Pete Sampras shocked world number one Roger Federer 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 in Macau on Saturday to pull back to 2-1 in their Asian exhibition series.

The former world champion forced the first break of the match at 4-4 in the second set and served out for victory. He had earlier taken the first set on a tie-break 10-8 after a tight affair in which there were no breaks of serve.

Sampras started the match strongly with his trademark heavy serve firing, hitting two aces in the first game and never letting up. Both players hit 14 aces during the match. Sampras impressed at the net with his seve-volley game, winning 14 points at the net to Federer’s six.

Serve continued to dominate at the start of the second set with neither player able to force the break. Federer pushed Sampras to deuce in game eight, but the US player produced an ace to get out of trouble and level it at 4-4.