"Everybody got spoiled by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi" - Ivan Lendl on the lack of Grand Slam titles among American men
Ivan Lendl has jokingly blamed Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi for spoiling American tennis fans with a combined tally of 22 Grand Slam titles during the 1990s and the early 2000s.
After John McEnroe won the 1984 US Open, none of the American players lifted a Grand Slam trophy until 17-year-old Michael Chang's 1989 French Open triumph. This was followed by the dominance of players like Sampras, Agassi, and Jim Courier, who pocketed a total of 26 titles, the last one coming at the 2003 Australian Open.
Speaking on the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast recently, eight-time Grand Slam champion Lendl opined that even without Majors, American male players have done very well over the last two decades. He stated that winning Grand Slam titles was extremely difficult, particularly on the men's circuit.
"Well, I think the guys are doing pretty good, actually. I think the USTA has done an okay job. It's difficult to criticize because winning Majors, especially in men's tennis, is a lot harder than people think," Lendl said. "Everybody got spoiled by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and so on. They think it's coming, I mean you look at John McEnroe with seven, Jimmy Connors with eight, Andre with eight, Pete with 14, and then all of a sudden, you have nothing for ten years. Well, don't think the other guys can't play, they're a lot better than you think," Lendl Said.
Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open and it looked like he had taken over from the legends of his country. However, he could not add another trophy to his cabinet. It has been 19 years since an American man tasted success at one of the Grand Slams.
"Pete Sampras gets incorrectly overlooked" - Journalist Brett Haber on the GOAT debate
With 14 Grand Slam titles, Pete Sampras held the record on the men's circuit for a long time before Roger Federer surpassed him. Eventually, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic overtook the American icon as well. With a minimum of 20 Majors today, the Big 3 are the only players to be discussed when it comes to the GOAT debate in tennis. Journalist Brett Haber feels that Pete Sampras' record deserves just as much attention.
Speaking on the Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis podcast, Haber stated that the two-year gap between Sampras' 13th and 14th titles was due to significant changes in surfaces and balls.
"I think Pete gets incorrectly overlooked now. What I would say in defense of people like Pete, just to defend his number of 14 and their (Big 3's) numbers of 21, 22, or whatever they end up being, I think you can rightly ask the question: does Rafa win Wimbledon twice if the grass played like it did 25 years ago? Does Roger win Roland Garros? I don't think it's fair to measure the Major totals, the way the Majors are set up compared to the way they used to be set up," Haber said.