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These are two of the finest athletes to ever grace a tennis court and this video didn't disappoint. I enjoyed everything about it especially seeing Pete Sampras play again since I miss watching him these days. I thought that the video was very well done and enjoyed all the bonus footage - interviews and set-up for the special day. I highly recommend this video for any fans of mens tennis.
We can only wonder how Sampras and Federer would have played each other when each was at his peak, say, when they were both 25-26 years old. Also, though I've long admired Pete's fluid game, it was never beautiful, like Roger's game. When Pete seemed poised to win the 3rd set, Roger cranked it up with an acing display that had them smiling. It's interesting that both men were nervous about playing an exo. But whatever you think, it's fun to watch these great champions and speculate. Hmm, wonder if Roger has watched that match more often than Pete.--also at the presser, reporters are asking questions all at once and Pete looks annoyed.
From the way Pete gave Roger surprised looks after some of Roger's dazzling shots, and the way Roger grinned back at him in response, I think Roger's creativity would have edged out Pete's power in a "top Roger" vs. Negatives: Some of the on-court interviews by Justin Gimelstob are annoying. Both players seemed to enjoy the match and smiled a lot. This MSG exo offers a few hints of what might have been. 8-6 in the fifth" and Roger interrupts to pipe in "it was 7-5", with a grin.
While Roger was clearly not in top form at the time (still suffering from mono), this match was entertaining. Then I saw part of this Madison Square Garden match on cable and I was delighted with the lighter moments it displayed, and wanted to see the rest of the interviews and other features on the dvd. But this is a minor drawback. I'm not too keen on exhibitions ("exos") in general, since they lack the intensity of real matches. Roger shushes them and when they fall silent, grins and says "what do you know, it works". "top Pete" contest. Pete seems to regard Roger more as an heir than as a rival, and really doesn't seem to mind seeing Roger break all his records, since it enriches tennis as a whole.After he won the 2008 US Open, Roger credited this MSG exo in March as a reason why the NY crowds supported him in August and September. He then gave the point to Pete, saying "the ball was out" and Pete applauded him.
Okay, I'm a big tennis nut, plus I used to be a big fan of Sampras and I'm now a big fan of Roger--that would make me the ideal target audience for this dvd, but I hesitated over it. His comment to Roger that "I didn't think you got nervous; I didn't think you were human" annoys me to no end, like all comments that assume "to be human" means "to be weak", since I have long regarded Roger's ability as an example of human ability at its best. Gimelstob's attempt to pump up the crowd by saying "this isn't England" was also lame, since he seems to have forgotten that both these gentlemen have every reason to like England, with a total of 12 Wimbledon titles between them (so far). Also, despite the smiles, both competitors clearly wanted to win. Pete does a McEnroe impression at one point, and later offers his racquet to Tiger Woods in the front row, so Tiger can play for him. Well I'm sure the exo didn't hurt and we'd love to see more tennis at the Garden, but there are a lot of people who cheered Roger in NY anyway, even before this exo (and even when playing Americans). The one contest between them, the 2001 Wimbledon 4th round match--was played when Pete's career was on the wane and Roger's was on the rise (and when Roger still served-and-volleyed a lot). On the whole, I greatly enjoyed this dvd and I'm glad I bought it.
At 4-4 in the 2nd set, Roger smiled through his entire service motion after Pete missed a return, and kept smiling after the point ended on a close line call. Then Pete wins the next point and does a Tiger-style fist pump to celebrate, and Tiger laughs back at him.Other highlights: --at a press conference, Pete refers to the 2001 Wimbledon match saying, ". Both men clearly like and respect each other, which is nice to see. As a fan of fast-court tennis, it will help me slog through the clay court season.
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