Kafelnikov vs Sampras: ATP Finals 1997 Final Highlights

[@alexanderpruger5337]

Kafelnikov was good but Sampras was on another level. Thanks for the memories Tennis TV

[@spirg]

Met Pete in person and got pic with him , Great player , Great Guy

[@Rauliki_U_u]

congratulations envy is my favorite player

[@brenhugh]

There will never be another like the great Pistol Pete. 'Awesome' is an over used word, but it's needed this time.

[@datacipher]

The most complete and devastating player who ever played - with all deference to Mac and Laver. When Pete was at his very best, he could match or beat the best baseliners from the baseline, and match or beat the best volleyers at the net.....add in the movement, touch, athleticism, and of course the serve....all in a person who just never seemed to choke or even get nervous in his prime.

[@bimbisarsingh3409]

Choking is one aspect where Pete Sampras mentally goes 1-up against Gen next Roger Federer as Roger on many occasions esp vs Djokovic choked even if he's just point away from win or having 3 match points

[@steveharaslin3822]

Pure dominance from Pete. When Kafelnikov have later analyzed this match and have asked hisself what he did wrong the answer was clear, nothing. Pete just did everything better. I remember that final. It was great to watch Pete to play in rythm like that. Pistol Pete was the best.

[@alexbrands11]

ЧЕРЕЗ ГОД ТВОЙ "ПИСТОЛЬ ПИТ" УЖЕ НИЧЕГО НЕ МОГ ПРОТИВОПОСТАВИТЬ АК-47!! ЕГО ПРОСТО СМЕТАЛИ!!🤣🌺🤣

[@aleksthegreat4130]

Alex Brands Кто его сметал?В 1998 он опять был первым в конце года и взял Уимблдон,в 1999 смел Агасси в финале Уимблдона и в финале итогового.Пока травму спины не получил,Сампрас был первым,кстати свой последний турнир,UsOpen 2002,он тоже взял и закончил карьеру.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

@@aleksthegreat4130 Кто его сметал?Safin,Hewitt

[@aleksthegreat4130]

@@thebigmonstaandy6644 У Сампраса была травма спины в 1999 после которой он до конца не оправился,последние 2 года в Туре он провел на слабом для себя уровне,хотя и смог победить на последнем своём турнире,UsOpen 2002, Сафина он обыграл в полуфинале 2001 года,да и сравнить результаты карьеры Сафина и Хьюитта с Сампрасом наивно,хотя Марат здорово играл когда хотел.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

@@aleksthegreat4130 sorry.i have no russian letters.Sampras played in 2000 better than in 98.But he have stronger competition in 2000 : Safin,Hewitt,Kuerten.in 98 he had to played only vs Rafter. Sampras did not develop his baseline since 98,thats why he lost his domintation.his baseline was a joke compared to keurten,safin,hewitt.this is truth that hurts.i also like pre 98 Sampras.but since 98 he is one dimentional

[@danhuang3760]

There is nothing more enjoyable than watching tennis when Pistol Pete played it at his best.

[@concertom8774]

The best years of tennis.

[@blackace5167]

Sampras is a true serve and volley master! Believe it or not, Pete Sampras was and still is Roger Federer and Novak's idol.

[@NeverMind-vx7pl]

It’s not a surprise. Roger has acknowledged that many of times, same with Novak.

[@Rauliki_U_u]

That speaks well of Federer and Novak. Sampras had a natural aesthetic and colorful and seamless tennis

[@sanjaytlg8930]

Sampras was a boss

[@Hayato_Onobe]

ありがとうございます！

[@srees9874]

This video is for those people who say sampras cannot play rallies from baseline , this is how good he can get Some of the passing shots he played here, i think even Nadal wont be able to play better

[@josephballance6100]

Extremely high level of tennis! Sampras baseline game was very underrated

[@stevefowler3398]

Oh? Under-rated by whom exactly? Do you mean by all the players he beat? Don't talk such utter nonsense.

[@BurnsTennis]

@@stevefowler3398 He might mean all those kids who were born in 2002 on Tennis Forums who are still learning about tennis.

