50 Fun Facts About Pete Sampras

Who beat Sampras in the 2001 US Open?

Lleyton Hewitt, then 20, won 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 for his first major; Sampras had beaten three former champions in a row to get there and was playing his second match in barely 24 hours.

Who last won four straight Wimbledons before Sampras?

Björn Borg won five in a row from 1976 to 1980. After the last of his own four, at dusk in 2000, Sampras climbed into the stands to hug his parents, who had never before come to watch him there.

Who beat Sampras and finished 2000 as No. 1?

Gustavo Kuerten clinched it at the season-ending championship in Lisbon, beating Sampras in the semi-final and then taking the title to end eight straight years of American year-end No. 1s.

On his Davis Cup debut in the 1991 final, Sampras lost both his singles as which host nation took the trophy?

France: on an indoor court in Lyon the 20-year-old lost to Henri Leconte and Guy Forget, and the hosts upset the heavily favoured Americans for their first Davis Cup since 1932.

Which major title eluded Sampras?

The French Open: its slow clay took the sting out of his serve, and his best run ended in a straight-sets semi-final loss to the eventual champion.

Born in Washington, D.C., Sampras grew up in which state?

California: his parents left the Washington suburbs for an easier life in a softer climate, not for tennis, and the warm weather let him play for most of the year.

Sampras's mother Georgia emigrated to America from which country?

Greece: Georgia Sampras was born near Sparta, came to America in 1960, and met her husband in the Washington hotel beauty salon where she worked.

Which legend was the young Sampras's great idol, whom he met and played at 11?

Rod Laver: Sampras said no American star was his idol; he admired the Australian's fairness and humility, and modelled his serve-and-volley game and calm manner on him.

Which coach converted Sampras's two-handed backhand to one hand with Wimbledon in mind?

Dr. Peter Fischer, a paediatrician who had never coached before, made the switch when Sampras was 14; the boy struggled with the one-hander at first, but it suited the serve-and-volley game they were building.

Which coach taught Sampras the flat, driven forehand he kept for his whole career?

Robert Lansdorp, a gruff drill sergeant of a coach, fed him hundreds of balls an hour until driving flat through the ball was automatic; Tracy Austin and Lindsay Davenport learned the same stroke from him.

What was Sampras's world ranking at the start of 1988?

No. 893: he turned pro that year at 16, and by December he had climbed almost 800 places to No. 97.

Whom did Sampras beat in the 1990 US Open semi-finals?

John McEnroe, unseeded at 31, lost in four sets. Sampras's parents were too nervous to watch and spent the match at a cinema seeing Presumed Innocent; a day later he was the tournament's youngest men's champion.

Whose streak of eight straight US Open finals did Sampras end in the 1990 quarter-finals?

Ivan Lendl's: the three-time champion had played every final since 1982 and fought back from two sets down, but the 19-year-old pulled away 6-2 in the fifth.

Sampras's first professional title came in 1990 at an indoor event in which city?

Philadelphia: the U.S. Pro Indoor was where he had lost his first professional match two years earlier; this time he beat two top-10 players on the way to the title.

After losing his 1991 US Open title defence, Sampras drew criticism for saying he felt what?

Relieved: he said it felt like a load of bricks coming off his shoulders, and later admitted he had not been sure he could win another major.

Who beat Sampras in the 1992 US Open final, a loss he called a "wake-up call"?

Stefan Edberg, the defending champion, won in four sets; Sampras later admitted he had given up 'just a touch' during the match, and said it was the first defeat that really hurt.

Sampras played only one Olympics, losing a two-set lead in the third round in which host city?

Barcelona: on the slow clay of the 1992 Games he led Andrei Cherkasov by two sets and lost in five, and the Russian went on to a bronze medal.

Whom did Sampras beat in the 1993 Wimbledon final for his first title there?

Jim Courier lost in four sets. It was quite a turnaround for Sampras, who had lost three of his first four matches at Wimbledon and complained that the bounces on grass were unfair.

Roughly how many aces did Sampras serve in 1993, a season total no player had reached on record before?

About 1,000: no one had reached four figures since the tour began counting aces in 1991; he was dangerous enough to hit aces even with his second serve.

Whom did Sampras beat in the 1994 Australian Open final?

Todd Martin lost in straight sets; the next year the two Americans paired up to win the doubles that put their team ahead in the Davis Cup final.

Which coach of Sampras fell ill during the 1995 Australian Open and was later diagnosed with brain cancer?

Tim Gullikson: with his coach flown home ill, Sampras came from two sets down in his quarter-final, weeping in the fifth set after a fan shouted that he should do it for his coach.

Who took over as Sampras's full-time coach in 1995 after his coach fell ill?

Paul Annacone began as a stand-in while the regular coach was treated for a brain tumour, stayed until the end of 2001, and was called back in 2002 for the run to a last US Open title.

In which city did Sampras win all three of his matches in the 1995 Davis Cup final?

Moscow: Russia laid slow clay inside the Olympic Stadium to blunt his serve, yet he won two singles and the doubles, collapsing with cramp after the five-set opener.

Who ended Sampras's Wimbledon run in 1996, the only year he lost there between 1993 and 2000?

Richard Krajicek, a Dutch outsider who took a seed's place in the draw only when another player withdrew, won in straight sets and went on to take the title.

Sampras famously vomited on court during a 1996 US Open quarter-final against whom?

Àlex Corretja held a match point in the final-set tiebreak; Sampras, sick with dehydration, saved it with a lunging volley, hit a second-serve ace, and won when the Spaniard double-faulted.

