Counting Down: Greatest US Open Champions: #3 Pete Sampras
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Five-time champion: 1990, 1993, 1995-1996, 2002
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Few players ever took to the US Open like Pete Sampras, and none gave the crowd what it wanted in his final appearance there like the American legend.
Between 1988 and 2002, Sampras racked up a 71-9 record at Flushing Meadows, reaching the finals a record eight times.
The lanky American had just turned 19 when he entered the 1990 Open as the No. 12 seed. He upset sixth-seeded Thomas Muster to reach the quarterfinals, then took out third-seeded Ivan Lendl in five sets. Awaiting in the semifinals was an unexpected opponent - 31-year-old John McEnroe, who entered the field unseeded and rode to the final four by taking out two Top 10 seeds in his section.
Sampras took out McEnroe in four, then swept longtime rival Andre Agassi in straight sets. It took Sampras three years to win another US Open, but when he did, it was becoming quite clear that he was the best player in the world.
Sampras fell in the quarterfinals in 1991 and the finals in 1992, then entered the 1993 tournament as the No. 2 seed behind fellow American Jim Courier.
Sampras lost just one set in his first five matches - that against Michaesl Chang in the quarterfinals. It was a wild final eight - other than Sampras, Chang was the highest surviving seed at No. 7. Also making the quarterfinals were the eighth, 12th, 14th and 15th seeds, along with two unseeded players.
Sampras whipped No. 14 Alexander Volkov in three sets, and dismissed France's Cedric Pioline in similar fashion, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Upset in the fourth round in 1994, he was the No. 2 seed in 1995 behind chief rival Agassi.
While Agassi had to go five sets to survive the second round, Sampras cruised through his section, losing just one set.
The quarterfinals were overwhelmingly American - with Patrick McEnroe, Chang and Courier joining Sampras and Agassi.
Sampras crushed upstart Byron Black in the quarterfinals, and outlasted Courier in the semis in four sets.
Agassi defeated Boris Becker in the semis to set up an all-American final, which Smapras took in convincing 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 fashion for his third US Open crown.
He didn't have to wait long for his fourth. In some ways, 1996 was a disappointing year for Sampras leading into Flushing Meadows. He lost in the third round of the Australian Open a year after reaching the final, and tumbled in the Wimbledon quarterfinals after winning three straight crowns there.
His biggest success had come at the French Open, when he reached the semifinals after a first-round flame-out in 1995. He nearly had a short end to the US Open as well, taken five sets in the second round by Jin Novak before recovering for a win.
He was challenged again by Spain's Alex Corretja, taking a harrowing 7-6(5), 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(7) victory. Another harrowing escape awaited in the semifinals, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic.
It was a second straight all-American final, with Sampras taking out No. 2 Chang in straight sets.
Sampras would not return to the US Open final until 2000. He won four straight Wimbledon
crowns in the interim, but he was getting routinely beat at the other Majors, in earlier and earlier rounds.
In 2002, he was bounced in the first round at the French Open and the second round at Wimbledon, his earlies exit at the All England Club since 1991.
With the end of his career near, Sampras did something special to leave his indelible mark on the game. He was 31 by the start of the 2002 tournament, seeded just 17th.
In the third round, he went to war against Great Britain's Greg Rusedski, needing five sets to pull out a 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 win. The fourth round pitted him against German third-seed Tommy Haas, but the competitive juices were now flowing full force in Sampras, as he took a huge upset win, 7-6, 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5.
In the quarterfinals, Sampras squared off against the future of American tennis. Young Andy Roddick, seeded 11th, was another surprising entry in the final eight. While Roddick would take center stage at Flushing Meadows a year later, this match belonged to Sampras, who swept his young contemporary.
In the semifinals, he defeated another surprising contestant, 24th-seeded Sjeng Schalken. The bigger news came from the other semifinal, where rival Agassi upset reigning No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt.
Impossibly, it set up yet another Agassi-Sampras clash, and again it was Sampras who emerged victorious.
In the final Grand Slam match of his illustrious career, he defeated Agassis 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 for his 14th major tournament title.
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