Sampras rues 'lost art' of 'serve-and-volley' being replaced by 'throwing rock' regimen

American tennis legend Pete Sampras has lamented the 'lost' art of serve and volley tennis ands said that the modern game's one-dimensional nature is like 'throwing rocks' at each other.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who will present the trophy to the men's winner of Sunday's Australian Open final, was the master of serve-volley, replete with a intuitive single-handed backhand.

According to Sport24, Sampras reflected that tennis has changed substantially since he retired after winning the 2002 US Open, saying that the serve-and-volley tennis is a lost art, and has been taken over by the modern game, which feels as if the players are throwing rocks at each other.

Stating that players are now 'hitting the crap' out of the ball, Sampras further said that the game has grown one-dimensional due to the nature of modern technology, which is forcing players to go hand-in-hand with them, although he added that it is fun to watch such tennis.

However, Sampras said that Swiss ace Roger Federer occasionally a little bit of variety in his game with his 'chip-and-charge' shots, adding that had he been playing now, he would have used his original serve-and-volley tennis with the help of modern technology.

Sampras said in his era, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic were great serve-vollyers along with him, adding that nowadays, every player plays in the same way and there are only a few players better than the rest.