At three minutes to nine last night, Pete Sampras officially became the best player to ever set foot on a tennis court when he beat Australia's Pat Rafter 6-7 (12/10), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-2. Even though the French Open championship is still missing from his collection, Sampras became the most successful Grand Slam winner in the history of the game.

It was a tearful 28-year-old who looked around the darkening Centre Court for his parents in the knowledge that his seventh Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam win would eclipse the 12 Grand Slams held jointly by Roy Emerson.

Picking out his parents Sam and Georgia up in the stands, where they were seated far away from the players' area, Sampras climbed up through the crowd to embrace them. It was the first time either parent had seen the champion win a Grand Slam final and the first time they had ever been to Wimbledon.

"It's nice to share it with my parents. I wanted them to be part of it," said Sampras. "Win or lose today I was going to invite them here. "It didn't faze me here today even though I was quite tight at times during the match. There were a lot of nerves out there. I lost my nerve in the first set. He lost his nerve 4-1 in the second tie-breaker.

From a matter of feeling I was going to lose the match, I felt like I was going to win the match in two minutes. That's grass court tennis," said Sampras.

Since the Open era began, it was only the third time an American had played an Australian in the Wimbledon final. The last time was 26 years ago when Jimmy Connors defeated Ken Rosewall in three sets. Sampras also entered the match under a cloud of doubt, having collected more than twice the number of double faults as Rafter - 42 to 20 - up to that point. The statistic reflected the injury the American had being carrying since the second round. Because of the inflamed tendon in his shin, Sampras had being taking chances on his second serves in the hope of finishing his matches quickly in order to save the leg. The champion also had to survive a late start because of rain and then two further delays. In the final delay which lasted two-and-a-half hours, Rafter fell asleep and had to be woken.

When play resumed there was serious worry as to whether there would be time to finish the match as the threat of rain continued. By the end of the match, Rafter was receiving the Sampras serve in virtual twilight.

The pivotal moment in the match came when Rafter tired, having conceded a 4-1 lead in the second set tie-breaker, one which could have seen him go two sets ahead. After that there was no recovery.

"After I missed that, I knew I was screwed," said Rafter. "Gee, four all. Then I just thought `Oh God, this is really going downhill'. I was really going to find it hard to deal with the nerves."

"We all choke," said Sampras. "No matter who you are, you just get in the heat of the moment. The title can be won or lost in a couple of shots."

The first several games chillingly illustrated just what sort of shape the match was going to take. With both players following in to the net after every serve, just two points went against the first delivery during the first four games and were both double faults.

Sampras though was holding with ease as Rafter struggled. Winning the first set 12-10 on the tie-break, the game thankfully moved on without further interruptions as both players refused to hand over their serve outside the tie-breaks.

It was there Rafter's game swung away. Leading 4-1 in the tie-break, all he needed to do was hit two good serves for 6-1. Instead, he lost the first point, double faulted on the second and allowed Sampras fire in two serves for 5-4. Another break gave Sampras a 6-4 advantage and he took the set.

And so it continued. Big serves, two-stroke rallies and two nervous players. Finally after two hours and 11 minutes Sampras capitalised on his 10th break point, Rafter missing an easy volley at the net for 2-3. The Australian's racquet bore the weight of his first serious unforced error as he cracked it against the ground before Sampras claimed the set for a 2-1 lead.

From that point it was a race against time to get the match completed. Sampras opened that opportunity in the fifth game of the fourth set when Rafter appeared to take his eye off a simple volley and just caught the tape to go 0-40 down. A mis-hit that looped over Rafter's head and landed just on the baseline gave the champion that precious break for the match.

"It's a great effort, no doubt," said Rafter. "For Pete to be the greatest of all time - which he probably is - he'd have to win the French. I think he knows that as well."

For Sampras, now it is rest before the US Open, in which he will again be one of the favourites. Fourteen Grand Slams is a real possibility and he promises to be back next year. That alone will bring tears to the eyes of the rest of the draw.