In tennis, no one takes your shots. As defensively reserved as I am, I had to cope with layers being peeled away from me, with what happened in Moscow (when he overcame terrible cramps to lead the United States to victory in the Davis Cup final in 1995), Australia (when he cried his eyes out on the realisation that Tim Gullikson, his coach, was dying in 1995) and the US Open (when he vomited on court playing Alex Corretja in 1996 and was accused of faking).
I had no control over these things and that is what sport did to me. But I had a desire to be the best and I was willing to sacrifice everything to make it.
NI_MPU('middle');
There were great high points winning Wimbledon (in 2000) when my parents were there for the first time and sharing that with them. The 2002 US Open was for my wife, who was pregnant with Christian and yet was being blamed for what had gone wrong with my tennis over the two previous years.
They (the press) said I got married and I was lazy, but I was just tired. The low point in life was dealing with Tims death, because death is something Id never confronted before. It has been nine years and I still think of him constantly. In tennis, it was losing to (George) Bastl at Wimbledon in 2002. Do you know what was weird? I got to the press conference and I could feel I was going to cry. I got home and I did cry. I was so hurt, so sad, so very sad. It was the lowest Id been as a tennis player.
During that match, Sampras prised a letter from his racket bag and read it over and over. In it, Bridgette professed her love for him, whatever the result. It did not matter to her. He welled up.
That Sampras married an actress is hard to reconcile. You have to find the right actress, he said. If Bridgette had been a glitzy glamour girl, I wouldnt have gone out with her and certainly not married her. Once I got to know her family, where she came from, what she was like, I was totally comfortable. I couldnt have lasted two dates if it involved being dragged from premiere to premiere.
Sampras yearned acceptance, but his introvert nature had little appeal to the outside world. I always wondered why, instead of taking me for what I am, it was always about what Im not, he said. They didnt want the reserved, quiet guy, they wanted me to do or say something to make their jobs easier. Do I feel the mainstream media didnt appreciate me? Absolutely.
From grand slams two til nine I got a reasonable response, nothing great; then from nine and ten onwards, as the record got closer, I found more people willing to appreciate. I was one of those who was happy to let my racket do the talking in a society that wanted more than just a great tennis player. I became very sensitive early on but it got to the point where, sure, I cared, but I just cared less.
Today he will play a round of golf he has a handicap of six take Christian, his extremely energetic 2-year-old, to the range, work out for a couple of hours, then have a quiet dinner with Bridgette. No rush. No bother.
He has financial interests in Tennis magazine and the embryonic Tennis Channel, he may put some cash into NetJet, a company involved in private jets (not bad for someone who, when he won his first tournament in Philadelphia in 1990, feared the plane might crash and he would not be able to spend his $130,000 winners cheque).
He plays Texas Hold Em, the popular poker variety, a couple of times a week with his country club set. Pistol Pete to Poker Pete. Quite some transformation. Quite some man.
The legend
Sampras became the youngest person, at 19, to win the US Open, in 1990
He won seven Wimbledon titles (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000), five US Opens (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2002) and two Australian Opens (1994 and 1997)
He holds the greatest number of Wimbledon mens singles titles (7)
With 14 grand-slam titles to his name, he holds the record for the greatest number achieved in a lifetime
He had 64 singles titles and 762 career victories, winning $43,280,489 overall
Bocsánat,nagyon hosszú,de biztos van akit érdekel minden sor,ami Petiről jelenik meg..
March 19, 2005
'I'm done. I've nothing left to give, nothing to prove' By Neil Harman Nearly two years on, Pete Sampras breaks his silence to talk about the moment he knew he had to retire
HE SKIPS from his golf buggy in jeans and trainers country club dress codes are not nearly so strict as they are in England, it seems and what strikes you first is that Pete Sampras is the personification of contentment. Second is the apparent pleasure he takes from the idea of spending an hour with someone whose job is to pry. Heavens, how he has changed. Retirement suits a 33-year-old, with a second child on the way, who does not have to wrestle with the concept of a mortgage.
