Pete Sampras has the best winning percentage in US Open history, having lost at the Grand Slam just nine times.
Sampras dominated the US Open by winning his home Grand Slam on five occasions between 1990 and 2002.
The star holds an 88.8% win rate at Flushing Meadows, racking up 71 victories in his 14 tournament appearances.
Despite Sampras’ incredible record, a player who never reached the top 15 of the rankings managed to defeat him twice.
Jaime Yzaga is the only man to beat Pete Sampras twice at the US Open
Sampras tasted defeat against Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Patrick Rafter, Petr Korda, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Jaime Yzaga, and Jay Berger, but only Yzaga managed multiple wins against the American on home soil.
Yzaga defeated Sampras in his very first appearance at the tournament in 1988 in a tense first round five-set bout.
Six years later, after Sampras had already claimed two US Open crowns, Ygaza managed to shock the American with another victory.
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The Peruvian player defeated Sampras with another five-set match to end the American’s campaign at the round of 16 stage.
Sampras did, however, manage to earn some revenge against his US Open nemesis at the 1995 event. The American beat Ygaza in straight sets en route to claiming his third US Open crown.
Yzaga’s multiple victories over Sampras in Grand Slams was particularly surprising as the star never reached further than the quarter-finals of a major tournament.
The Peruvian star, who never reached higher than world number 18, reached two Grand Slam quarter-finals at the 1991 Australian Open and the 1994 US Open.
What Pete Sampras said about Jaime Yzaga in 1994
Sampras was magnanimous in defeat after crashing out of his home Grand Slam to his Peruvian counterpart.
The American praised one shot by Yzaga in particular, saying: “He’s got one of the better backhands on the tour.
“I just felt I needed to come in, hit a three-quarter speed serve and put the pressure on him. But he came up with a good shot.”
Yzaga described Sampras as ‘a champion’ after knocking him out of the US Open for a second time. “He kept fighting until the end,” he added.
