Editing Pete Sampras (section)

===1999: Wimbledon title===
The year started with a withdrawal from the Australian Open due to fatigue, and Sampras failed to win a title during the early part of the season.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis-sampras-pulls-out-of-australian-open-1044666.html|title=Tennis: Sampras pulls out of Australian Open|work=The Independent|location=London|access-date=January 6, 2021|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111044634/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis-sampras-pulls-out-of-australian-open-1044666.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, he then went on a 24-match winning streak encompassing the [[1999 Stella Artois Championships – Singles|Stella Artois Championships]], [[1999 Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon]] (equaling [[Roy Emerson]]'s record of 12 Grand Slam singles titles), [[Countrywide Classic|Los Angeles]], and [[1999 Great American Insurance ATP Championships – Singles|Cincinnati]] (a rematch of the previous year's final with Patrick Rafter). Sampras' victory over [[Andre Agassi]] in the Wimbledon final is often cited as one of the greatest performances in a Wimbledon final.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/wimbledon/Story/0,,206142,00.html |title=Sampras the ultimate grass master |last=Bierley |first=Stephen |work=The Guardian |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603184730/https://www.theguardian.com/wimbledon/Story/0,,206142,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this—on account of a herniated disc in his back forcing retirements at the [[1999 RCA Championships – Singles|RCA Championships]] and the [[1999 US Open – Men's singles|US Open]]—he lost his no. 1 ranking to Agassi the following day, when the ATP Tour rankings were updated.

Sampras' ranking was hurt by a combination of withdrawing from the Australian and US Opens, tournaments in which he had strong performances during the previous year, and the resurgence of longtime rival Agassi, putting an end to Sampras' six consecutive years of finishing as world No. 1. Agassi took over the top ranking and held it for the rest of the season, but Sampras recovered and managed to beat Agassi in the [[1999 ATP Tour World Championships|year-end championships]] for the fifth and final time, enabling him to remain third in the rankings.