“Tough to Get by Him”: Pete Sampras Believes Novak Djokovic Would Give Him a Hard Time

World No.1 Novak Djokovic is gearing up for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. The Serbian last won the ATP Nitto Finals back in 2015 and subsequently finished as the runner-up twice in 2016 and 2018.

The 2020 season marks the 50th anniversary of the Nitto ATP Finals, which begins next week in the O2 arena in London. To celebrate 50 years of the prestigious competition, the ATP Tour brought together players from different eras to retell some of the tournament’s most memorable stories.

Novak Djokovic – Pete Sampras | Champions Chat

In an interesting video hosted by former World No. 4 Tim Henman, five-time tournament champions Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic joined for an engaging chat. The host asked Sampras about the one-shot he would like to take from Djokovic’s game if given a choice.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion Sampras categorically said that he wants Djokovic’s return of serve. The American acknowledged that Djokovic would have given him a hard time. He said that he would also love to imbibe Djokovic’s agility on the court.

“Give me that return of serve. Everyone asks who would give a hard time if I was playing today, it would be Novak because of his return. With Andre, it always got by him if I was picking my spots, but with Novak, it would be tough to get by him because of his stretch… I wouldn’t mind some of his speed,” said Sampras.

Interestingly, Djokovic went past Sampras’ record of 286 weeks spent as the No. 1 ranked and has also secured the year-end No.1 spot for the sixth time in his career, equaling Sampras.

Considering Alexander Zverev winning back-to-back titles at Cologne and Daniil Medvedev claiming the Paris Masters, the ATP Nitto Finals will produce high octane tennis. As Djokovic aims for the sixth title, his arch-rival Rafael Nadal eyes for his maiden trophy at the season-ending championships.