Pete Sampras Quotations

It's not easy to retire at 31. In one respect I was glad I was done. But after a few years of having fun, I got a little restless. When you're 33, 34, and you don't have a focus, you can get kind of lost. As a man, you feel a little bit unfulfilled.

The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.

All I cared about in tennis was winning.

In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win. Not in golf. I played three rounds in that Tahoe event, and I was drained. Mentally, not physically

I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.

I could be a jerk and get a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am.

I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.

It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.

People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.

I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly.

For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.

After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.

I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.

I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.

Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure.

Andre Agassi was my rival in the '90s, and I think as we got older we sort of transcended the game. He was probably the best player I ever played over my career. There's a list of players that were tough, but Andre, certainly, he was the most unique.

You kind of live and die by the serve.

I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.

It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.

I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.

People know me. I'm not going to produce any cartwheels out there. I'm not going to belong on Comedy Central. I'll always be a tennis player, not a celebrity

When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.

I've got a great wife, a great life.

I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids.

I don't know how I do it, I really don't.

Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.

He moves great, does everything very well. He's gotten to a point that when he's not at his best, he's finding ways to win, and that separates him from the rest.

You know, you walk into this place, it's not like walking into Cincinnati or Montreal. This is a Grand Slam. You know, this is what you play for. This is what tennis is all about. Yeah, not many people will remember what happened in Montreal or Cincinnati if you go out and win this tournament.

When you retire, you take time away, you don't want to have anything to do with tennis. After two years of having fun and not doing much in the sport, you get a little bored and want to know what's the next chapter in your life. Last year was a turning point 'What am I going to do next?' and I had to make a decision.

World Team Tennis gives me an opportunity to play singles, doubles and mixed doubles and that's something I didn't get to do during my career.

The timing is right. I've been busy with my family and enjoying retirement but this feels like the right time to get back on the court and play World Team Tennis.

(The tournament) was one of my more favorite stops and I know a lot of players love playing in the desert and it's good to see it's staying in the desert. Obviously playing the event for 14 or 15 years, I love the two weeks I would spend there. I have a home close to there and I can have a presence at the event now that I'm a very small piece to a big puzzle.

You expect people to kind of be walking around. And there's a certain buzz in the air.

There's no one out there that has a big enough game, a big enough serve to really put pressure on him. I would stick to my game and hopefully that would be big enough to beat him.

I just believed it would be a shame to lose this tournament. To have it leave the country would have been a big blow.

Not only is he winning majors, but ... he's winning them with pretty much ease. Clearly, he's head and shoulders above the rest. I don't see anyone pushing him over the next three or four years.

I have fond memories of being involved in the event as a player, and now to be involved as an owner should be equally rewarding. Our investment group believes that even though this event is already the most attended event outside of the Grand Slams it has the potential to reach even greater heights, and there is not a better place for that to happen than at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Clay will be the toughest surface for Roger. If things go right, if the weather's right, I think he can win it.

I just had to hang in there and make sure I was dictating play,

It's weird to say, but I'm content, ... I'm happy. I've got nothing left to prove to myself. That's a big statement. I'm coming to terms with it, you know? I'm like, 'I'm stopping?' But there's nothing left in tennis I want to achieve.

This is more about just getting myself a little busier and focused on something I used to be good at. It's time this year to do a little more. Last year, I was kind of floating along.

They're all very valid: Not only is he winning majors, but the way he's winning them -- with pretty much ease. He's pretty much the favorite in every major for the rest of his career.

He's got a big game and a big future. I never really felt I was in control of his service games. You're looking at the future of American tennis. He's a standout. He's got a big serve and grass is a surface he's going to get better on.

The only person that I have met, that I have ever been in awe of, is Eddie Vedder.

A champion is suppose to hate to lose, and it wasn't like I was ever crazy about the idea. But I learned to deal with losing without having my spirit or confidence broken, which would help immensely over time, not just in the big picture but even in specific matches when I found myself in a jam. Fear of losing is a terrible thing.

Anybody who has played sports and says they have never choked is lying to you.

Success is walking out of here with the title, and anything less is not good enough in my book.

What I've done in the game is always going to stick, no matter what happens.

I don`t know why, but I love the dog eat dog nature of tennis. It`s real, it`s brutal and there`s no hiding place - it's like a one to one street fight. I love the intensity that comes with knowing you walk off court either a winner or a loser. It`s daunting but very exciting. There is no one to blame except yourself, no one cares who comes second.

