"He just set a whole other standard of greatness": Pete Sampras redefined tennis says Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic chose Pete Sampras as his favorite tennis player when he was a child, attributing it to the significant influence Sampras had on the sport. The former world No. 1 held the top-ranking position for an impressive 286 weeks and currently ranks third, surpassed only by Roger Federer (310) and Novak Djokovic (409).

The American tennis icon clinched a total of 14 Grand Slam titles and held the record from 2002 until 2009 when Federer surpassed him with his sixth Wimbledon title, defeating Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 in an epic match to secure his 15th Slam: 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open and 2 Australian Open.

Former world No. 3 Milos Raonic expressed his admiration for Sampras on The Craig Shapiro Tennis podcast, highlighting Sampras's high standards and remarkable speed: "[On favorite player growing up] Pete Sampras. It was only about the tennis. He just set a whole other standard of greatness, and that's all he cared about. People forget how quick he was. Like he moved just as well as these other guys do nowadays, right?" Raonic said about Sampras.

Similar to Raonic, Sampras was renowned for his powerful serve. However, the Canadian tennis player emphasized that Sampras is often underrated, with some people mistakenly thinking his game was solely centered around his serve: "People want to categorize him, and it's easy to categorize him as a serve-and-volleyer, and most people assume you're a serve-and-volleyer, serve and volleying because you don't move well on the baseline. That's not the case," he continued.

Raonic also praised Sampras's formidable forehand, describing it as "the best of all time": "This guy had the greatest running forehand of all time. And you knew where it was going. Every time you cross-court, and you still wouldn't get back," added former world No. 3.