Tennis History: When Pete Sampras lost to number 205
Pete Sampras , along with Andre Agassi, has dominated men's tennis for years. From time to time, however, even the grandmaster of the serve-and-volley has had to cope with a veritable bankruptcy.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Jan 05, 2023, 12:34 pm
A few days ago Stefanos Sakellaridis, number 803 in the world, celebrated a remarkable success at the United Cup. The 18-year-old Greek won against Zizou Bergs, number 129 in the ATP charts. But to write tennis history in view of this success would probably be a mistake.
January 5, 1994 could be used for this, as resourceful minds have researched. Because something amazing happened in Doha: The great Pete Sampras, allegedly lured to Qatar for a compensation of 500,000 US dollars, didn't really feel himself 28 years ago today. And against Karim Alami, number 205 at the time, with 6: 3, 2: 6 and 4: 6 bitten off.
Sampras wins the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1994
Now, of course, one has to add that Alami was only 20 years old at the time. And in the years that followed had a career that was worthy of all honor. With two tournament wins (in Palermo and Atlanta, each in 1996) and a career-high 25th place.
In January 1994, however, this career was at most a vague idea. Sampras, on the other hand, led the world rankings - and after the bankruptcy against Alami, he should not only win the preparatory tournament in Sydney, but also the Australian Open. Plus eight more titles this season, including the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne and at Wimbledon.
By the way, Alami's win over Sampras doesn't count as the biggest sensation in ATP history as far as industry leaders are concerned. Because in 1992 Daniel Nestor as number 238 had defeated the then world number one Stefan Edberg.