Pete Sampras told why his career was not as good as Rafael Nadal’s despite being world number one for longer

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Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal have won a combined 36 Grand Slam titles between them.

Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, and was considered by many as the greatest male tennis player of all time until the arrival of ‘The Big Three’.

The American played against Roger Federer once, but never got the chance to compete against either Novak Djokovic nor Nadal.

Djokovic, Federer and Sampras have spent the most weeks as world number one on the ATP Tour, but former doubles world number one Paul McNamee has suggested the reason that Nadal should be ahead of the latter.

Paul McNamee suggests Rafael Nadal had a better career than Pete Sampras

Sampras spent a total of 286 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, which is 75 more than Nadal did in his career.

A graphic of the three players with the most weeks as men’s singles number one was shared on social media, and five-time major doubles champion McNamee has given his verdict.

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While McNamee admitted he has a lot of respect for Sampras, the Australian claimed that Nadal being one of now nine men to complete the Career Grand Slam is what separates the two players.

He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Much as I respect Pete, he didn’t win Slams on all surfaces, whereas Rafa did…on multiple occasions.”

Nadal completed the Career Grand Slam twice, while Sampras never won the French Open in his career.

Sampras made 13 appearances at the French Open, but his best result came in 1996 when he reached the semifinals.

What Pete Sampras said Rafael Nadal was the best at after he won his 14th French Open title

As well as winning every major title at least twice, Nadal also won an incredible 14 French Open titles, which is more than any player has ever won at a single Grand Slam tournament.

Despite being overtaken by Nadal in the Grand Slam history books, Sampras has always been very complimentary towards the Spaniard.

After Nadal won his 14th French Open title in 2022, Sampras claimed that he was the best player in history in terms of mentality.

“Everything that (Nadal) does is exceptional,” Sampras told L’Equipe four years ago.

“Roger and I had a period of dominance on grass, but winning the same big 14 times is incredible. And mentally, what a player! Surely the best I’ve seen.”