By Nick Georgandis 

Pete Sampras and Jim Courier turned pro the same year. They were the same height, their birthdays are five days apart and both played right-handed.

But like most American men active between 1988 and the early part of the 21st century, Courier was a distant second to Sampras, who won 16 of the pair's 20 matches.

The pair first met as 17 year olds in 1988. Courier was ranked 79th, Sampras 157th, and the higher-ranked player was the victor, by a 6-3, 6-31 count.

Sampras ultimately won 16 of 20 matches from Courier, including the first three in a row. Courier's first win was a doozy, however, a 6-2, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory in the quarterfinals of the 1991 US Open.

Sampras won six of their next seven matches, none bigger than his triumph in the 1993 Wimbledon final, a 7-6(3), 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-3 victory for the second of his 14 Grand Slam wins.

It was one of three magnificent Grand Slam showdowns the pair of Americans would have. In 1995, the two clashed in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, where Sampras rallied from behind to take a 6-7(4), 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory, in a four-hour match that saw him hit 92 of 104 first serves for winners.

Although he would never win the ultimate crown at Roland Garros, Sampras also took a tremendous win on clay at the 1996 French Open quarterfinals against Courier, again rallying from down 0-2, this time to a 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.