Pete Sampras

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Pete Sampras Tennis player
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras 2008
Nickname: Pistol Pete, The Swing
Nation: United StatesUnited States United States
Birthday: August 12, 1971
Size: 185 cm
1st professional season: 1988
Resignation: 2003
Playing hand: Right (one-handed backhand)
Prize money: $ 43,280,489
singles
Career record: 762: 222
Career title: 64
Highest ranking: 1 (April 12 1993)
Weeks as No. 1: 286
Grand Slam record
Grand Slam title: 00000  14
Australian Open S (1994, 1997)
French Open HF (1996)
Wimbledon S (1993-1995, 1997-2000)
US Open S (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002)
Double
Career record: 64:70
Career title: 2
Highest ranking: 27 (February 12 1990)
Grand Slam record
Grand Slam title: 00000  0
Australian Open 2R (1989)
French Open 2R (1989)
Wimbledon AF (1989)
US Open 1R (1988-1990)
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971 in Washington, DC ) is a retired American tennis player .

Sampras, the son of Greek immigrants, the father from the island of Kos and the mother from Salacia in the Peloponnese , won a total of 14 individual Grand Slam tournaments in his career . He was number 1 in the world rankings at the end of the year for six years in a row , stood at the top for a total of 286 weeks and was the youngest winner of the US Open in 1990 at the age of 19 .

In his 15-year career, he won a total of 64 tournaments in singles and two in doubles, including seven Wimbledon , five US Open and twice the Australian Open . Only the success at the French Open was denied him. In addition, he was five times ATP world champion , won 11 tournaments of the so-called Super 9 series (today ATP World Tour Masters 1000 ), won the Davis Cup twice with the USA and was voted Player of the Year six times. In his balance sheet there are 762 games won against 222 defeats. With his 14 Grand Slam successes, he is fourth on the record list behind Novak Đoković , Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and with his 286 weeks as number 1 in the world, he is second behind Roger Federer (310).

Tennis career

Youth and first professional years (1971–1992)

Sampras discovered his passion for tennis at a young age, but it was only after his family moved to Palos Verdes , a suburb of Los Angeles , that he was able to play the sport regularly. It was the pediatrician and enthusiastic tennis player Pete Fischer who recognized the talent of the then nine-year-old Sampras and became a kind of mentor for him over the next few years. It was also Fischer who hired various coaches to improve the various aspects of Sampras' tennis game. The doctor himself, whom Sampras later described as a “mad scientist”, was largely responsible for the mental level of the game. In this way, Fischer Sampras created an always controlled and less emotional behavior on the tennis court and conveyed the historical significance of the Grand Slam tournaments to him. The young Sampras studied the games of the most famous tennis professionals of the past under Fischer's guidance, and especially Rod Laver (whom he met personally at the age of eleven) impressed Sampras with his style of play and his successes. Sampras soon achieved success on the junior tour, and although Pete Fischer insisted that Sampras compete in tournaments that included much older and more experienced players, he had soon become one of the top rated players in his age group. At the time, Sampras was playing a solid two-handed backhand, which allowed him to have a confident baseline game. But Fischer convinced the then 14-year-old to play a one-handed backhand in the future and formed him into a classic serve-and-volley player. Shortly before he switched to the professional tour in the 1988 season, Sampras reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in junior singles (where he also beat the number 1 compatriot Michael Chang in the first round ) and the semi-finals in doubles. In the same year, the 16-year-old Sampras was also nominated for the Junior Davis Cup competition.

In his first season on the ATP tour, Sampras played ten tournaments, with reaching the semi-finals at a tournament in Schenectady was the greatest success. He ended his first professional season (in which he only participated in US tournaments) in 97th place in the tennis world rankings, making him one of the youngest players in tennis history to finish a season among the top 100 players. In the following season, Sampras expanded its schedule to the most important tournaments in Australia and Europe. He won 18 of his 37 games this season and was able to improve by 16 places in the world rankings. Among other things, he reached the quarter-finals in Adelaide and Indianapolis. At the side of Jim Courier he won the Italian Open in doubles, and at the US Open he played his way to the second round after defending champion Mats Wilander in the second round. A few weeks later, he broke up with Fischer, whom he said was trying to "implant his brain in my body."

