A Look Back At The 1994 Pete Sampras vs. Todd Martin Australian Open Final

On January 30, 1994, as documented in the book “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker, Pete Sampras won his third consecutive major singles title, slamming 13 aces with speeds as fast as 126 mph in defeating first-time major finalist Todd Martin 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4 at the Australian Open. The top-seeded Sampras became the first man in nearly 30 years to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open consecutively, joining Roy Emerson in 1964-65 and Don Budge in 1937-38. “He’s just too good and he really deserves what he’s succeeding at, because he’s really working his butt off,” Martin said of Sampras.

Steve Flink takes a deep dive into all of the 14 major singles titles won by Sampras in his book “Pete Sampras: Greatness Revisited” for sale and download here https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559947/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_PPF4JGE6PHE9S2Q9F72A via Amazon.com

Below is an excerpt from Flink’s book that describes the Sampras vs. Martin Australian Open final from 1994.

Despite his considerable respect for Martin, Sampras felt very good about his chances going into that final. He said in 2018, “I felt I was the favorite. I was walking out there as the best player in the world. I felt I should win if I played well. Maybe it was my game. I just felt like it was on my racket and no one else’s, against Todd or Andre or Michael or anyone. I felt at this stage I was the man to beat. As I got older, I felt more comfortable being the best player in the world and having that responsibility.”

 Martin fully understood the Sampras psyche and how his friend was approaching their title round meeting. He reflected in 2019, “Pete would have walked out there with an air of not disengaged or unconcerned confidence, but with that air that it was important for him to carry that presence he had with the expectation that he was going to win against everybody. You didn’t see Pete walk on court with varying levels of focus or excitement or anything. He was just very, very calm. Always. And I think in spite of the fact that he probably game wise respected me a little bit more than some players—because I could take the racket out of his hand a little bit—I don’t think that would have had any impact on how he felt walking on the court. Pete felt if he played well, the world was his oyster.”

The first set of the Sampras-Martin skirmish was fought out purposefully on both sides of the net. Given that Sampras was the much more experienced competitor under these circumstances—this was his fifth major final while Martin was making his debut in such a setting—the opening set probably was an imperative for Martin and not necessarily for his opponent. But Sampras always came out for Grand Slam tournament finals determined to set the pace from the outset, secure the first set and impose himself with increasing force and persuasion from there.

Martin, however, acquitted himself honorably. Serving at 1-2 in that first set, he survived a four-deuce game, saving  a break point with an excellent half volley digging him out of trouble and leading to a forehand volley winner. Until the set was locked at 3-3, Sampras had been untouchable on serve, taking 12 of 13 points. But Martin found his range on the return of serve in the seventh game. After Sampras double faulted on the first point, Martin sent a backhand down the line that landed for a winner and then Sampras missed a running forehand crosscourt.

This was right where Martin wanted to be, leading 0-40 on the Sampras serve, looking to gain that initial break of the match. But Sampras had an uncanny knack for raising the stakes when he was in apparent trouble on his serve. He proceeded to make three first serves in a row. Two of his serves—one into the body and one out wide—were unanswerable and Sampras erased the other break point with a serve-and-volley package that was just too good.

Nevertheless, he double faulted to give Martin a fourth break point. Once more, the world No. 1 displayed his customary poise under pressure, connecting with another first serve, following it in for a backhand half volley winner down the line.

After four deuces and much tension, Sampras held on for 4-3. There were no breaks to be found by either player, but at 5-5 Sampras double faulted to fall into a 30-40 deficit.

If Martin could take this critical point, he would move into a very advantageous position, serving for the set and gaining a good foothold in the match. But the bigger the point, the better Sampras seemed to perform. He directed a first serve into Martin’s body and the big man faltered on the return, sending it long. Sampras saved a second break point and held on to lead 6-5. Martin answered in kind to make it 6-6 and so they would settle the outcome of that set in a tie-break.

From 1-2 in that sequence, Sampras garnered five points in a row, starting with an ace for 2-2, followed by one of his slice serves out wide in the deuce court that lured Martin into a forehand down-the-line return wide. With Martin serving the next two points, Sampras made excellent low returns on both, forcing his adversary into a missed first volley on the former and coming through on the latter by taking the net away from Martin and producing a flat forehand winner down the line. Serving at 5-2, Sampras serve-volleyed immaculately, executing a backhand first volley down the line that was textbook perfect and then easily putting away his next volley.

Martin managed to save two set points, but Sampras was characteristically unshakable, passing Martin off the backhand for a set-concluding winner. Sampras won that tie-break 7-4, missing only one first serve all the way through.

Speaking nearly 24 years after the match, Martin recollected his lost opportunities in that first set, lauding Sampras for his steadfastness when it counted. He said, “On one of the break points I hit a really good return at his feet from my backhand side and he hit not a shoestring but probably a sock high, backhand inside out volley, which I think caught the line. It was one of those volleys that if any of us were tense we could not execute like that. Where Pete was so dynamic was that whether he was serving or receiving, when the time came to play better, he did. Most of us when that time came hopefully would play better. But there was no such button to push as to say, ‘Okay, now!” Pete had that button. Everybody saw his serve as the primary button pusher, but with Pete it was comprehensive. He did everything better when the stakes grew.”

Addressing the setback in the tie-break, Martin realized that those elusive break points he did not convert had residual benefits for Sampras. He said, “Judged on the whole, I felt I had outplayed him in the first set. But if you miss those opportunities, there is a knock-on effect that in the latter parts of the set you are going to get Pete’s best tennis.”

Having withstood a barrage of big hitting and stellar returning from Martin in that first set, Sampras was predictably more at ease. He broke Martin for 2-1 in the second set in one of their longer exchanges, prevailing in a 21-stroke rally by cagily chipping a backhand down the line to make his tall opponent bend. Martin missed a forehand approach. Sampras was free flowing now, holding at 15 for 3-1, and, after striking two return-of-serve winners, breaking at love for 4-1.

The top seed had a brief letdown, dropping the next two games. And yet, from 4-3, he put down the clamps as only he could. Serving in the eighth game, he lost only one point. After Martin saved a set point in the next game, Sampras served it out with cool authority, holding at 15, winning that set 6-4.

Sampras was returning with increasing consistency and variation off the backhand, finding his spots time and again on serve, and closing in on victory. With his chipped backhand return paying large dividends, he broke Martin in the first game of the third set, and then added an insurance break for 4-1. When Sampras held at love for 5-1, his triumph was all but assured. But Martin replicated his second-set pattern of recouping, collecting three games in a row.

Yet he was delaying the inevitable. Serving for the match a second time, Sampras dropped the first point, released two aces in a row, approached the net and elicited a passing shot error, and then placed an exclamation point on a highly-professional performance with an inside-out forehand winner. With that hold, Sampras had moved past Martin 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4. He had attained a third Grand Slam singles title in a row, a first Australian Open crown and a large measure of pride in starting a new season on such a celebratory note. As usual, he wore his success comfortably, showing gratitude about what he had done, refusing to celebrate ostentatiously. As usual, he was dignified, understated and classy.