Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier Extended Highlights | 1995 US Open Semifinal

[@el6023]

Thank you @USTA! There is difficult to find Videos of such quality. Sampras, what a great athlete! 😊

[@tomastoth3839]

Laid-back match. No grunting, no drama, no spectacular play, pure tennis.

[@恒男高山]

no dram?

[@恒男高山]

no drama😅

[@b.b.4010]

In other words, boring

[@rafaelodossantos4210]

@@b.b.4010you are not serious you cannot be serious judge

[@vvaltierra5556]

Many Spectacular rallies, great match!

[@Laura-i2r9r]

Totally loved Pete Sampras ❤❤ Jim Courier was a Great Tennis player also . 😊😊🎉🎉

[@radiohead2206]

Honestly I could not stand Jim playing. I was so wrong. He seems like a great person now that I hear him commenting.

[@kofipokuantwi-boateng5446]

It's a pity we can't see the score lines. Great highlights

[@meilstone]

At first I thought the same, but somehow it gets more exciting without the score and commentary.

[@Gitfiddle]

Jim Courier one the almost forgotten great 90’s players. That monster inside out forehand. His backhand looked like he was swinging a baseball bat. And a deceptively good serve.

[@lwh7301]

Not nearly enough against a well rounded player like Sampras.

[@WONGLER]

80s + 90s = The GOLDEN Times of tennis , miss it so much

[@gingerpinoadventures]

I agree.

[@davidr2802]

@@gingerpinoadventures I would argue the 70s and 80s were the golden age.

[@VinayakPande53]

Courier in the semis, then Agassi in the final. Just to let everyone know who the top dog in American and world tennis was by the end of 1995.

[@iggypopisgod9]

Courier in the semis, then Agassi in the final. Just to let everyone know who the top dog in American and word tennis was by the end of 1995. Been downhill ever since

[@halleck3]

Damn, I miss the parity of the 90s. So many great players.

[@angelatanurdzic7508]

Great match. Thanks for uploading. 🤩

[@vishalkharat4575]

Sampras and his deadly serve

[@ah4760]

Notice these men never look up at their team after every single shot for reassurance like today’s boy-men?

[@tomastoth3839]

@@ah4760 spot-on my friend. No need to babysit these old skool tennis players.

[@danielhkhk7283]

No fist after every shot.

[@markoragnos6757]

Cannot stand thst term team. It's a joke.

[@AtlanticDNA]

This thread is full my kind of people. The term team is pathetic. The fist pumping after every point is cringe. Look at the coaches after every point is embarrassing

[@radiohead2206]

There was no coaching allowed during the match. Not even in gestures.

[@acemacgruber6593]

Pre-grunt era men’s tennis.

[@jamesswain2465]

Rafa started the grunt

[@uncletony6210]

@@jamesswain2465 Jimmy Connors

[@jamesswain2465]

Yeah, him too

[@acemacgruber6593]

@@uncletony6210 True, especially later in his career. In the 70’s he was mostly silent.

[@jamesswain2465]

Thomas Muster, now he was a grunter.

[@watchalay74]

Sampras is most definitely at the level of the big 3. Have the big 3 play in Sampras's Era when strings couldn't generate so much topspin, racquets were heavier and had less control, and courts played faster and he would beat them. Agassi is the prototype for Djokovic and he beat him most of the time.

[@delriver77]

Not Federer though. He played with the exact same racket and strings than Pete did. That rivalry would've been interesting.

[@JH-gf4cm]

These are all good points but I still think Sampras is a notch below. He couldn't play on clay and he lacked longevity. I know the latter was health related but the big 3's prevailing excellence well into their 30s is impressive.

[@milanceric5147]

No, he did not. The Pro Staff model has been improved several times (interesting once to improve Federer’s BH)…and about string the difference is even higher. Sampras is at the same level of big 3. In my opinion, at 90s Federer and Djokovic would be less affected than Nadal, because are more precision and gifted players…and Murray would be like Kafelnikov or Rios.

[@delriver77]

@@milanceric5147 in their 2001 match both had the exact same racket/strings, and Federer played with it for a few more years. And I don't think Djokovic is more gifted than Nadal, both were extremely physical, Novak was just less injury prone.