For the new season, Sampras signed Joe Brandi as a new coach. The American was soon seeing better results. He reached the second Grand Slam round of 16 in a row at the Australian Open, and after a semi-final in Milan Sampras won the first tournament of his career in Philadelphia. After winning the preparatory tournament in Manchester a week before Wimbledon, he was considered an insider tip for the prestigious tournament in London. Above all, Fred Perry predicted Sampras a great success at Wimbledon. But Sampras lost to South African Christo van Rensburg in three tight sets in the first round . In the following weeks Sampras, who had now made it into the top 15 players in the world rankings, was able to reach a semi-finals twice before starting at the US Open. Not necessarily regarded as a tournament favorite, the US-American, who was placed 12th, reached the round of 16 without losing a set, where he defeated the Austrian Thomas Muster in four sets and reached a quarter-final duel with Ivan Lendl . Lendl had invited Sampras to a few training sessions at his Connecticut home ten months earlier. Sampras later spoke with admiration about the training performance that Lendl showed and conveyed to his young compatriot. But at the US Open it was Sampras who got the upper hand and ended Lendl's series of seven finals in a row at this tournament. The next US tennis legend John McEnroe also found no effective remedy against the 19-year-old 's power tennis and finally lost in four sets. In the final, Sampras met Andre Agassi , a year older , who had already made a name for himself as a bird of paradise on the ATP tour, but had no chance against Sampras and lost the final 4: 6, 3: 6 and 2: 6. At the age of 19 years and 28 days, Sampras was the youngest ever US Open winner, and he later said that he was not ready for this huge success, either as a tennis player or as a person. In fact, it would be almost three years before his next Grand Slam triumph. Sampras ended the season in fifth place in the world rankings after his fourth win of the season at the Grand Slam Cup in Germany.

The 1991 season was just as successful for Sampras as the previous season, but without much success in the Grand Slam tournaments. In total, the American made eight finals on the ATP tour and won four of these games, including the season-closing ATP World Championship for the first time in his career . At the US Open, after his quarter-final defeat, Sampras received clear criticism from his opponent Jim Courier and his compatriot Jimmy Connors when he spoke in the subsequent press conference of the relief that the pressure (which had been on him as defending champion) after the defeat of Back. After the tournament, he parted ways with his coach Joe Brandi and hired Tim Gullikson, who had already coached tennis professionals such as Martina Navrátilová , Mary Joe Fernández and Aaron Krickstein . At the end of the year Sampras was also in the US Davis Cup squad for the first time for the final against the French team. Sampras, however, lost both singles and the USA lost the final with 1: 3. He finished the season in 6th place in the world rankings.

Pete Sampras in August 1992

Gullikson's efforts to turn Sampras, who had relied heavily on his strong serve in his career so far, into a more complete player, showed initial success in the 1992 season. For the first time, the American was able to achieve good results in clay court tournaments, which he had previously largely avoided, and to reach the quarter-finals at the French Open. A few weeks later Sampras showed that he was able to successfully implement his basically well-suited game on the “holy turf” - he reached the semifinals of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season. With two successful Grand Slam tournaments behind him and a winning streak of ten games from the last preparatory tournaments in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, Sampras started at the US Open. After two five-set wins in early tournament rounds, he defeated world number one Jim Courier in the semi-finals and moved into the final against Sweden's Stefan Edberg . Sampras was able to win the first set, but missed further opportunities and went off as a loser after four sets. Sampras later said that he couldn't sleep for nights after the defeat and that the game had made it clear to him how important success was for him, especially in the Grand Slam tournaments. During the season Sampras won five of his seven tournament finals and finished the season in third place in the world rankings. In December he helped the USA with the decisive double success at the side of John McEnroe to the second Davis Cup victory in the last three years.

At the top of the tennis world (1993-1998)

After losing to Edberg, Gullikson and Sampras continued to work on improving his game. In the first months of the 1993 season, Sampras failed only once before the semi-finals, losing to Stefan Edberg again at the Australian Open. After his third win of the season in Tokyo, Sampras reached the top position in the world rankings for the first time with a final victory over Brad Gilbert. At the French Open, they made it to the quarter-finals again. Sampras also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon without any problems, where he defeated compatriot Agassi in five sets. After a three-set win over Boris Becker , he beat Jim Courier in four sets in the final and won the second Grand Slam title of his career. Until the US Open, Sampras did not make any further finals, but in Flushing Meadows Sampras only gave two sets on the way to his second success at the most important American tennis tournament. In the last third of the season he consolidated his top position in the world rankings with the season titles seven and eight in Lyon and Antwerp. However, he lost the final of the ATP World Championship against the German Michael Stich .

In the 1994 season little changed in the dominance of Sampras in men's tennis, in fact he lost only three matches in the first months of the season up to the French Open and with the victory at the Australian Open was the first player after Rod Laver in 1969 to win three Grand- Win slam tournaments in a row. However, he then missed the chance to become the title holder in all four major tournaments at the French Open, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals for the third time in a row. In Wimbledon, on the other hand, Sampras successfully defended a Grand Slam title for the first time and gave only one on the way to the final against Goran Ivanišević (which he finally won 7: 6, 7: 6 and 6: 0 after two hard-fought first sets) Set off. Due to an ankle injury, he was unable to play another match until the US Open. In the round of 16 against Jaime Yzaga , the American ultimately lacked match practice and fitness to survive after five sets and three and a half hours of play. In 1994 Sampras also made his comeback in the US Davis Cup team, having focused on his solo career the previous year. But in the semi-final against Sweden he had to give up injured in the duel against Stefan Edberg and pause for another month (the USA lost the match 2: 3). At the end of the season Sampras found back to old strength and won the ATP World Championship for the second time. He finished the season with 10 tournament wins and defended his top position in the world rankings over the entire season.

