Sifty Sports
August 25, 2003
Tennis greats on the Pete Sampras they know

People are always looking for something there. He's just like your friend from down the road. He doesn't understand why, for instance, people are interested in what he had for dinner last night. He's just substance. With Pete, what you see is what you get. -- Paul Annacone, Sybase Open 1997

Sampras doesn't owe us charisma or ego or flamboyance or anything we seem to equate with sporting success these days. All he owes us is good tennis. You want to see who Pete Sampras is? Watch him play. -- Paul Daugherty, Boston Globe columnist

I don't know what it is about Americans that they always have to be entertained. Pete is as good a player as you can possibly get, but it doesn't seem to be enough for them. I guess people get bored quickly, But Pete is an enormously talented athlete, and he's surrounded himself with good people from the beginning. God knows how many Grand Slam titles he can win. -- Harold Solomon (a former tennis pro now playing seniors and coaching some pros), August 1997

It's a mystery to me why he doesn't captivate. He captivates me. He's a marvelous shotmaker. Tennis has had some yellers and screamers who have been tremendously popular. People seem to expect a freak show from tennis. But you don't know what you're missing if you haven't seen Pete Sampras play tennis. -- Bud Collins, author of "Tennis Encyclopedia", commentator for NBC and writer for the Boston Globe.

If you took a video of Pete's game, you could give it to any kid and say, "This is how you play." -- Tom Gullikson

He can do basically whatever he wants to do with the ball when he's out there. -- Alex Corretja, August 1997

I hope he's going to be bored seeing me on the other side of the net. A lack of enthusiasm on the other side might help me. -- Mark Woodforde, San Francisco examiner (San Jose, at that time, Sampras holds a 9-0 record over Woodforde)

Sometimes I think he forgets the difference between his first serve and his second serve. -- Boris Becker, Wimbledon SF 93

Be lucky, guess the corner, close your eyes and hope there's a God. You have to be a little religious to break his serve. -- Magnus Larsson on how to break Pete Sampras' serve, Cincinnati 98

For me, he was always the most complete player. He has the power, he has the speed, he has the touch. He is the best player ever. -- Boris Becker, Sports Illustrated, July 14, 1997

What I like about him is he's ready to play day after day after day. -- Jimmy Connors

"Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras and Sampras"-- Andre Agassi's reply when asked who are the best five players of all time, October 30, 1998, Stuttgart