When I was around 13 or 14, I fell hard for tennis. Wimbledon 1996 was the first major I watched from beginning to end, and I was hooked. Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras were favoured to make it through their respective draws; Graf won as expected, but Sampras was upset by Richard Krajicek in the quarterfinals, halting his Wimbledon winning streak at 25 matches. I was pretty crushed when Sampras lost but I was thrilled that Graf made it through, even responding to a marriage proposal shouted out during her semifinal with an unexpectedly witty retort: “How much money do you have?” My disappointment over Sampras’ loss was eased by Graf’s elegant and efficient victory.

Like many tennis fans I was immersed in both singles draws. Not knowing very much about sports in general, I had an earnest if naive question for my dad: Who would win in a head-to-head match-up, Pete Sampras…