“All pressure just fell away, I started crying” – Roger Federer remembers ‘surreal’ victory over ‘hero’ Pete Sampras at Wimbledon 2001

Roger Federer recently reminisced about his famous win over Pete Sampras at the Wimbledon Championships on July 2, 2001. Debuting on SW19's Centre Court, he defeated Sampras, the four-time defending champion, in a marathon fourth-round battle that lasted for five sets.

The first went Federer's way after a tiebreak but Pete Sampras made a comeback by winning the second. The Swiss edged ahead by taking the third but the American leveled the scores again by taking the fourth set that saw the second tiebreak of the match.

The decider was also headed toward a tiebreak, with Sampras serving to stay in the match at 5-6. However, the 15th seed from Switzerland earned a match point and completed a 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 win with a sublime forehand return down the line on the top seed's serve and collapsed to the ground.

In a recent interview with Vogue, Federer remembered the day of his triumph over Pete Sampras, who was his idol and the seven-time Wimbledon champion.

"It had everything: He was my hero at the time, and this was both my first time and my only time to play against Sampras. It was the first time I played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, and it turned into five sets," the 42-year-old said.

It was a dream-come-true moment for the Swiss as he continued:

"There was just so much going on in my head, it was fairytale stuff. But when I went onto my knees after my forehand return against Sampras landed in and all of that pressure just fell away, I started crying. I’m like, This is surreal—what is going on?"

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Roger Federer: "It was like the perfect match"

The Championships - Wimbledon 2001. (Getty)

In the same conversation with Vogue, Roger Federer suggested the victory over Pete Sampras in the fourth round of the 2001 Wimbledon Championships filled him with the belief that he was headed in the right direction.

"I guess Wimbledon and Sampras and Centre Court, I don’t know, all of that does that to you. And that’s when you realize: Oh, the hard work’s paying off, you’re on the right track, it’s a milestone victory. It was like the perfect match," the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Even though Federer's run at the London Major in 2001 ended with a loss to Tim Henman in the quarterfinals, he went on to lift the men's singles trophy on Centre Court a record eight times in 2003-07, 2009, 2012, and 2017, to better Sampras' record of seven titles.

Pete Sampras graced the grass courts of Wimbledon for the last time as a professional in 2002, losing to lucky loser George Edward Bastl in the second round that year. He retired from tennis in August 2003 with 14 Grand Slam titles.