Sampras v Federer Exhibitions on Tennis Channel

Posted on October 3, 2007

The November Tennis Channel line-up will include live showings of the three meetings in the Asian exhibition tour featuring current world No. 1 Roger Federer against former No. 1 Pete Sampras.

According to the Tennis Channel schedule, the meeting in Seoul, Korea between the Swiss and the American is up first, shown Nov. 19 at 4 a.m. live (EST). Up next is the Nov. 22 match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 7 a.m. live; then the Nov. 23 meeting in Macao, China, at 1 a.m. live.

"I am so excited to play Pete and I am really looking forward to visiting Malaysia for the first time," Federer said. "There is no doubt that we will play some great tennis."

The exhibitions originated after Sampras invited Federer to practice at his home in Los Angeles last March.

"Obviously he's a great player, but I felt like I didn't embarrass myself out there," Sampras said of the practice session. "I feel like I can hold my own."

Sampras gives himself a chance against the Swiss, who beat him in their lone tour meeting at Wimbledon in 2001.

"Roger's game doesn't have many cracks," Sampras said. "It's one of those sorts of match-ups where I just need to overwhelm him with some power and try to come in and hopefully serve well."

Sampras has won all three events he has competed in this year on the Outback Champions Series senior tour in the U.S.

"I want to do something every two or three months," Sampras said. "I'd rather not play enough than play too much."