On this day: Pete Sampras conquers ATP throne for the first time
Between 1970-1972, the United States was blessed with four extraordinary players who led their country from the late 80s until the early 2000s, earning glory to the already greatest nation of our sport. Andre Agassi, Jim Courrier, Pete Sampras and Michael Chang had all become Grand Slam champions and all expect Michael were world no. 1 at some point. Jim Courier was the leader of the pack in the early 90s but that would all change in 1993 when Pete Sampras managed to conquer the ATP throne for the first time on April 12. At that time, Pete was already a Grand Slam, Grand Slam Cup, ATP Finals and Masters 1000 champion and this had come as a natural process in the development of one of the greatest players of all time.
Pete arrived in Tokyo Outdoor tournament ranked second to Courier and the door was open when Jonathan Stark defeated Courier in the third round. On April 9, Sampras played the quarter-final match against David Wheaton and beat him 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to pass Jim in the rankings regardless of his result by the end of the tournament. Just to make things sure, Pete went all the way, defeating Brad Gilbert in the final and seeing his name at the top of the ATP rankings for the first time on the following day, becoming the 11th different world no. 1 and the fourth from the USA after Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Jim Courier.
Sampras was 28 points clear of Courier (3591 to 3563) and he stayed at the top for two years except for three weeks during the summer of 1993 when Courier restored the position for a short period. Overall, Pete would have taken the ATP throne on 11 occasions and spent 286 weeks as the world no. 1 (for the last time in November 2000), a record past only by Roger Federer. Twelve months before that April 12, 1993, Pete was ranked 4th and worked hard on improving his game regularly, opening his run towards the top of men's tennis with an average 11-6 score.
Things were only to get better and he closed the circle with an 80-16 streak that made him the best player in the world, winning seven ATP titles from nine finals (Stefan Edberg toppled him in the title match at the US Open in 1992). During his illustrious career, Sampras would win 14 Grand Slam titles and was the year-end no. 1 player between 1993-1998, dominating in the era of different styles and surfaces and always finding that extra gear that had kept him in front of arch-rivals. His final performance on the Tour was memorable just like his entire career, claiming the title at the US Open 2002 against the most significant opponent Andre Agassi to retire in glory and conclude his tennis journey by writing the record books once again.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2G7a7OE
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