'I absolutely loved his service motion': Tommy Haas names former world number one as 'greatest server of all time'

Former world number two Tommy Haas has named the former world number one Pete Sampras as the ‘greatest server of all time’. The 47-year-old, who retired from the sport in 2017 after playing at the highest level for nearly two decades, recently spoken to The Tennis Channel where he was asked about who the greatest server of all time is.

In response to that, Haas, who finished his career with 15 ATP titles and also won a silver medal for his country in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, named Sampras as the one with the best serve of all time. The 2007 Australian Open semifinalist stated that he ‘loved’ Sampras’ service motion, and for him, he remains the best, both in terms of first and second serve.

“I remember playing Pete [Sampras] when he was at his best. It was virtually impossible to break his serve,” he said. “To me, he still goes down as the greatest server of all time, first and second serve. I absolutely loved his service motion, his placement, his speed. It was different because he also played serve and volley, so you could never really get much of a rhythm against him. You’d hold your serve pretty easily throughout the match, then it’d be like 4-4, 5-5, a couple of tight points, and all of a sudden he’d keep that ball in play and hit that running forehand when he needed to.”

Sampras was regarded as the greatest player of his generation. The now 53-year-old remained world number one for more than 250 weeks. He finished his illustrious career in 2003 with 14 Grand Slam titles. To go with that, he also lifted the Tour Finals on four occasions. Sampras’ last major title was the US Open in 2002, where he defeated his fellow countryman Andre Agassi in the final with a score of 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4.