[@1nalh]

this is an indoor court. very fast. rallies were not long. on a slow clay court, sampras sucked. Such indoor fast courts do not exist in todays game, and if so, are not major tournaments.

[@BurnsTennis]

@@1nalh Seriously? You sound like a schoolboy with those comments.

[@andreazonin]

@@1nalh Shanghai is the fastest of the hardcourts of the present, very similar to the speed of this video's court.

[@FlecheDeFer]

I'm always impressed by Sampras' way of moving, like some sort of feline, all flexibility and relaxation. I'm pretty sure most of his strength came from this, gave him explosivity like no other.

[@AS-js7kb]

Untouchable performance.

[@araarmo]

The GOAT

[@cosmojairzinho14]

Absolutely No question about it . unmatched level of brilliance....take this anytime over boredomvic goat

[@bretts5571]

Sampras played well, this indoor fast court suited his game perfectly

[@flemmingca]

But that year in Hannover, they made the court very slow. Sampras lost to Moya in his first round robin match, then Sampras said it felt like playing on clay indoor. Very slow compared to a year ago in 1996, when he beat Becker in 5 sets, it was very fast indoor court.

[@魚-c3d]

@@flemmingca I don't know man look at how that ball bounces at 1:49. Definitely not a slow court, Sampras may have been simply outplayed by the best version of Moya or maybe he was simply not finding his game.

[@plasqar]

court surface was officially slowed down in 1997 -

[@edwinivanrodriguez3769]

one of the best matches ever for sampras

[@topherschuy]

Who today hits on the running like Pete did? It lent an air of intensity and anticipatory excitement to the ground game unmatched in what we see in today’s rallies. Everyone hits on the run - but not really. In the game now we see defensive squash shots on the run (no doubt impressive) where Pete’s blasts from the corner dropped jaws. Watching winners struck is always a thrill but Sampras cracking winners on dead run…that was something to see.

[@monotypemesh3174]

Have you seen Nadal hit running forehands?

[@jorgeorellana7319]

@@monotypemesh3174: Nadal's banana shot is very good, but Pete Sampras' running forehand is the best of the open era.

[@oldfrend]

proof that pete could bang from the baseline with the best of them. kafelnikov probably had the second best ground strokes in the world at the time behind only agassi, yet pete absolutely dismantles him, not just here but their whole careers. pete was 10-1 against him.

[@aiturran]

And that one win was so hurtful. If I'm not wrong from Roland Garros 96 Semifinal, where Pete was so worn out from the previous matches that Yevgeny pummeled him in 3 straight. I would've liked to see Sampras win a RG.

[@rjamesyork]

11-2 lifetime, actually

[@cosmojairzinho14]

The straight set win on clay, on kafelnikov home ground, in 1995 Davis cup final, was another impressive showcase from pete

[@DienLeChannel]

How to break Sampras's service game if you played with this level today? I'm sorry but I can't see even Djokovic, Nadal or Federer could break his game on the fast court like this. If a player wants to beat Sampras in these matches, maybe he should be ready to play long tiebreaks.

[@kekuscu]

Sampras was and still a pure talent an the best athlete ever.

[@gregorymgm1415]

Outstanding performance from Pete, again here. He started with a great victory at the Australian Open, and ended up with a tremendous triumph at the Masters Cup. Nothing but fair.

[@jeffstell9146]

And in between dominated Wimbledon that year.

[@gevsjan8012]

Sampras & Federer most complete players of all times ❤❤❤❤❤

[@meilstone]

Holy moly, Sampras on fire there!

[@saheribrahim5124]

pete sampras at his peak

[@r.k.4537]

Sampras Greek Warrior 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@ryantogo8359]

*American

[@r.k.4537]

@@ryantogo8359 The only true Americans are the Indians who lived there. The rest were either colonists, immigrants, slaves, or conquerors. Get your facts straight.

[@blake7871]

@@r.k.4537 Quit being stupid. Sampras is an American, born and raised, and played Davis Cup for the US.