It is 19 months since tennis waved off arguably its greatest champion and he has barely said a word to anyone in the sport since. He had never given more of himself than was absolutely necessary when he played with such majesty and that he disappeared from view after a raw night in New York the image of Sampras, shoulders hunched and eyes watery, as he realised it was all over is still vivid was not a grand surprise. The Howard Hughes persona sits well with him.
NI_MPU('middle');
That we are in the Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California, the town that rubs shoulders with Indian Wells, and that Sampras has no intention of poking his head around the door to see what is going on at the Pacific Life Open, one of the leading events on the tennis calendar, bears this out. Is he not just a bit intrigued?
No, not really, he said. The first time you will see me will be Wimbledon, because thats the way I want it. Thats the way it should be. Tim Phillips (the All England Club chairman) asked me to come the year after Id stopped playing, but that was too soon. I would like to go when my son maybe sons are older. Id love to sit with them in the royal box and just watch.
Remember, tennis had been my whole life, it took me over completely. It was a tough sport, one that showed your true character out there, which I loved. But by the end I was holding on so tight to win that record fourteenth grand-slam (title) and only when I did it, I could breathe again. I was on my last fume against Andre (Agassi) in that fourth set in the (2002 US) Open final. If I hadnt have served it out when I did, I dont know what I would have done.
Sampras did not call it quits on that spectacular night but something inside him said enough was enough. He began withdrawing from tournaments and when he called Paul Annacone, his coach, to his home in Beverly Hills on the proviso of knuckling down to practise for Wimbledon 2003, he knew deep down that he would not be making the journey.
I thought, OK, this is Wimbledon Im getting ready for, but on the third day I said: Paul, lets not kid ourselves, I dont want to practise. Im done, Ive nothing left to give and nothing left to prove to myself. That was when I knew I was going to retire, but how would I do it?
Friends said I should go to New York, to the Open, but I worried about exposing myself emotionally. The USTA said theyd love to honour me there and I thought, umm, OK, Ill go. I didnt spend any time before it reflecting on my career, I didnt know what Id feel, but on the way to the site, a trip Id made hundreds of times, it suddenly hit me in the face and in the gut. My career was over.
What a career: 14 grand-slam triumphs stretching from 1990 to 2002, including seven Wimbledons, and 64 titles in all, winning £25 million in prize-money. Six times in a row he ended the year as the world No 1 and it was all done with a style and self-effacement that made one want to know more.
For this was the inscrutability of Sampras, who found press conferences a chilling experience, who craved universal acknowledgement but preferred no fuss, who would have chosen to lead an anonymous life but who had it in him to be the best in the world at his chosen sport. And who, finally, married an actress and went to live in Los Angeles, one of the few who did both to escape the world rather than show off to it. He lives in a Tudor house on a hill, tucked away, he said. Just as he likes it.
He was there after the surrealism of Flushing Meadows and his farewell, thrashing around with his feelings. I had began to resent the sport, I had let it affect me so much, he said. I remember playing golf with (Jimmy) Connors and he said that when you stop you dont want anything to do with tennis. You dont want to read about it, watch it, talk about it, you want to get as far away from it as possible. That happened to me.
He gave a long sigh before adding: There was no more pressure, no more stress. But something had to fill the void. Ive been playing a ton of golf and my wife is pregnant, so Ive done a little bit of that . . . His laughter, something we had longed to hear when he played, filled the air of the Bighorn clubhouse.
Bridgette and I are remodelling our house, he said. Its taken a lot of time and money. Ive been asked to play some (tennis) but Im not interested. Nothing prepares you for stopping, there is no book on how to retire. Has it really been nearly three years?
Ive had my camp-feverish moments what am I going to do today? Ive started working out, spending a lot of time with my wife and kid and thats fine, but Ive always been a focused, competitive athlete. There will be nothing ever to replace what I had in tennis. Im still going through the transition.
