Pete Sampras made tennis history in 1990 by winning his first US Open title at 19 years old.
The American icon, seeded 12th at the event, defeated Andre Agassi in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2.
At 19 years and 28 days, Sampras became the youngest US Open champion in the history of the men’s singles event.
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Sampras went on to win a four more US Open titles; the last being in 2002.
After winning his first New York title in 1990, Sampras reflected on his achievement and paid tribute to some of the greats who had lifted the trophy before him.
Pete Sampras’s comment about John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors after winning the US Open
“It hasn’t settled in,” Sampras said after beating Agassi 6–4, 6–3, 6–2.
“I’m just looking at this trophy right here, and I see these great players in Connors and McEnroe and Becker and Lendl, and I’m going to be one of those guys on that trophy.
“It’s going to take me a couple weeks to really realise what I just did,” the 19-year-old admitted.
Ironically, Sampras defeated Lendl and McEnroe en route to his first title in New York.
The youngster defeated Lendl – a three-time champion – in the quarter-finals, 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Pete Sampras’ US Open finals from 1990 to 2002
- 1990 – defeated Andre Agassi in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2
- 1992 – lost to Stefan Edberg in the final, 3–6, 6–4, 7–6, 6–2
- 1993 – defeated Cédric Pioline in the final, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
- 1995 – defeated Andre Agassi in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
- 1996 – defeated Michael Chang in the final, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6
- 2000 – lost to Marat Safin in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
- 2001 – lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final, 7–6, 6–1, 6–1
- 2002 – defeated Andre Agassi in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4
He then beat four-time champion McEnroe 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
“I just go up there and try to hit it as hard as I can and try to aim for the line,” Sampras said of his tactical approach in the final, as per the US Open. “If I’m having a good day, they’re going to go in, and today was one of those good days.
“From the first point, [Agassi] was really tentative hitting a lot of short balls. I picked that up, and I really had nothing to lose all tournament. Today I was really comfortable. From the first point on, I was hitting the ball really well.”
Agassi admitted that Sampras had been the better player on the day.
“Definitely the better man won today,” Agassi said. “When you can hit a serve 120 [mph] on the lines, there’s not a lot you can do about it.”
What were Pete Sampras’ serving statistics in the 1990 US Open final?
Sampras was almost infallible on his first serve during the 1990 US Open final.
Although the American only landed 52.8 per cent of his first serves, he won an astonishing 92.1 per cent of those points [Tennis Abstract data].
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He also saved all three of Agassi’s break-point opportunities.
Upon the match’s conclusion, Sampras had won 35 of 38 points on his first serve, striking 12 aces.