After fully recovering from his injuries, Sampras returned to the tennis court with renewed motivation, but at the Australian Open his coach Gullikson suffered a faint attack an hour before Sampras' third-round match. In the quarter-final match against Jim Courier, Sampras burst into tears in the fifth set after a fan shouted from the stands to win the game for his coach. Sampras turned the game around after a 2-0 set deficit, and a few days later Gullikson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Sampras finally played his way to the finals, but lost emotionally drained against Andre Agassi. A few months later, he should also hand over the top spot in the world rankings to his compatriot. Until Wimbledon Sampras won only two tournaments, and early defeats followed, especially in the clay court tournaments. On the other hand, Sampras remained undefeated on the Wimbledon pitch and won the tournament for the third time in a row. Just in time for the hard court season, the duel Sampras / Agassi experienced its climax, because both players still had every chance of the top position in the world rankings at the end of the year. Agassi himself went so far as to say that the player who would win the US Open would be the real number 1 of the season. In fact, in Flushing Meadows there was the media-effective final Sampras against Agassi, which Sampras won 6: 4, 6: 3, 4: 6 and 7: 5. Agassi only got back to his 1995 form years later, while Sampras regained the top of the rankings a few weeks later and was able to hold it until the end of the season. At the end of 1995 Sampras also managed the second Davis Cup triumph, he himself was able to show a 7-0 season record and win the first individual match against Andrei Tschesnokow from Russia in five sets, although he then had to be carried off the pitch with cramps.

The 1996 season began with light and shadow for Sampras, who won four tournaments up to the French Open, but failed in the third round of the Australian Open. The French Open was overshadowed by the death of his former coach Tim Gullikson, but Sampras showed the best performance of his career in Roland Garros. After he had eliminated Jim Courier in the quarterfinals after a 2-2 set deficit, he failed in the semifinals overtired by the Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov , who later won the tournament. Sampras would never reach the semifinals in Paris again. Without further preparation, he went to the side of his new coach Paul Annacone at Wimbledon. His winning streak on the sacred grass ended after 25 games against the eventual title holder Richard Krajicek in the quarter-finals. In the North American hard court season Sampras showed his best season performances. He had to throw up in the quarter-finals of the US Open against Àlex Corretja on the pitch, but won the game in five sets and then the tournament - a title that, according to his own words, saved his year. Sampras won his eighth and final title of the season at the ATP World Championship, where he defeated Boris Becker in a four-hour match in the final.

In the 1997 season, Sampras was able to hold the top position in the world rankings for the second time in his career over the entire calendar year. He started the season with his second title at the Australian Open, his 9th Grand Slam win. Sampras started the clay court season without defeat and with three wins this season, where he remained unsuccessful and failed in the third round of the French Open. At Wimbledon, however, Sampras returned to his dominance and won his fourth title in the final against Cédric Pioline . With two Grand Slam titles already won, Sampras started as the big favorite at the US Open, but surprisingly lost in five sets in the round of 16 against Petr Korda . Of the last four season tournaments Sampras was able to win three, including the fourth victory at the ATP World Championship, with which he safely defended his world ranking position. In November, however, the fourth Davis Cup final of his career was lost 5-0 to Sweden - he had already had to give up injured in his first match and was no longer used.

In 1998, for the first time since 1995, Sampras was in danger of permanently losing its world ranking position. Younger players like Marcelo Ríos and Patrick Rafter noticeably narrowed the point gap, also because Sampras failed in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open this season. For the first time in 102 weeks, Sampras had to vacate its top spot in March 1998, but regained that position the next month. At Wimbledon Sampras achieved his fifth victory, Goran Ivanišević lost in the final after five hard-fought sets. With his eleventh Grand Slam title, he was now level with Björn Borg and his great idol Rod Laver in the all-time statistics and was only one success away from Roy Emerson's Grand Slam record. The critics, on the other hand, believed that Sampras' heyday was over. In the semifinals of the US Open there was a duel between Sampras and Rafter, who had fought some disputes over the media in the previous weeks after Rafter had won the final against Sampras in Cincinnati after a dubious line decision. At the US Open, too, Rafter had the better end after five sets and the critics felt confirmed. Late in the season, Sampras revealed to his coach Annacone the big goal of ending the season as number 1 in the world rankings for the sixth time in a row - something that has never been achieved in the history of professional tennis. Sampras put all his efforts on this success and even accepted a wildcard from Boris Becker for a tournament in Vienna to win the points race against Rios and Rafter. After all, the semifinals at the ATP World Championship were enough to secure the position.