The ironic thing is that sport exposed me more than anything else in life. I had only known one thing since I was 8 years old and once I got serious there was no hiding place, which is why I love the home I have now.
szvsz simán be fogja hozni; Maraton kívül csak önmaga ellenfele Federer - az meg azt jelenti h nuku; mellesleg Marat is csak akkor tudja megverni, ha ott van fejben nagyon, nála az meg elég hektikus
ergo sokkal nagyobb különbség úgy játszani, hogy gyak nincs komoly ellenfél, ezért lehet h megelőzi, de Pete jobb - mégha nem is volt olyan komplett tehetség, mint Roger
Mennék én is, ha megoldható. :-) Nekem nincsenek olyan nagy igényeim, mint Agassinak meg Federernek, h Dubai, meg hétcsillagos szállóda teteje, füves borítás, stb. Tudok egy jó kis pályát Kispesten, oda jöhetne Peti ütögetni egyet. :-)
Javasold az Atp-nek,hogy azt a játékost,aki 4 és fél év alatt CSAK 2 GS-t nyer,tiltsák el egy életre a tenisztől,de még a pályák környékéről is zavarják a p.csába!
Cserében meg igérd meg,hogy nem égeted tovább a baromságaiddal az igazi Sampras-fanokat itt az Indexen...
Nálam Pete nemcsak a valaha volt legnagyobb teniszező, hanem a valaha volt legnagyobb sportoló.
Federer nyerhet akárhány GS-t, akkor sem jobb, mint Pete volt, mert Pete csúcsformában verhetetlen volt, ugyanis nem lehetett elvenni az adogatását, és tie-break-et meg pláne nem lehetett nyerni ellene. Így meg nem lehet kikapni.
És Agassi nagyon jól mondta:
"Mi a különbség Pete és Roger között? 10 GS győzelem - de ez csökkenni fog."
Én is beköszönök már, mint újabb Pete rajongó. Visszaolvasva egy kicsit, van pár dolog, amire reagálnék.
Abszolút semmi értelme a mindenidők legjobbja kifejezésnek. Nekem akárki akármennyi GSt nyer, Sampras marad a legnagyobb... de se őt, se Rogert nem lehet összehasonlítani más korok kiválóságaival. Borg, McEnroe/na őt nem tartam valami sokra/, Lendl/őt viszont qrva sokra/, meg a többiek, akiket egy pár hozzászólással lejjeb írtak. Mind nagyok voltak A MAGUK IDEJÉBEN A LEGNAGYOBBAK. Azért én is menézném mit csinálna Roger 80-as évek legvégén, 90-es évek elején/Lendl, Korda, Becker, Stich, Courier, Bruguera, Muster, Peti, Agassi, Edberg stb. ellen/. Azok voltak ám a szép idők... Aztán Ivanisevics, Krajicek füvön...
Nade ezt sose fogjuk megtudni. Ma be kell érnünk /come'n/ Hewittal és társaival. Nem kétséges, hogy közelébe sincsenek Rogernek, főleg fejben van óriási fölénye. Az egyetlen, aki tartósan felvehetné vele a versenyt, az szerintem Safin, csakhát őt meg ismerjük. Így hát el kell ismerni, jelen korunk legnagyobbja/ettől még én sem szeretem a fapofája és érzelmektől eljesen mentes tenisze miatt, mégha fel is kiabál párszor, nem érződik, lászik rajta, hogy élvezi a tensizt, legalábbis én nem látom/.
Ciani fejlődéselméletével abszolút egyetértek. Borg ma minden GSen kiesne a selejtezőben azzal a tenisszel, amit nyomott/igaz, faütővel/. De ma lényegesen gyorsabbak a playerek és nagyobbakat ütnek.
Ettől függetelnül Pete marad nekem a legnagyobb és remélem azért látjuk még néha, ha nem is versenyszerűen sportolni a teniszpályán.
Dehogy felejtettük el, TyggeRrel pl naponta emlegetjük, és épp azt ecseteltük a minap, h nem lenne rossz, ha bejelentené, h az idén pár versenyen elindul ütögetni.