I made it look so easy on court all those years. No one realized how hard I had to work. No one realized how much I had to put into it. They underestimated my intensity.

I loved Wimbledon and what it meant, but the surface felt uncomfortable. I just didn't like it, I was a hard-court guy, a Californian kid.

I'm not worried about the weekend, I'm worried about Saturday.

It's one-on-one out there, man. There ain't no hiding. I can't pass the ball.

Baseball is America's pastime, and that record is absolutely huge in the States.

I admire the way golfers handle themselves. But tennis players are a lot younger, as a rule. There aren't many teenagers on the golf tour.

Players aren't quite as intimidated by my name.

I'm staying in shape, working out.

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. If I can match them for 10 years, I'd be in their company. They were class acts. That's what I'd like to be.

The way I look at the top five, (Rod) Laver, (Roger) Federer, myself, Borg and (Ivan) Lendl. I think those five guys dominated their generations better than anyone. Maybe Roger will dominate better than any one of the other four. Maybe I put Andre (Agassi) as kind of six through 10 with, you know, (John) McEnroe and (Jimmy) Connors, kind of those guys. That's kind of how I see it.

Throughout my career, my mind rarely wandered, and I was never sidetracked by distractions, no matter what I was going through off the court.

People watched the Masters. It was a huge event. It was at The Garden. Now that it is over here in Europe, it has lost a little bit of popularity in the States.

I guess I get my strength from my legs, which are also important in tennis.

That's not what I'm looking forward to, just being home and just kind of not really sure kind of what to do with myself.

I feel much more respected in Europe than I do in the States from the press and from the people. Americans expect me to win every match I play.

When you come back strong, you are going to have little nagging things that you can usually play through, but every now and again, it is to the point where you can't play.

Winning is about taking your opponent's heart out and squeezing it until all the blood has come out, even the very last drop. There are no prizes for a funny loser.

I've always led a pretty simple life, with few extravagances. The money in tennis never drove me.

I may be a step slower than I was before reaching 30, but I'm doing all the right things. I guess there are some guys who would take it easy in the latter part of their careers, but I'm stepping it up.

I want to end my career on my terms, not on what people think I should do.

Most of the time after the US Open, it is kind of like you are trying to finish strong. But to do it five years and maybe six is something that has never been done before, so it is a huge challenge.

A couple hundred people around, and I'm shaking.

I don't think it really matters, who plays first. Whatever they do, they do.

As long as I feel like I can win majors and contend, I'll continue to play.

When you struggle winning matches all year and you don't really get into a groove or rhythm, you just can't expect to just come in here and have it click.

With this ranking system, the more you play, the better off you are.

I still feel like my game is very dangerous. I always will have my serve.

I think the image of golfers is terrific, and rightly so.

Once the US Open is over in the States, mainstream America doesn't really follow tennis, unless you are a true tennis fan.

Once the fifth set comes, it's a matter of nerves.

Tennis obviously isn't as popular as baseball in the States.

The future is flying home. That's the immediate future. But long-distance future, I plan on being back. I'm not going to end my time here with that loss.

The way I hold the club, I've got my hand way over, like I'm driving a motorcycle. My Kawasaki grip.

Media access to us is more regulated than in golf.

Anything can happen out there on any court.

There is no doubt about how hard it is to stay on top in any sport, but to do it in an individual sport for the majority of your career, it is not easy.

There should be more of an off-season in the game. I think you need to have less tournaments, more of a break at the end of the year so guys can recover.

If I win and play well, then the ranking will take care of itself. Defending points is really not a problem. Just go out and play and not worry about it.

I'm not going to give in to the critics. I'm going to stop on my own terms, not on when someone else thinks I should.

When you go through certain moments of your career and you're struggling, it just takes time. Time heals, when you're a little bit down.

When I tied the record five years in a row, even over in Europe, it wasn't really talked about. It is disap-pointing because it is one of the toughest things to do in sports.

I'm maybe not quite as sharp as I used to be.

I don't look so much for tips. But when they interview a Nicklaus or a Palmer, I'm all ears. I listen to guys who have done it, been successful for years.

I am here for the goal, and the goal is to try to do it again.

Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.

My serve was there, everything was just clicking. Those are the days you dream about, especially in a final.

Choking is being in a position to win, and then experiencing some critical failure of nerve or spirit. That never happened to me. And I can't help but think it was because I was never afraid to lose.

I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids.

There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.

I didn't have a big fat Greek wedding, but I have a lot of fat Greek friends.

In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win.