[@jeevanpb3479]

The problem with nadal is if it cant serve well because there is huge chance for more rallies in 90s which ultimately leads to more baseline rallies which factor against nadal since topspin wont generate that much and will be problamatic for rafa.thats my thought ​@@delriver77

[@gregorymathews5866]

Courier defeated Sampras, Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi at the U.S. Open in 1991-1992. Pretty good.

[@davidr2802]

While he defeated two guys at the very end of their careers and two rising stars he still never won the Open. The US Open that is

[@jobuck879]

I remember watching this match and my dad asked “why is that person sitting on that chair on the court??” Even though I had played tennis and had been an avid fan since the late 70’s I was shocked he asked. So I just told him during a commercial break “that person puts their finger on the net to see if the server hits the ball on the net…” but afterwards I had to give him a more detailed explanation. Looking at this match now I’m like wow so much has changed. There’s no way anyone would want that job…not with the power of the players. You’re sure to get a concussion from being hit.

[@AinSoph73]

No one wanted the job then either. You've heard about Edberg's fatal errant serve as a junior?

[@BurnsTennis]

At that stage in the 1990s, many tournaments in Europe were already using electronic net sensors to call Let. Interesting still used in the US Open in 1995. Love the Net Judge's reaction here at 14:15 Like, "Courier, what are you doing?! Dangerous.

[@pietrpiepir6444]

About as satisfying a match point as you'll ever get as a player.

[@lassel1644]

Pretty hard hitting tennis not like todays but not so far away from it

[@rafaelodossantos4210]

They never display score???

[@MinChiuKySang]

merci❤

[@gouveia305]

Very cool! I had the impression the match was slower than nowadays. Seems like the ball has more speed nowadays. Still very good to watch!

[@andyhieber1]

Sparked the flat samurai sheath forehand, huge top spin back hand with a Flat racket, and served with the best mechanics, positioning, flawless serve ON THE FIRST AND THE SECOND HIT HARDER. Old A1 players still try to emulate

[@andyhieber1]

Ram (doubles practitioner) used the same motion his entire career and it finally paid dividends. Doubles slam titles

[@franciscocadenas7939]

What a great match this was...

[@edisonsubandi7231]

Good match…. Both are legend of tennis.

[@Onanastic]

Remember when male American tennis players were good?

[@jamesswain2465]

I just think that the Euros and the South Americans have caught up with and passed the Americans.

[@DreamWatcher-h1j]

Legends

[@maverick-mma]

Two power players...whenever they were paired it looked like they wanted to show who hit with the most power!

[@albertdupont4351]

The 1st big four all american with agassi and chang ! Great Tennis !

[@andyroo9381]

I was a fan of Jim Courier's from day ONE.

[@jamesswain2465]

Good bye McEnroe and finesse tennis, hello power tennis.

[@michelez715]

Goodbye McEnroe's bad behaviour, hello respect and sportsmanship.

[@boke75]

Sampras had a beautiful, flowing game. Courier's game was a lot more herky-jerky and a little hard on the eyes, sorry Jim.

[@turdferguson2]

Courier has the ugliest backhand of all time

[@danielhkhk7283]

​@@turdferguson2No, love it.

[@AbouTaim-Lille]

It would have been better is there was a screen at the corner showing the score.

[@figueiredowff]

Where is the score? 😢 Nice game! 👏👏👏👏

[@TB-zt6hs]

Courier seemed to have a rather late set up for his FH

[@davemathew]

Yeah I remember he had a wicked forehand but forgot how unorthodox it was.

[@sharifs649]

​@@davemathewseems almost sinneresque feel like courier would be very good in today's game back hand would need to be fixed

[@jonm2522]

when tennis was fun to watch , no bs grunting, pure class and short rallies. I really wonder how sampras or agassi, courier would have handled the modern day after 2010, against Nadal, federer, Novak.

[@vectorthurm]

JC legit, totally changed the FH!!

[@bennyr839]

No score is shown? How are we supposed to know who was leading?

[@oberdot]

The guy calling lets. Cushiest job while it was in existence

[@regularjoegamer]

Sampras BH was fire

[@michelez715]

Ridiculous that USTA can't show the score. How are we supposed to know when there are break points?

[@nordattack]

Hard to follow these highlights with no score being shown.

