could do was beat him in two tiebreakers….I know, if Pete was 26 and playing Federer….Federer would not be #1. Pete is still unbelievable at 36…….YA PETE!!!!!
ha? both of you coming to stay at my place ah? i dun have enough room wor! hahahahah
Che-Cheh,
Wuching sure OK wan!
Denise,
Yupe, Pete Sampras is surely the best, all time great! But I think very soon, Fedex is going to overtake him in the number of Grand Slams won.
oo.. seems interesting games..
how’s your weekend ?
I think Sampras was great in his time – his records say so, but I think that Federer will pass him and become the greatest of all time.
Hi,
I love you Roger Federer. Good Luck Federer
and Happy Birthday
From amany from libya
Dear Roger Federer!Happy Birthday and best wishesfrom anita.Good Luck in the future.
Well it seems these are all old posts. Since then Pete Sampras has beaten Federer in their next tournament, 7-6 6-4. Winning the tie break seems to have given Sampras the momentum in the second set… He looked as focused as if it was a slam. No doubt he must have felt relieved to beat Federer so easily… But it also look like he felt a bit sorry… Sampras knows how it feels to be considered the best and to have all eyes on you, and then to lose.. So he probably felt for Federer, you can see it in his expression if you download the torrent..
As for who is the best? At their prime I would say Sampras would have dominated Federer. Why? Because Sampras is the ultimate serve volley player, and it wouldn’t have allowed Federer to play his great game off the back of the court…
At the time they played in these Clash of times, people used to say Federer just gave him the match… No one wanted to believe a 36 years old retired player could beat the best. But it wasn’t just any 36 years old: It was pistol Pete, still averaging 135miles on his first serve!! Something Federer cannot manage to this day.
Now that Federer looks more vulnerable than ever, and that he’s lost his status of unbeatable superhuman, I do wonder if these exhibition matches against Sampras had marked the beginning of the end for Federer.
Though these matches went completely below the radar in the mainstream news and tennis journalism, I suspect the top tennis players in the world took notice. Some of them must have watched these matches over and over and realise how weak Federer looks when you don’t let him play his game… And against Sampras, he could barely turn the magic on at all..
I’m sure Sampras realised through these matches that at his best he would have dominated Federer… It is possible this feeling of Sampras was leaked among some of the current top players, or at least felt, and it gave them all ( Murray, Nadal, DJoko ) the belief they could and should beat Federer the way Sampras was able to do so convincingly.
If anyone has any thoughts on this feel free to let me know..
J.