The generation of champions led by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic set new benchmarks for greatness in tennis, but the champions of the past should not be forgotten when the debate about the all-time greats is considered.
Prior to Federer becoming the first player to win 20 Grand Slam titles, Pete Sampras was the tennis GOAT as he set a new record of 14 wins in the biggest tournaments in the sport.
His great rival Andre Agassi was another great of an era that may be overlooked given all that has followed with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic backed up by the game’s current greats, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Players who were playing the greats of the game in the final decade of the last century are well placed to assess the levels being served up by the modern day stars and in the view of former British Davis Cup player Danny Sapsford, the greats of his era performed in a very different sport.
Sapsford played Sampras in the third round at Wimbledon in 1999 and he suggests the speeds of courts and developments in technology have changed the landscape of the sport in the years since.
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“It was a totally different era, different times. I think everything was a lot quicker. The balls were faster, the courts were faster,” said Sapsford, speaking exclusively to Tennis365 as the leader of the Bright Ideas for Tennis charity.
“There was more emphasis on serving and dominating from the net. Back in my day, there was a lot of six-foot-four guys like Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. They were big serving, big brutes.
“I think the players today, I don’t know, I’d almost, I’d almost describe them in inverted commas as, as maybe better tennis players. They are more all round, all round players. Whereas back in the day, you could get away with, I don’t know, being six foot four and having a massive serve and that won you quarters of your matches.
“Now, if you’ve got slight holes in your game, you’ll be found out. I think the surfaces are too slow and the overall standards are just a little bit too high. Back in our day, I don’t know, it just felt, it felt a little bit easier.”
When Sapsford compares the era he operated in to the one that followed, he admits the bar was raised several time over by Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“When you look at Roger, Rafa and Novak, they were topping the world for 20 years plus, which is just stupid,” he added. “It’s staggering how they’ve managed to sustain that level over that period of time and Djokovic is still going, which is mind-blowing.
“So I guess if Sinner and Alcaraz are still around in 10 years’ time or even 15 years’ time, then you can say, well, yeah, they are as good as those guys.
“But just being top of the game for three or four years, I don’t think that that puts them in the same bracket just yet.
“The game always moves on, so they’ve certainly taken the game to a new level. But like I say, it’s whether they can sustain, sustain that dominance over 15 years or something, that will really prove their mettle.”
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