Roger Federer took tennis into a new generation when he dominated the field in the 2000s and the 2010s.
Federer dominated the Grand Slam landscape until Rafael Nadal, and then Novak Djokovic, challenged him at major tournaments.
The Swiss superstar was always considered to be one of the future greats as a teenager, and even won Wimbledon as a junior.
The star did not like the hype that his early success brought, however, and he explained why he especially didn’t like being compared to Pete Sampras in the early 2000s.
Roger Federer didn’t understand the Pete Sampras comparisons
Speaking in 2018, Federer dismissed the chance to tout the next big star in tennis because he thought it brought too much pressure.
He explained his reasoning by comparing how he felt when people said he was going to emulate Sampras.
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He explained: “People said I was going to be world No. 1 at 16, 17, or I was going to be like Pete (Sampras). And I was, like, well, I have zero titles. The guy has got, like, bloody 70.
“How do you compare me to him? You don’t know what I have in me. You don’t know how I’m going to handle the travels. You don’t know if you’re going to have children.
“You don’t know if I’m going to have a surgery at 22. You know, you just don’t know these things. So from that standpoint, I think time will tell.”
Federer broke Sampras’ Grand Slam record of 14 major wins by defeating Andy Roddick in the final of Wimbledon in 2009.
Roger Federer’s sole match with Pete Sampras
Federer might have been considered the next Sampras, but their careers did actually cross over in the early 2000s.
The pair met in a true cross-generational match at Wimbledon in 2001, which went the way of the Swiss star.
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Federer was just 20 years old at the time, but he managed to defeat his American idol in a thrilling five-set classic.
The Swiss star was beaten by Tim Henman in the quarterfinals of the competition, while Sampras would play just one more Wimbledon a year later.
Federer won his first Wimbledon in the first year Sampras did not play the event, in 2003 when he beat Mark Philippoussis in the final.
