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Sampras Rallies to Beat Courier

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WorldTennisMagazine.com takes a look back at ATP World Tour Finals from yester-year in this special series – ATP World Tour Final Rewind. Today we look back to matches from November 17, as excerpted from the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com) by Randy Walker.

1991 – Pete Sampras rallies to defeat Jim Courier 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in 3 hours, 10 minutes to win the year-end ATP Tour Championships in Frankfurt, Germany. Says Courier of Sampras, “When he is hot, he is hot, he can knock you off the floor. He goes for shots most of us wouldn’t even think of hitting. It was his day today.”

2002 – World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt battles Juan Carlos Ferrero for four hours and five sets, but successfully defends his title at the year-end ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, defeating the Spaniard 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4. The event is the biggest sporting event ever to be staged in China at the time, with 9,000 fans in attendance and global television audience of millions.

2002: Hewitt Reigns In Shanghai

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As part of the lead up to start of the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London on November 22, WorldTennisMagazine.com is presenting a special look at some of the best moments in the history of the season-ending ATP championships, courtesy of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com). Each day, WorldTennisMagazine.com will present the anniversaries of some of the best matches from the event.

ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY – November 17

2002 – World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt battles Juan Carlos Ferrero for four hours and five sets, but successfully defends his title at the year-end ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, defeating the Spaniard 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4. The event is the biggest sporting event ever to be staged in China at the time, with 9,000 fans in attendance and global television audience of millions.

1991 – Pete Sampras rallies to defeat Jim Courier 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in 3 hours, 10 minutes to win the year-end ATP Tour Championships in Frankfurt, Germany. Says Courier of Sampras, “When he is hot, he is hot, he can knock you off the floor. He goes for shots most of us wouldn’t even think of hitting. It was his day today.”