14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras believes only one man could have possibly stopped Roger Federer at Wimbledon this year. Federer won the title this year defeating all opponents including the likes of Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic in straight sets.
Sampras won Wimbledon seven times between 1993-2000, a record that Federer eclipsed by winning his eighth title in SW19 this year with victory over Cilic. Sampras and Federer only met once on the Tour, with Federer winning a thrilling five-set battle against the veteran Sampras in the fourth round in 2001.
Sampras’ view: “He had run into Novak Djokovic in the final a couple of times in recent years, and he didn’t have to play him this time. And who else can beat Roger on grass? There’s really no one.”
Djokovic withdrew from the tournament this year injured when losing 7-6, 2-0 to Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals. The Serbian former World No.1 then announced his decision to take the rest of the 2017 season off to recover.
Sampras qualified his argument by stating: “When he’s playing well and feeling good, he really should win Wimbledon every year.”
Since Federer won his first Wimbledon title back in 2003, six men have defeated Federer at Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Novak Djokovic, and Milos Raonic. Djokovic is the only one on the list with multiple Wimbledon wins against Federer, having triumphed against the Swiss in the finals of 2014 and 2015. Federer’s 2008 defeat to Nadal, which snapped a run of five consecutive Wimbledon title, is widely regarded as the one of the greatest matches in the history of the men’s game.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the only man who has defeated Federer at Wimbledon in a situation where the Swiss had led by two sets before losing the next three.