The last years (1999-2003)

After the grueling battle for the top of the world rankings, Sampras took a one-month break at the beginning of the 1999 season, and there were also back problems that made it impossible for him to start at the Australian Open. In his first tournament of the 1999 season in San José, Sampras could not compete in the semifinals due to a foot injury and had to pause for another month. He was only able to take part in tournaments regularly in March of that year, but in April again back problems prevented him from playing regularly. Sampras also increasingly lost points in the world rankings. As he himself said, the world ranking position was no longer of decisive importance for him after he had broken the record for most of the years at the top of the world rankings the previous season. Rather, the focus was now on Roy Emerson's Grand Slam record, which was now within reach. After a second round at Roland Garros, a winning streak began for Sampras, who was able to triumph in the Queen's Club and then set the Grand Slam record at Wimbledon by beating regained rival Andre Agassi 6: 3, 6 in one of the best games of his career : 4 and 7: 5 defeated. Agassi conquered the top of the world rankings by reaching the finals, but had to give this position back to Sampras a few weeks later, who dominated the North American hard court season and was able to clearly beat both Agassi and Rafter twice in preparation tournaments before the US Open. Considered a top favorite for the US Open, Sampras injured himself in training shortly before the start of the tournament and had to take a break for two months. Sampras was only fully fit again at the ATP World Championship in Hanover at the end of the year, when the chance of a seventh season at the top of the world rankings had long been lost. But Sampras quickly found his best form and was able to beat Agassi 6: 1, 7: 5, 6: 4 in the final of the world championship and celebrate the fifth title of the year and the fifth victory in this special tournament. Agassi was number 1 in the world rankings at the end of the season, but had a personal season balance of 1: 4 against Sampras, who ended the season in third place in the world rankings.

The next duel between Agassi and Sampras should not be long in coming, as the two Americans met again at the Australian Open in the 2000 season. This time it was Agassi who made it to the final of the tournament after five sets. Sampras sustained an injury during the match that he had to heal by early March. In Miami, the first tournament win of the season for Sampras followed in March. It had become clear to him after the injury-ridden pre-season at the latest that he had to cut back his tournament schedule considerably in order to save his energy for the real major events of the year. As a result, Sampras almost only appeared in Grand Slam and Masters Series tournaments. After a final defeat at the Queen's Club against Lleyton Hewitt , Sampras won his seventh win at Wimbledon in the last eight years, where he won the final against Patrick Rafter in four sets, clinched his 13th Grand Slam title on the holy lawn and with it set a new record. Sampras was also able to reach the final at the US Open for the first time since 1996, but lost in three very clear sets against the Russian Marat Safin . The revenge against Safin then succeeded Sampras at the season-closing Masters Cup , when he could clearly beat the Russians in the preliminary round of the tournament and thus prevented Safin from jumping to the top of the world rankings. In fact, Sampras himself had the chance to take the top position at the end of the year with a tournament victory, but he lost his semifinal encounter against Gustavo Kuerten .

Record Grand Slam winner in men's singles
rank player title
1. SwitzerlandSwitzerland Roger Federer 20th
2. SpainSpain Rafael Nadal 19th
3. SerbiaSerbia Novak Đoković 17th
4th United StatesUnited States Pete Sampras 14th
5. AustraliaAustralia Roy Emerson 12
6th SwedenSweden Bjorn Borg 11
AustraliaAustralia Rod Laver
8th. United StatesUnited States Bill Tilden 10
As of February 2, 2020

The 2001 season turned out to be one of the least successful in Sampras' career. During the entire season he remained without a tournament win (for the first time since 1989), and in the world rankings he was unable to maintain the level of recent years. Until the tournament in Wimbledon Sampras had only twice reached the semi-finals of a tournament, in Indian Wells, where he failed in the final to Agassi, and in the Queen's Club, where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals . At the Australian Open, however, he had already failed in the round of 16, in Roland Garros he did not get past the first round. At Wimbledon, after 31 victories in a row, there was the second defeat in the last eight years when he was defeated by the Swiss Roger Federer in five sets. After the tournament, Sampras was no longer among the top ten players in the world rankings for the first time since 1990. In the North American hard court season, Sampras showed an upward trend and was able to reach two tournament finals. At the US Open Sampras then played the best tennis of the season and beat players like Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter and last year's winner Marat Safin on the way to the final. But in the final it was again not enough for Sampras, who was clearly inferior to Lleyton Hewitt. After a last appearance in Stuttgart, Sampras ended the 2001 season prematurely. At the end of the year, rumors surfaced that Sampras would part ways with longtime coach Paul Annacone.