[@zeddeka]

Kafelnikov falling into the trap Agassi also fell into - giving Sampras a regular pace and hitting fairly flat. Baseliners who did well against him tended to hit with heavy topspin and get the ball up high on his backhand (Bruguera being one of the few who had a winning head to head against Sampras).

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

on such surface,that did not suited to spin,is al most impossible to play with a lot of spin.but Corretja won vs Pete with this game next year

[@lucianboros8081]

@@thebigmonstaandy6644 Corretja proved more than once that he could beat Sampras on fast courts, but in 1998 Pete was exhausted after the autumn marathon in order to keep his no.1 against Rios. Still, Corretja had to save 3 match points to win that intense encounter.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

@@lucianboros8081 he did not have autumn marathon and also he had a lot of time to relax. and now think who would Rafa or Djokovic play vs Sampras.

[@lucianboros8081]

@@thebigmonstaandy6644 He had in 1998, check his book

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

@@lucianboros8081 he did not play well Stuttgard and Paris.

[@jeffstell9146]

Mid to late 90's, Sampras was a master on indoor carpet.

[@theoparfin2219]

1:00 that volley^^

[@kinggimped]

Sampras was absolutely ridiculous at his peak. That forehand topspin shot is lethal. Kafelnikov isn't even doing anything wrong, he isn't providing and openings or weak returns... Sampras is just categorically better. Incredible tennis, as good as Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray years have been, I miss this era of men's tennis.

[@thebiofile17]

Facing Pete Sampras amazon books $9.99!! Nice lob winner by Pete, rare shot by Pete.

[@flemmingca]

Richard Krajieck was the only one who can beat Sampras at that time.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

Philipouses,Stich

[@AS-js7kb]

Lol!

[@hsdonn664]

The real threat was always Agassi.

[@flemmingca]

@@hsdonn664 I disagree, Agassi always lost to him in big matches. In 1999, Agassi lost 4 of 5 against Sampras - Wimbledon final, LA final, Cinny semi, ATP final. Agassi only won the round robin match in 1999 ATP final, a match that did not mean much. Agassi won 1999 US Open but Sampras did not compete due to injury.

[@SonateSonate]

@@flemmingca "Agassi always lost in big matches" that's a big fat lie my friend

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

I would never understand why Sampras stoped to develop his baseline game in 98 and became one dimensional serve and volley player

[@Luckyluc1151]

This was Sampras at his best

[@shobhitk8992]

Yevgeny Kafelnikov was the 3rd best player among all those No.1 of the 1990's. 1.Sampras 2.Agassi 3. Kafelnikov 4. Kuerten 5. Rafter 6.Hewtitt 7. Safin 8. Muster 9. Chang (highest Ranked No 2) 10. Krajicek( highest Ranked No.4)

[@kextrz]

Way back then, I heard that Kafelnikov, during his 99 AO victory speech (it had to be 99), or during the press conference, allegedly thanked Sampras for not entering the tournament. Is this true? If so, anybody has a link?

[@ShamDiscTV5K]

best indoor player , Becker second

[@joseramonheifer3649]

El revés de sampras no era tan malo en esos tiempos

[@quiltonmonsalve6387]

De acuerdo, su revés mermo mucho sus últimos 2 o 3 años de carrera y por ahí era donde lo complicaban mucho

[@Rauliki_U_u]

@@quiltonmonsalve6387 es cierto, y como puede ser que perdiese efectividad en el reves? el era un jugador con cualidades innatas, me pregunto como un jugador que domina un golpe, de pronto comienza a no dominarlo ya 😶 quiza se debiese al agotamiento, el sufre de talasemia de nacimiento una enfermedad que le provoca anemia cronica

[@jorgeorellana7319]

Todo lo contrario, era un golpe muy solido y letal en canchas rápidas. Apenas en canchas de arcilla no era un golpe tan consistente.

[@simonhaslinger8601]

1

[@KnowTrentTimoy]

Medvedev reminds me of Kafelnikov only much more explosive. This was a nice treat.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

Medvedev ist different style.he did not stay so close to base line.and did not play such agressiv game