To the Editor:
There's a correction to be made in your Federer article ("Federer at Wimbledon: No Sampras," July 14"): Federer never lost to Goran at Wimbledon. He beat Sampras 7-5 in the fifth and then lost to Henman in the quarterfinals. Henman went on to lose to Goran in the semifinals.
Moreover, you never really address the fact that he did beat Sampras at Wimbledon (even though it can be said that Sampras was out of his prime). In addition, Federer did something that no one has done -- win three grand slams, then win at least one the next year.
You can't possibly say the whole tour is weak on every surface especially when there are people like Safin and Hewitt who each beat Sampras at the US Open Final.
Also, it has been shown that baseliners can beat good serve and volleyers at Wimbledon, so they shouldn't be automatically thrown out of the mix. Take, for example, Bjorn Borg, who was primarily a baseliner, beating John McEnroe or Andre Agassi beating Goran in the final in 1992, both of whom didn't have the all-around game of Federer.
Simply because Federer played at the baseline this year and because he played mainly baseline players, it shouldn't be said he's a lesser champion.