For the new season, Sampras presented Tom Gullikson as the new trainer, the twin brother of Tim Gullikson, who had looked after Sampras from 1992 to 1996. But success did not come for Sampras, who lost again in the round of 16 at the Australian Open. Previously, Sampras had not extended his long-term contract with Nike and had also temporarily separated from his manager. After the following tournaments did not produce any outstanding results either, Sampras separated from Gullikson after about three months of cooperation. As a new coach, he hired José Higueras , who should prepare Sampras once again for a successful run at the French Open. In March 2002 Sampras reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells, where he once again had to admit defeat to a younger generation player, Lleyton Hewitt. In the same month he also signed a new, much lower-endowed contract with Nike. After losing his game against Spaniard Àlex Corretja in the Davis Cup on grass pitch, Sampras reached the first season finale in Houston, which he lost to his compatriot Andy Roddick . At the Grand Slam tournaments in Roland Garros (first round) and Wimbledon (second round) there were further bitter defeats, whereupon Sampras also separated from José Higueras and returned to Paul Annacone as coach. With a game balance of 3: 3 Sampras traveled to the US Open, where he found his best form as in the two previous years and reached the final for the third time in a row. Unlike in previous years, however, he did not meet a player of the younger generation, but his old rival Andre Agassi, whom he was able to defeat 6: 3, 6: 4, 5: 7 and 6: 4. To win the Grand Slam title of his career and celebrate his first tournament victory in over two years. Even in the press conference after the win, rumors were spreading that Sampras would end his career and would not play another game in the 2002 season.

Throughout the 2003 season there were repeated announcements that Sampras would make his comeback in certain tournaments, which were, however, repeatedly withdrawn. Shortly before the 2003 US Open, it was announced that Sampras would retire at a ceremony on Flushing Meadows Center Court on August 25, 2003.

Return to the tennis court (since 2006)

Pete Sampras, Champions Cup Boston, 2007

After Sampras said he had only had about four actual training sessions in three and a half years since his last match in 2002, it was announced in February 2006 that the American would make a comeback on the World Team Tennis (WTT) Series. He should play six or seven games during the regular season from July 6 to 26, 2006. On March 28, 2006, he was selected as the first choice of the WTT Draft by the Newport Beach Breakers. On April 6, 2006 Sampras also played a game as part of the invitation tournament River Oaks International in Houston against Robby Ginepri . The first match since his retirement in 2003 Sampras lost on clay against his younger compatriot Ginepri with 3: 6 and 6: 7.

In 2007 Sampras took part in several tournaments of the Outback Champions Series , three of which he won. On July 14, 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame . On July 15, 2007, he played a friendly against Todd Martin , which he won 7-5. In November 2007 Sampras played three times against the leader of the tennis world rankings, Roger Federer. Federer won the first two matches, and Sampras scored the first victory in the third game. In March, another duel between Federer and Sampras took place in New York, which the Swiss won in three sets.

In 2008 Sampras also took part in a tournament of the Tour of Champions for the first time, in which former world-class players such as John McEnroe , Goran Ivanišević or Stefan Edberg regularly participate. Sampras won the tournament in São Paulo in the final against Marcelo Ríos.

Private life

Sampras has three siblings. His older sister, Stella, is a tennis coach at the University of California , and his younger sister, Marion, is a teacher. His brother Gus works as the tournament director at the ATP event in Scottsdale , a tournament that Sampras has regularly attended in his active career.

On September 30, 2000 Sampras married the American actress Bridgette Wilson , whom he had met in 1999. The couple has two sons; Christian Charles was born on November 21, 2001, Ryan Nikolaos on July 29, 2005. Prior to that, Sampras had a two-year relationship with actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley , a brief liaison with actress Lauren Holly, and a six-year acquaintance with South African student Delaina Mulcahy .

Sampras suffers from thalassemia minor, a hereditary disease that usually does not cause anemia , but can result in a lower number of erythrocytes , which in turn can cause circulatory problems and fatigue. Sampras himself said that the disease affected him specifically in hot weather conditions and that he did not make it public during his tennis career so as not to inform his opponents that his health was impaired.

Records

Record world number one in men's singles
rank Tennis player Weeks
1. SwitzerlandSwitzerland Roger Federer 310
2. United StatesUnited States Pete Sampras 286
3. SerbiaSerbia Novak Đoković 283
4th CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Ivan Lendl 270
5. United StatesUnited States Jimmy Connors 268
6th SpainSpain Rafael Nadal 209
7th United StatesUnited States John McEnroe 170
8th. SwedenSweden Bjorn Borg 109
9. United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 101
As of August 26, 2020

Existing records

  • Six times in a row (1993-1998) Sampras was able to finish a season as world number one.
  • Sampras was 11 years in a row (1992-2002) in at least one Grand Slam tournament in the final. He shares this record with Ivan Lendl .
  • Along with Ken Rosewall and Rafael Nadal , Sampras is one of three players to win a Grand Slam tournament in both their teens and their 20s and 30s.
  • Sampras beat the most aces on the ATP Tour in 1993 (1011) and 1995 (974).
  • In 1990, at 19 years and 28 days, he was the youngest US Open winner of all time.
  • Between Wimbledon 1995 and the US Open 2002 Sampras won the Open Era record of eight finals in a row, Bill Tilden (1920-1925) is the only one who also succeeded.
  • Pete Sampras is the only player in the Open Era to be unbeaten in all seven Wimbledon finals (the Grand Slam record is held by Nadal, who won all twelve French Open finals).

