Pete Sampras

Petros "Pete" Sampras (pronounced /ˈsæmprəs/) (born August 12, 1971) is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

Pete Sampras Happiness Expression

Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked World No. 97 after starting the year at World No. 893. His first professional match was a loss to Sammy Giammalva, Jr. at the February Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia. But just one week later at the Lipton International Players Championships in Miami, Sampras defeated two top-40 players before losing to World No. 18 Emilio Sánchez.

Sampras won his second and final Australian Open title in January, defeating Carlos Moyà in the final; in July he won Wimbledon for the fourth time, defeating Cédric Pioline in the final. Sampras also won singles titles in San Jose, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Munich, and Paris and the ATP Tour World Championships in Hanover, Germany. He became the only player to win both the Grand Slam Cup and the ATP Tour World Championships in the same year.

The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the last year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the World No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced Sampras to withdraw from that year's US Open. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round robin match but winning the final.

The nearest Sampras came to having any weakness in his arsenal was his backhand. Many players tried (especially late in his career) to serve a high "kicker" out to the Sampras backhand in an attempt to draw a weak return. A similar tactic was employed by many players in rallying Sampras; they would play shot after shot to the Sampras backhand, hoping to wear him down. Still, most of the time, he will handle them with either topspin or slice backhand deep to his opponent's court to change defense to attack.

Pete Sampras Trophy

On September 30, 2000, Sampras married American actress and former Miss Teen USA, Bridgette Wilson. On November 21, 2002, their son Christian Charles was born.On July 29, 2005, the couple welcomed their second son, Ryan Nikolaos.

Pete Sampras Best Pose And Smile