Roger Federer, in his ultra-modern all-black getup, and Pete Sampras, in his old-school all-white outfit, showed off the skills that earned them a combined 26 Grand Slam titles and more than a decade of No. 1 rankings.
It was an exhibition, yes, but Federer still flicked his fancy strokes from all angles, just the way he does on tennis' grandest stages these days.
Pete Sampras of the U.S. serves to Roger Federer of Switzerland during the first set of their exhibition match at New York's Madison Square Garden, March 10, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Sampras still smacked big forehands and bigger aces, just the way he did back in his day.
Federer is closing in on Sampras' record of 14 major tennis championships, a mark that truly exists only in black in white, written in a record book. For nearly two hours, before an appreciative and occasionally raucous gathering of 19,690 at Madison Square Garden, these two living, breathing greats of the game shared a court.
Pistol Pete vs. The Federer Express.
The Past vs. The Present.
"Good vs. Evil," as Sampras said with a snicker earlier in the day.
And, as one might expect, youth was served.
Current No. 1 Federer beat former No. 1 Sampras 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6) in an encounter that certainly doesn't settle the "Who is better?" debate, given that one participant is 26 and the other is 36, and nothing more than bragging rights was on the line. It did, however, raise tennis' profile, make both men some money - $1 million for Federer, less for Sampras - and, well, allow people to say they saw Sampras, the best of his generation, face Federer, the best of his.