Sampras's only five-set Grand Slam final was the 1998 Wimbledon final against whom?

Goran Ivanišević had also lost the 1994 final to him. Three years after this defeat, ranked 125th and needing a wildcard just to enter, the Croat finally won the title.

Which Chilean challenged Sampras's No. 1 ranking in 1998?

Marcelo Ríos took the top spot that March, ending Sampras's run of 102 straight weeks; he remains the only man to be world No. 1 without ever winning a major.

Sampras said 'ten Grand Slams' was the difference between himself and which Australian rival in 1998?

Patrick Rafter had one major to Sampras's eleven when a disputed line call decided their 1998 Cincinnati final; weeks later the Australian cut the gap to nine by beating an injured Sampras on the way to a second US Open title.

Whose record of 12 major titles did Sampras equal at Wimbledon in 1999?

Roy Emerson's: the Australian won all 12 as an amateur by 1967, the year before professionals were let into the majors, and the record stood until Sampras passed it at the same tournament a year later.

Sampras's 2000 Wimbledon win equalled whose all-time record of seven gentlemen's singles titles?

William Renshaw's: the Englishman won his seven in the 1880s, when the holder skipped the draw and defended his title in a single match against the winner of the rest.

Who beat Sampras in the 2000 US Open final?

Marat Safin, then 20, won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; reaching the final still lifted Sampras back to world No. 1 for a few weeks, the last time he held the ranking.

Which 19-year-old ended Sampras's 31-match Wimbledon streak in 2001?

Roger Federer won in five sets in the fourth round, the only official match they ever played; eight years later Sampras flew in to watch him break his record of 14 majors on the same court.

Which No. 145 Swiss beat Sampras in the second round of Wimbledon 2002?

George Bastl had only reached the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying; his five-set win turned out to be Sampras's last match at Wimbledon, and Sampras called it the lowest point of his career.

Which beaten opponent wrote Sampras off at the 2002 US Open?

Greg Rusedski, beaten in five sets in the third round, said Sampras had slowed and would lose his next match; the 17th seed, without a title in 26 months, won his next four and the championship.

Whom did Sampras beat in the 2002 US Open final, his last match?

Andre Agassi lost in four sets, twelve years after losing to Sampras in the same final; Sampras never played another tour match and said goodbye at a ceremony there a year later.

Which defending champion did the 18-year-old Sampras upset in the second round of the 1989 US Open?

Mats Wilander led by two sets to one before the teenager won in five. Sampras went out two rounds later, then came back the following year and won the whole tournament.

Which rival from his junior days did Sampras beat in straight sets in the 1996 US Open final?

Michael Chang lost 6-1, 6-4, 7-6; the win rescued a year in which Sampras had lost at the first three majors and mourned the death of his coach.

In retirement, Sampras played more of which sport than tennis?

Golf: he celebrated his first tour title in 1990 with 18 holes, and ten years after retiring he was a member of two country clubs with a handicap of three.

Which racket did Sampras use for his entire professional career?

Wilson Pro Staff Original: his stringer weighted the small-headed frame to nearly 400 grams to take power out of it, called it a log most players could barely swing, and said Sampras supplied the power himself.

Sampras had his rackets strung unusually tight, at about 75 lbs, with which material?

Natural gut: he had every racket restrung on the day of each match, so his stringer often cut out brand-new, unused strings and started again.

Which clothing company sponsored Sampras before he signed with Nike in 1994?

Sergio Tacchini: he won his first major in 1990 in one of the Italian brand's polo shirts, just after his three-year deal had been stretched to five; Nike lured him away in 1994.

Which actress and former Miss Teen USA did Sampras marry in 2000?

Bridgette Wilson was in the players' box, pregnant with their first son, when he won his final match at the 2002 US Open; the boy was born that November.

Sampras's sister Stella went on to coach women's tennis at which university, her alma mater?

UCLA: Stella Sampras Webster had played on the team there as a student, and as children she and Pete split their lesson hour with the same coach.

Sampras has which inherited blood trait, common in Mediterranean families, that can cause mild anaemia?

Beta-thalassemia minor: it leaves him short of oxygen under heavy exertion, which helps explain his collapses in long, hot matches, and it only became public late in his career.

Which was the only one of Sampras's major trophies stolen from his storage unit in 2010?

His first Australian Open trophy, from 1994, was the only major trophy in storage; the other 13 were at home or on display at a Nike store. Months later much of the haul was left anonymously at a hospital.

Sampras entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007 in which New England town?

Newport, Rhode Island: on induction day he said the match he thought of first was none of his 14 major wins but a final he lost in 1992, after which he promised himself never to give up in a match again.

Whose record for consecutive year-end No. 1 finishes did Sampras equal in 1997?

Jimmy Connors's: his five straight years ran from 1974 to 1978. Sampras made it six in 1998; the run ended in 1999, the year a herniated disc forced him out of the US Open.

Sampras's 2002 US Open win made him the second man, after whom, to win majors in his teens, twenties and thirties?

Ken Rosewall won his first major at 18 and his last at 37. Sampras was 19 at his first US Open title and 31 at his last, when he had gone 26 months without winning a tournament.

Which season-ending event, known by this name from 2000, did Sampras win five times starting in 1991?

The Tennis Masters Cup: the eight-man finale was still called the ATP Tour World Championship when he won it, each time in Germany, where he beat the home favourite in a five-set final in 1996.

Which 20-year-old American did Sampras beat in straight sets in the 2002 US Open quarter-finals?

Andy Roddick went out so quickly that Sampras said the match bought him rest; he then beat Sjeng Schalken in three sets to reach his eighth final at the tournament.