Former records

  • Sampras (at 14) held the record of Grand Slam titles won until July 5, 2009, when Roger Federer surpassed him with his 15th Grand Slam victory. On June 7, 2009 Federer was able to set the record. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal (19) and Novak Đoković (17) have also achieved more Grand Slam victories.
  • Sampras was number 1 in the world rankings for a total of 286 weeks. For a long time it looked as if even Federer would not be able to break this record, as he had to give up the top position after a total of 285 weeks in spring 2010. After Federer's Wimbledon victory in 2012, however, he again conquered number 1 in the world rankings and on July 16, 2012 exceeded the record of Sampras with 287 weeks.
  • Sampras won over $ 43 million in prize money, topping the prize money list through October 2008. By winning the first round at the Madrid Masters , Roger Federer overtook Sampras in this category too.
  • In addition to Ivan Lendl , Roger Federer and Novak Đoković, Sampras was the only player to win the Tennis Masters Cup five times . Since the 2011 season, Federer has also been the sole record holder there with 6 wins.
  • His seven titles at Wimbledon marked the breaking of William Renshaw's record . In 2017 she overtook Roger Federer with his eighth Wimbledon final victory.

Awards

  • six times ATP player of the year (1993–1998)
  • six times ITF World Champion (1993–1998)
  • 9 Espy Awards

Grand Slam successes

Wins (14)

year competition Final opponent Result
1990 US Open United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 2
1993 Wimbledon United StatesUnited States Jim Courier 7: 6, 7: 6, 3: 6, 6: 3
1993 US Open FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 3
1994 Australian Open United StatesUnited States Todd Martin 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
1994 Wimbledon CroatiaCroatia Goran Ivanišević 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 0
1995 Wimbledon GermanyGermany Boris Becker 6: 7, 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 2
1995 US Open United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 4, 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 5
1996 US Open United StatesUnited States Michael Chang 6: 1, 6: 4, 7: 6
1997 Australian Open SpainSpain Carlos Moyá 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 3
1997 Wimbledon FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 4
1998 Wimbledon CroatiaCroatia Goran Ivanišević 6: 7, 7: 6, 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2
1999 Wimbledon United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 5
2000 Wimbledon AustraliaAustralia Patrick Rafter 6: 7, 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2
2002 US Open United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 3, 6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 4

Final defeats (4)

year competition Final opponent Result
1992 US Open SwedenSweden Stefan Edberg 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 7, 2: 6
1995 Australian Open United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 4, 1: 6, 6: 7, 4: 6
2000 US Open RussiaRussia Marat Safin 4: 6, 3: 6, 3: 6
2001 US Open AustraliaAustralia Lleyton Hewitt 6: 7, 1: 6, 1: 6

Balance sheet

competition 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Title /
career
Australian Open - 1R AF - - HF S. F. 3R S. VF - HF AF AF 2
French Open - 2R - 2R VF VF VF 1R HF 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 0
Wimbledon - 1R 1R 2R HF S. S. S. VF S. S. S. S. AF 2R 7th
US Open 1R AF S. VF F. S. AF S. S. AF HF - F. F. S. 5
Masters Cup - - RR S. HF F. S. HF S. S. HF S. HF - - 5
Grand Slam record 0: 1 4: 4 10: 2 6: 3 15: 3 23: 2 21: 2 20: 2 18: 3 19: 2 17: 3 8: 1 18: 3 13: 4 11: 3 203: 38
Tournament victories 0 0 4th 4th 5 8th 10 5 8th 8th 4th 5 2 0 1 64
World ranking 97 81 5 6th 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 10 13
Hard court record 8: 7 13:10 27: 8 25: 7 25: 5 43: 6 37: 3 37: 6 46: 4 35: 5 30:10 23: 5 28: 7 26:10 20: 8 423: 101
Lawn field balance 0-0 2: 2 6: 2 5: 3 7: 2 7: 1 11: 1 12: 0 4: 1 8: 1 8: 1 12: 0 11: 1 6: 2 2: 3 101: 20
Carpet space balance 2: 2 1: 4 18: 6 19: 6 18: 4 21: 5 17: 6 16: 5 10: 3 10: 2 14: 3 1-0 1: 1 0-0 0-0 148: 47
Clay court balance 0: 1 2: 3 0: 1 3: 3 22: 8 14: 4 12: 2 7: 5 5: 3 2: 4 9: 3 4: 3 2: 4 3: 4 5: 6 90:54
Overall balance 10:10 18:19 51:17 52:19 72:19 85:16 77:12 72:16 65:11 55:12 61:17 40: 8 42:13 35:16 27:17 762: 222

