Pete Sampras

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.

Trivia

• Sampras' greatest rival is Andre Agassi, whom Sampras said brings the best game in him.
• The Sampras-Agassi rivalry reached its height in 1995 when each man agreed to play in the Davis Cup only if the other also played, concerned that if one played while the other rested during the weeks leading up to the French open, the one who rested would obviously have a competitive advantage heading into the season's second major.
• His childhood idol, whose game he modeled after, is Rod Laver.
• He used a very demanding racket, a small 85-square-inch Wilson racket which was strung at a tight 75 pounds.
• As a junior player, he was a defensive baseliner playing with a two-handed backhand. His coach, Pete Fischer, changed him to be an all-court player with a one-handed backhand with Wimbledon in mind.
• He was not a particularly notable junior player; he was still adjusting his game and playing at higher age groups to train himself.
• His parents had never attended any of his matches (due to nervousness watching him play) until his Wimbledon title match in 2000. After Sampras won, he ran into the stands to hug his parents.
• Sampras admitted to not speaking about his condition with thalassemia minor, because that would have lessened his aura of invincibility against fellow players.
• He shouts at the Wimbledon crowd, ?Thank you very much, you mother fuckers!? in 1993.