Pete Sampras claimed his 1st Grand Slam title as a 19 year old at the 1990 US Open. On the way to the crown, he defeated the previous decades greatest champs at Flushing Meadow. First it was Ivan Lendl, who was riding an 8 year streak of appearing in the final in New York. He had won 3 of those championships. Interestingly, Lendl had invited Sampras to practice with him and had mentored him dating back to when Sampras was 17. Also, Lendl wanted to practice returning Sampras' serve. Sampras' experience with Lendl led him to have some confidence he could beat him. Sampras felt that Lendl wasn't as focused as he had been in previous years. Also, Lendl was suffering from lack of match play. He had played only 1 tour match since Wimbledon. Sampras takes the 1st two sets in this match. Lendl recovers to take the next 2 sets. Then the formula for so many Sampras victories of the future emerges. He breaks Lendl once in the fifth set and then serves out the match. Sampras defeated the other 80s great, John McEnroe, in the semis. Then he absolutely dismantled his future great rival, the 20 year old Andre Agassi, in the final. Sampras would not win another Grand Slam title until 1993, but the world was put on notice of his potential greatness with this title in 1990.

This match is on 2 DVD-r discs.

Buy 2 matches, receive 1 free. Drop me a message indicating your free match choice.