Milos Raonic is an experienced tennis player who admired many others growing up, but Pete Sampras for him sticks out.
He’s not the only one who appreciates Sampras, as Novak Djokovic has often spoken fondly about the American. When Sampras won Wimbledon, a young Novak Djokovic was inspired to dedicate himself to tennis.
For Raonic, the American just symbolizes a tennis player who has not been appreciated enough. Until recently, he was the one who led in the Grand Slam race with 14 and that number was considered huge for good reason.
Only in the last 10-15 years did we see three players emerge on the ATP Tour and overtake that number comfortably. Some of that probably diminished Sampras’ legacy, which is a shame because, as Raonic talked about in the Match Point Canada podcast, he’s really underappreciated.
Pete Sampras. Huge Pete Sampras fan. Was the person that made me realize the importance of a serve, how it can really take you far in tennis, and the amount of time I put into it. And also the way he just carried himself.
Raonic also reflected on the legacy of Sampras, which was diminished by what the Big Three achieved. Even so, in a vacuum, 14 Grand Slams is a lot, and he’s still on that list of players with most major titles.
That’s only part of his legacy, though, as he added quite a bit more in the years he played, some of which Raonic mentioned.
And these new guys have set a new standard, but I think his tennis is massively underappreciated, which is kind of crazy to say about a guy who won 14 Grand Slams. And one record that I think he’ll be able to keep is finishing the year as world no. 1 six years in a row.
And especially back in those days, there was many times when he was losing the spot, but come crunch time towards end of the season, six years in a row is pretty crazy.
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