Tournament victories

Legend
Grand Slam (14)
Tennis Masters Cup (5)
ATP Masters Series (11)
ATP Tour (34)
No. date competition Topping Final opponent Result
1. 19th February 1990 United StatesUnited States Philadelphia Carpet (i) EcuadorEcuador Andrés Gómez 7: 6, 7: 5, 6: 2
2. June 18, 1990 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Manchester race IsraelIsrael Gilad Bloom 7: 6, 7: 6
3. August 27, 1990 United StatesUnited States US Open Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 2
4th December 11, 1990 GermanyGermany Munich Carpet (i) United StatesUnited States Brad Gilbert 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 2
5. July 29, 1991 United StatesUnited States los Angeles Hard court United StatesUnited States Brad Gilbert 6: 2, 6: 7, 6: 3
6th August 12, 1991 United StatesUnited States Indianapolis Hard court GermanyGermany Boris Becker 7: 6, 3: 6, 6: 3
7th October 14, 1991 FranceFrance Lyon Carpet (i) FranceFrance Olivier Delaître 6: 1, 6: 1
8th. November 12, 1991 GermanyGermany Frankfurt am Main Carpet (i) United StatesUnited States Jim Courier 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
9. 17th February 1992 United StatesUnited States Philadelphia Carpet (i) IsraelIsrael Amos Mansdorf 6: 1, 7: 6, 2: 6, 7: 6
10. July 20, 1992 AustriaAustria Kitzbühel sand ArgentinaArgentina Alberto Mancini 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 3
11. August 10, 1992 United StatesUnited States Cincinnati Hard court United StatesUnited States Ivan Lendl 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3
12. 17th August 1992 United StatesUnited States Indianapolis Hard court United StatesUnited States Jim Courier 6: 4, 6: 4
13. October 19, 1992 FranceFrance Lyon Carpet (i) FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 6: 4, 6: 2
14th January 11, 1993 AustraliaAustralia Sydney Hard court AustriaAustria Thomas Muster 7: 6, 6: 1
15th March 12, 1993 United StatesUnited States Miami Hard court United StatesUnited States MaliVai Washington 6: 3, 6: 2
16. April 5, 1993 JapanJapan Tokyo Hard court United StatesUnited States Brad Gilbert 6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 2
17th April 12, 1993 Hong Kong 1959Hong Kong Hong Kong Hard court United StatesUnited States Jim Courier 6: 3, 6: 7, 7: 6
18th June 21, 1993 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race United StatesUnited States Jim Courier 7: 6, 7: 6, 3: 6, 6: 3
19th August 30, 1993 United StatesUnited States US Open Hard court FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 3
20th October 18, 1993 FranceFrance Lyon Carpet (i) FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 7: 6, 1: 6, 7: 5
21st November 8, 1993 BelgiumBelgium Antwerp Carpet (i) SwedenSweden Magnus Gustafsson 6: 1, 6: 4
22nd January 10, 1994 AustraliaAustralia Sydney Hard court United StatesUnited States Ivan Lendl 7: 6, 6: 4
23. 17th January 1994 AustraliaAustralia Australian Open Hard court United StatesUnited States Todd Martin 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
24. February 28, 1994 United StatesUnited States Indian Wells Hard court CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Petr Korda 4: 6, 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2
25th March 11, 1994 United StatesUnited States Miami Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 5: 7, 6: 3, 6: 3
26th March 28, 1994 JapanJapan Osaka Hard court FranceFrance Lionel Roux 6: 2, 6: 2
27. April 4, 1994 JapanJapan Tokyo Hard court United StatesUnited States Michael Chang 6: 4, 6: 2
28. May 9, 1994 ItalyItaly Rome sand GermanyGermany Boris Becker 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 2
29 June 20, 1994 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race CroatiaCroatia Goran Ivanišević 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 0
30th November 7, 1994 BelgiumBelgium Antwerp Carpet (i) SwedenSweden Magnus Larsson 7: 5, 6: 4
31. November 15, 1994 GermanyGermany Frankfurt am Main Carpet (i) GermanyGermany Boris Becker 4: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 4
32. March 6, 1995 United StatesUnited States Indian Wells Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 7: 5, 6: 3, 7: 5
33. June 12, 1995 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Queen's Club race FranceFrance Guy Forget 7: 6, 7: 6
34. June 26, 1995 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race GermanyGermany Boris Becker 6: 7, 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 2
35. August 28, 1995 United StatesUnited States US Open Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 4, 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 5
36. October 30, 1995 FranceFrance Paris Carpet (i) GermanyGermany Boris Becker 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
37. February 12, 1996 United StatesUnited States San Jose Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 2, 6: 3
38. February 19, 1996 United StatesUnited States Memphis Hard court United StatesUnited States Todd Martin 6: 4, 7: 6
39. April 8, 1996 Hong Kong 1959Hong Kong Hong Kong Hard court United StatesUnited States Michael Chang 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4
40. April 15, 1996 JapanJapan Tokyo Hard court United StatesUnited States Richey Reneberg 6: 4, 7: 5
41. August 12, 1996 United StatesUnited States Indianapolis Hard court CroatiaCroatia Goran Ivanišević 7: 6, 7: 5
42. August 26, 1996 United StatesUnited States US Open Hard court United StatesUnited States Michael Chang 6: 1, 6: 4, 7: 6
43. September 23, 1996 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Basel Hard court (i) GermanyGermany Hendrik Dreekmann 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 0
44. November 19, 1996 GermanyGermany Hanover Carpet (i) GermanyGermany Boris Becker 3: 6, 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 7, 6: 4
45. January 13, 1997 AustraliaAustralia Australian Open Hard court SpainSpain Carlos Moyá 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 3
46. February 10, 1997 United StatesUnited States San Jose Hard court United KingdomUnited Kingdom Greg Rusedski 3: 6, 5: 0 task
47. February 24, 1997 United StatesUnited States Philadelphia Hard court (i) AustraliaAustralia Patrick Rafter 5: 7, 7: 6, 6: 3
48. June 23, 1997 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race FranceFrance Cédric Pioline 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 4
49. 4th August 1997 United StatesUnited States Cincinnati Hard court AustriaAustria Thomas Muster 6: 3, 6: 4
50. September 23, 1997 GermanyGermany Munich Carpet (i) AustraliaAustralia Patrick Rafter 6: 2, 6: 4, 7: 5
51. October 27, 1997 FranceFrance Paris Carpet (i) SwedenSweden Jonas Björkman 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1
52. November 10, 1997 GermanyGermany Hanover Hard court (i) RussiaRussia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 2
53. February 23, 1998 United StatesUnited States Philadelphia Hard court (i) SwedenSweden Thomas Enqvist 7: 5, 7: 6
54. April 27, 1998 United StatesUnited States Atlanta sand AustraliaAustralia Jason Stoltenberg 6: 7, 6: 3, 7: 6
55. June 22, 1998 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race CroatiaCroatia Goran Ivanišević 6: 7 2 , 7: 6 9 , 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2
56. October 12, 1998 AustriaAustria Vienna Carpet (i) SlovakiaSlovakia Karol Kučera 6: 3, 7: 6, 6: 1
57. June 7, 1999 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Queen's Club race United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tim Henman 6: 7, 6: 4, 7: 6
58. June 21, 1999 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 5
59. July 26, 1999 United StatesUnited States los Angeles Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 7: 6, 7: 6
60. August 9, 1999 United StatesUnited States Cincinnati Hard court AustraliaAustralia Patrick Rafter 7: 6, 6: 3
61. November 22, 1999 GermanyGermany Hanover Hard court (i) United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 1, 7: 5, 6: 4
62. March 20, 2000 United StatesUnited States Miami Hard court BrazilBrazil Gustavo Kuerten 6: 1, 6: 7 2 , 7: 6 5 , 7: 6 8
63. June 26, 2000 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Wimbledon race AustraliaAustralia Patrick Rafter 6: 7 10 , 7: 6 5 , 6: 4, 6: 2
64. August 26, 2002 United StatesUnited States US Open Hard court United StatesUnited States Andre Agassi 6: 3, 6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 4