[@ramonh.arradazajr.9944]

Jim Courier tried so hard to avoid Pete's forehand. But in the end Sampra's serve was too much for him

[@bearfoot007]

With no scoreline we are basically watching 2 guys chase after a ball because they got nothing better to do ... ;-)

[@uncletony6210]

JC was talking shlt to Sampras' box during the match. Then after they shook hands he started explaining himself to Pete.

[@radiohead2206]

It seems Pete has such an open stance hitting backhand. I wonder maybe his left eye is dominant? No one talks about that. I am guessing here.

[@ArvindKaushik-fm1cr]

not a single winning serve and volley point in these highlights. it makes pete look like a baseliner who avoids coming to net. its like the USTA is afraid that showing good serve and volley points where the serve and volleyer wins the point will encourage players to take up serve and volleying, and they don't want that.

[@bimbisarsingh3409]

It’s not like that. Pete Sampras knows Jim Courier made serve & volley players esp like Becker & Edberg life difficult with his powerful ground strokes & his own experience in 1993 Wimbledon final that was fought till 4 sets bt Pete won 2 sets on tie breaker that Courier himself admitted “losing in tiebreaker is pretty discouraging”. In that two sets Pete attempted several volleys Bt passed on by Courier from baseline shots. Well still Sampras ambushed in winning volleys points against baseliners like Courier & Agassi when opportunity presents & rather somewhat with surprise attack

[@turdferguson2]

That is a crazy af theory lol what

[@redrum21225]

I remember these days. Courier was great and was the 2nd member of the new generation after Agassi to win a slam. His lack of a big serve was his biggest weakness. He would've had at least 3 more slams if he had a bigger serve.

[@suatkayatennis]

Both Sampras and Courier won their first grandslam before Agassi. They actually beat Agassi in their maiden grandslam finals.

[@michelez715]

Didn't Chang win a GS before the other three?

[@suatkayatennis]

@@michelez715 yes,he won the french open in 1989.

[@redrum21225]

@@michelez715 Yeah. Chang was before Pete/Courier. I remember that he won the French in 89. He turned pro a couple years after Agassi. That's why I don't group him with sampras, courier, etc.

[@mikimallek3572]

Pete won rom and kitzbühel on clay...and the semi final at the french open

[@mikimallek3572]

Pete was also good on clay

[@mikimallek3572]

❤

[@kennyg5678]

Does anybody know the final score?

[@lijianzhang6146]

Sampras won the match in a five-set battle with the score of 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. Sampras then went on to win the US Open that year, defeating Andre Agassi in the final.

[@jwsaberfan7793]

Sampras won in a four-set match: 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

[@YuliusBulan-hk8ll]

Courier racket unbranded?

[@newworldharbour]

Both players use the same model, Wilson PRO Staff 85sq but pretty sure different weight.

[@mikimallek3572]

Boris becker never won a tournament on clay his entire carrer

[@rogerparker4468]

No fist pump and scowl at the other player after every point? Yawnnnnnnn

[@fraerithlelfe6027]

Any score displayed... A little boring despite the quality of the game.

[@YuliusBulan-hk8ll]

Sampras never champion in Roland garros

[@doncarlitovlog7902]

Federer and Nadal changed the game forever. They played tennis on an exceptional level. Nothing compared to this.

[@newworldharbour]

The technologies of the racquets and the poly strings have a huge impact to today's tennis. I'd like to see Nadal use this Wilson PRO Staff Original 85sq inch head size racquet with Natural gut strings.

[@ldp8053]

Sampras backhand is not that good for this reason he never won French open and he is not at the level of the big 3 …

[@stockton350]

By that logic, Courier had a great backhand.

[@freretuck5466]

Clay is the surface with the least backhand requirement, as you run around it half the time. If what you mean is that it's more fragile on clay, yeah like every one hander. His game just didn't suit clay.

[@michelez715]

Sampras's backhand stronger than Federer's. It only appears weaker compared to his outstanding forehand.

[@ldp8053]

Saying that Sampras backhand is better than Federer shows that you don’t know anything about tennis … Sampras had better serve and better serve and volley forehand were even backhand not comparison by the the way Federer was superior in every aspects and the history showed that …

[@turdferguson2]

I've taken a decade long break from watching or playing tennis and tennis fans are still the most pedantic annoying argumentative people imaginable

[@donq2957]

Jim Courier sucked without steroids.