There is an old saying that "Success is a lousy teacher." What this means is that if you are successful at something then you will not learn as much from the experience, and therefore not seek to improve upon the performance. It's generally accepted that the best way to learn is they hardest way - which is by losing, or failing. If you are successful in your chosen field then it's hard to continually improve and this is why I believe sportsmen of different eras should never be compared to each other.
ebates on which former great is actually the best of all can be lengthy and lets face it, both people can raise a number of valid points and statistics during the discussion as to why their favourite player is better than another. If you're debating who is the better player between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras then you could discuss the matter for hours and both walk away accepting the other person had a good argument. Ultimately though, Federer has won more Grand Slams than any other man so logically, he will be regarded as the best ever. But what if they were born in the same generation and opposed each other? Who would prevail? How would playing against each other regularly affect their respective game styles? In this instance, we can do some comparisons.
The serves of both players are very highly rated. Sampras had one of the greatest and most reliable serving actions of the modern era and because of that he was able to make Wimbledon look like his own backyard for many years. In Federers most dominant years, his ability to save break points with an ace or an un-returnable first serve was under rated. Looking at the serve, perhaps Sampras is slightly better but its a tough call. On the forehand side, both players were devestating and beautiful at the same time. Even when opponents had the upper hand in a rally, Sampras and Federer were often able to turn the rally upside down with one swing of a forehand, but any advantage is negligable. In terms of volleying, both players were comfortable and dominant when they came to the net, as both had to be to dominate Wimbledon in their respective eras. Again, little separates the two.
That leaves us with just the backhand, and this is probably where Federer gets the upper hand. Former World Number One Jim Courier has, in my view, summed it up best when he said he felt "Safe" when he used to hit to the Sampras backhand. However, he added that Federer's backhand was still a weapon and didn't always offer an opponent any respite. It's hard to disagree with Couriers analysis and certainly Federers backhand passing shot to save Championship point against Nadal at Wimbledon was probably as iconic a shot as there has been down the years. Of course, you cant pass judgement on a players backhand because of one shot, but any avid tennis follower has seen plenty of shots of a similar ilk from Federer in the last decade. As a result, most people would agree Federer has a stronger backhand, but if Sampras had not been such a dominant player in his era, then would he have had to improve his backhand to make it a weapon? I would say 'Yes'.
Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles - up until Roger Federer came along that was an all time record. He won those championships by having a great serve, a booming forehand, being intimidating at the net and with a backhand that held its own during rallies, but rarely dominated a rally. Due to Sampras' success, he never really had to improve his backhand to the extent that it was destructive. The rest of his game was so good that he dominated without it. In that sense, success was a lousy teacher, but had Sampras been of the same generation as Federer, he would likely have had to work on his backhand and potentially become a better player than he already was. I think Federer is better than Sampras was, but there's nothing to say Sampras could not have elevated his level to Federer's had it been required, and that is why we should not compare players from different era's.
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