literature

  • HA Branham, Bud Collins: Sampras: A Legend in the Works , Publisher: Bonus Books; 1st ed edition, o. O. October 1996, ISBN 1-56625-062-5 (English)
  • Michael Boughn, Joseph Romain: Pete Sampras (Champion Sport Biographies) , Publisher: Warwick House Pub., O. O. October 1999, ISBN 1-894020-56-1 (English)

Web links

Commons : Pete Sampras  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g The New York Times "A 90's Kind of Rivalry" by Peter de Jonge http://www.geocities.com/hovav13/art-A_90s_Kind_of_Rivalry.html ( Memento from January 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b ESPN.com "Who's Pete Sampras?" By Larry Schwartz Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / 216.194.87.192
  4. ↑ a b c World Traveler "In Pursuit of Perfection" by Joel Drucker
  5. ↑ a b c d http://www.ne.jp/asahi/pete/sampras/archives/interview/IUST0009E.html
  6. ↑ US tennis "The magic I almost missed" by Mike Lupica http://www.ne.jp/asahi/pete/sampras/archives/general/AUST9509E.html
  7. ↑ Pete Sampras versus Alex Corretja - Exhaustion and vomit in New York. In: tennisnet.com. September 5, 2016, accessed September 5, 2016 .
  8. ↑ My date with Pete After practice with Sampras, I learned he's still got it ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ “Federer definitely the best after Hitchcock final”, 20 minutes online July 5, 2009
  10. ↑ "14. Grand Slam title for Roger Federer ”, Swiss television, June 9, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Sampras, Pete
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC