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Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971, in Washington, DC), is a former
World No. 1 Greek-American tennis player. He is considered by many to be
the greatest male tennis player of all time, having won a record 14 Grand
Slam men's singles titles and finished the year as No. 1 on the ATP world
rankings for a record six consecutive years. He won the men's singles title
at Wimbledon a record seven times. He also won the US Open five times and
the Australian Open twice. However the one major championship which eluded
him was the French Open.
Tennis career
From an early age, Sampras showed signs of outstanding athletic
ability. The young Sampras discovered a tennis racquet in the basement of
his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall. In 1978, the Sampras
family moved to Palos Verdes, California, and the warmer climate there allowed
seven-year-old Pete to play more tennis. The Sampras family joined the Peninsula
Racquet Club, where they played a great deal of tennis together. It was here
that Pete's ability became apparent. At the age of 11 he had already learned
the solid serve and volley tactic that would become the hallmark of his game.
He was spotted by Dr. Peter Fisher, a pediatrician and a tennis enthusiast,
who became his mentor for a long part of his career. He oversaw his training
and arranged coaches. Pete Sampras would face later the twin blows of his
career when Peter Fisher was convicted for child molestation charges, which
he also accepted and later the death of his beloved coach Tim Gullikson.
But Pete Sampras maintained that Dr. Peter Fisher's behaviour towards him
was normal and straightforward.
Sampras turned professional in 1988 at the age of 17. He
won his first top-level singles title in February 1990 at Philadelphia. In
August that year, he captured his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.
He defeated Ivan Lendl in the quarter-finals and John McEnroe in the semi-finals,
to set up a final showdown with another up-and-coming American player, Andre
Agassi. Sampras beat Agassi in straight sets to become the US Open's youngest-ever
male singles champion at the age of 19 years and 28 days. The rivalry between
Agassi and Sampras was to become the dominant rivalry in tennis in the 1990s,
and Sampras would win 20 of the 34 matches they played.
1991 saw Sampras capture the first of five career titles
at the year-end ATP Tour World Championships. In 1992, he finished runner-up
at the US Open and played on the US team which won the Davis Cup (he would
help the US win the cup again in 1995).
In April 1993, Sampras reached the World No. 1 ranking for
the first time. His rise to the No. 1 spot was controversial at the time
as he had not recently won any Grand Slam titles. But he justified the ranking
three months later by claiming his first Wimbledon title, beating former
World No. 1 Jim Courier in the final. This was swiftly followed by his second
US Open title. He finished the year as the clear No. 1 and set a new ATP
Tour record that year by becoming the first player to serve over 1000 aces
in a season.
Sampras dominated Wimbledon for the rest of the decade following
his breakthrough title in 1993. He won three consecutive titles in 1993-95.
He had a surprise quarter-final loss in 1996 to Richard Krajicek, who went
on to win the title that year. Sampras then followed this by winning four
consecutive titles in 1997-2000, to become the most successful male player
in Wimbledon history. His win in 2000 also allowed him to break Roy Emerson's
record of 12 Grand Slam men's singles titles.
Sampras best surface was undoubtedly the fast-playing grass
courts. However he was also known for his good all-round game and a strong
competitive instinct. He won back-to-back US Open titles in 1995-96. He also
won the Australian Open twice in 1994 and 1997. Sampras' only real weakness
was on clay courts, where the slow surface tended to negate his natural attacking
serve-and-volley game. His best performance at the French Open came in 1996,
when he reached the semi-finals, and his failure to win that title is the
one blemish on his otherwise exceptionally impressive career record.
After winning Wimbledon in 2000 Sampras did not win another
title for two years. He reached the US Open final in 2000 and 2001, but defeats
to young up-and-coming players Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt led many to
speculate that Sampras would never capture another major title. But he had
one more surprise up his sleeve. Despite being written off by sports commentators
after a poor summer, Sampras made an amazing comeback at the 2002 US Open.
Contrary to Rusedski's predictions that Sampras would lose the next match,
Sampras defeated two young and upcoming stars of the game, Tommy Haas in
the fourth round and Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals, to reach his third
straight US Open final. This time he faced Andre Agassi, whom he'd met in
his very first Grand Slam final 12 years earlier. After a four-set battle
between the two veterans, Sampras emerged the victor and claimed a record
14th Grand Slam title. The tournament was the last of Sampras' career. He
played no tour events in the following 12 months, and officially announced
his retirement in August 2003.
During his career, Sampras won 64 top-level singles titles
and two doubles titles.He was ranked the World No. 1 for a record 286 weeks,
and was the year-end No. 1 for a record six consecutive years from 1993 to
1998.
Personal and family life
Sampras is the third son of Sam and Georgia Sampras, Greek
immigrants to the United States; his paternal grandmother was Sephardic Jewish.
Sampras' older sister Stella is head coach at UCLA and his younger sister,
Marion, is a teacher in Los Angeles. His older brother, Gus, is tournament
director at Scottsdale ATP event.
On September 30 2000, Sampras married American actress Bridgette
Wilson.
On November 21, 2002, son Christian Charles, was born to
him and his wife Bridgette Wilson. In 2005, the couple welcomed their second
son, Ryan Nicholas.
Sampras has thalassemia minor, a mild form of an inherited
disease that causes anemia. Since this is a disease which reduces the oxygen-carrying
capacity of red blood cells - vital for athletic activity - this makes his
achievements all the more astounding.
Sampras' businesslike attitude to tennis and cautious handling
of the press led critics to bemoan his lack of charisma, but his natural
talent and work ethic meant that Sampras was always able to let his results
speak for themselves.
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