Sampras & Sanchez Vicaro....

x.doublea · Sampras & Sanchez Vicaro....

Sampras, Sanchez-Vicario to Hall of Fame

As a tennis history buff, Pete Sampras can't wait to walk around the sport's Hall of Fame when he goes there for the first time this summer. He's especially looking forward to seeing his own plaque.

Sampras was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, joined in the 2007 class by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Sven Davidson and Russ Adams.

"It's kind of icing on the cake for having a good career," Sampras said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's an honor to be included with (Rod) Laver and the older generation, (John) McEnroe and (Jimmy) Connors. All those guys."

Sampras has never visited the Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., but he'll get a chance when he's there for the July 14 induction ceremony. He'll also participate in an exhibition the next day.

"I'm looking forward to being able to walk through the halls and check out the displays they have," the 35-year-old American said. "It's a time to reflect on what I did and appreciate what I did. I'm looking forward to the whole weekend, and sharing it with family and friends. In your everyday life, you don't think about your career, but at that time, I'll stop and I'll do it."

Thanks to a superb serve, dangerous forehand and big-match brilliance, Sampras owns a record 14 men's singles Grand Slam championships and was ranked No. 1 for a record 286 weeks, including 102 in a row from April 1996 to March 1998.

The man known as Pistol Pete won a total of 64 singles titles, including his haul of majors: seven at
Wimbledon, five at the
U.S. Open and two at the
Australian Open. Sampras won the last match of his career, beating Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final.

His singles record was 762-222, and he earned more than $43 million in prize money, a mark that still stands.

What's he most proud of?

"The longevity that I had. Year in, year out. Years at No. 1 — being able to stay at No. 1, fend off guys trying to knock me off," Sampras said. "And the bigger the match, the better I played. I felt like I rose to the occasion more often than not."

Current No. 1 Roger Federer is closing in on Sampras' record for major singles titles. Federer is seeking his 10th at the Australian Open.

"I did all I could do. I'm happy with 14 majors," Sampras said. "If he breaks it, which I'm sure he will, I just don't believe in rooting against someone. ... I sent him a text (message) after he won his last Open. I respect his game and the way he handles himself on and off the court."

Sanchez-Vicario won three French Opens and was the first Spanish woman to win the U.S. Open singles title in 1994. In addition to those four major singles titles, she won six doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam championships.

She finished with 29 titles in singles, 67 in doubles. In 1995, she was ranked No. 1 in both singles and doubles.

Sampras and Sanchez-Vicario were elected in the "recent player" category. Davidson was elected in the "master player" category, and Adams, a photographer, was elected in the "contributor" category.

Davidson was the first Swedish man to win a Grand Slam title, at the 1957 French Championships, and also won the 1958 Wimbledon doubles title.

Tennis fan

Sampras just gave an interview on ESPN. What a cool guy Cool

to say that he is rooting for Federer to break his record.
However, when Dick Enberg asked hin who would have won the Wimby final if Sampras (at his prime) played Federer (at his prime) Pete said that he would take his chances. Pete's competition was much harder than Federer's...

J-man

I think it was P-mac who asked the Federer in his prime vs Sampras in his prime question.

I'm happy that Sampras is inducted. I saw the interview on ESPN 2 alittle while ago. Sampras thinks that Federer will over come his record of 14 GS titles.

x.doublea

Tennis fan

I was reading Pete Sampras bio and could not help but compare with Baghdatis, since they were both raised in Greek families.

I kept thinking about Baghdatis interview and the pressure from his dad etc. (An interview with Marcos Baghdatis)

I think the main difference in the two is the pressure from family. Baghdatis dad was a tennis champion as well as both of his brothers were tennis players and played Davis Cup. Marcos was Cyprus men's champion at 12 and his dad sent him to Paris at the age of 14 at a tennis academy and was raised to be a top-10 tennis champion. He said in the past that his dream was to be a soccer star, not a tennis star.

On the other hand, Pete was just an ordinary kid, son of Greek immigrants where his mom did not even speak English initially. He just picked up a tennis racquet and got interested in the game. No one else in his family played tennis before. His first coach was coaching him for free and was not a Tennis pro. It was pediatrician who focused on his mental game!
Pete Sampras Bio
Pete Sampras from Wikipedia

x.doublea

leftys_rock

dav6789

Landsdorp is one of the greatest coaches of all time. Him and Lindsay used to practice targets over and over again in California, and helped Lindsay develop her talent for controlling the ball right at impact.

Good to see Sampras and ASV into the hall of fame. Sampras is the greatest of all time, and there are only a few above ASV.