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ace October 2001 Home Loving Pete By: Tiffany Osborne |
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To find Pete Sampras's house in Beverly Hills, the ultra-exclusive suburb of Los Angeles where Hollywood movie stars live amongst the canyons, you need to follow a wide road, lined with palm trees and huge mansions with gardens manicured to perfection. Then the road becomes narrower as it winds up the hillside and the grand facades becomes a little more homely. "I love to be up here in this compound," said Sampras. "It's the quietness I love. I spend so much time being in the public eye that it's just good to be home." It's easy to see why. It's a relaxing environment. Behind the obligatory security gates is a home that reflects its owner....attractive, unassuming and modest. The house is a mix of white brick and wood with green window shutters. The garden, bordered with roses, leads from a patio down to a fair-sized swimming pool, surrounded by miniature lemon trees. Sampras has his own gym and a pool table in a high-ceilinged room in the house. The previous owner, saxophonist Kenny G, used it as his recording studio. The house is tastefully decorated in neutral colors with a moderate sized kitchen and dining room and a surround sound audio system just about everywhere -- including the tennis court -- where Sampras likes to practise to the sound of Pearl Jam. "I love their music and I love what they are all about," he says. "They act like who they are. They aren't like most rock stars -- they are just very humble, unassuming guys. That's appealing to me. I like to know people who don't need to pump their tyres (egos) up." And that's Pete: private, unassuming and low key. In fact, the only obvious clue as to the owner of the house is in the living room, where a host of trophies stand testament to his outstanding career. There's not much that hasn't already been written about the achievements of Pete Sampras. The man who was placed at No. 1 in the world in the all-important end-of-year rankings for six years in a row is the holder of a record 13 Grand Slam titles. And he is the most successful player currently on the tour with 63 career titles to date. He is unquestionably the player of his generation if not, arguably, the greatest ever to have graced the game. But this year has not followed the usual game plan. Without any titles to his name for over a year and, by his high standards, a less than dazzling Grand Slam year (the second round at the French Open, the last 16 at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and runner-up at the US Open), the legend is being written off. Before the US Open he had even fallen out of the top 10 for the first time in 11 years. At the age of 30, is he contemplating retirement at the end of the season? "No, that's ridiculous," he insists. "I never gave the impression I was going to stop any time soon. I think people maybe assume that now that I'm married and now that I've broken the (Grand Slam) record, I have nothing else to prove, that (this year) was going to be my last Wimbledon. But it wasn't, and I'm not retiring!" His marriage to actress Bridgette Wilson last September took him away from the game for three months, and his subsequent form to date hasn't helped to silence the theory that, in sport, marriage and a winning performance don't mix. But for Pete, there is no doubting that Bridgette has bought a balance to his life which was missing before. "She has definitely brought me stability and happiness," he says. "We got married after we'd been together for nine months, but I knew after four or five months that I was going to marry her. I have my highs and my lows, and we've experienced both from Wimbledon last year and this year." "She's not from a tennis background, so she's had to work out what to do around my routine and that when I'm playing I have to be self-consumed about what I do. She is always there, supporting me. This year at Wimbledon it was hard dealing with me, because I can be very hard on myself and I can be bad. I wasn' too much fun to be around." There are seven replicas of the Wimbledon trophy in Pete's living room, but the expected eighth didn't materialise this year. After surviving three round he crashed out on the second Monday against Switzerland's Roger Federer. "It's been a while since I've had the second week off at Wimbledon," he admits. "I wasn't expecting to be back home so soon. It was a tough one to swallow as I felt I was going to go on and win again. I spent a couple of days replaying the match over in my mind, and the chances I had." "But you know, as dominating as I have been over the years, you have to be realistic that on the law of averages you are not going to win every close match. And I got so used to coming through tough matches that I always thought the match I would lose here would be against someone who played great. Like (Richard) Krajicek did a few years ago. I didn't expect Federer to play that well, but I felt I played well enough to win and I had chances. That loss was extremely difficult to get over." "So far this year has been a little disappointing -- not to have won any majors first of all -- but also the year has been inconsistent. A good Wimbledon would have made up for it, because that's the one tournament that's always saved my year a little bit." "But there is no reason at this point to panic. There is a chance I might not actually win a major this year, but next year I fell I can possibly win them all. I feel I've got that in me." With so much already achieved, his place in history assured and his statistics unlikely to be surpassed. It's difficult to understand how someone who has achieved so much can motivate himself to continue playing after 13 years as a pro. "You always have the motivation for for the Slams," says Pete. "When you go out and play Wimbledon, it's just there. If it's not there you should look for something else to do. It's the tournaments leading up to it that is the tough time. I've dug deep so many times in my career. It's tiring. And it's because I've at the top and so consistent for so long that something had to give at some point. Whereas someone like Agassi, who has had his ups and downs, is able to play better as he's got older." "All my inspiration comes from inside," he reveals. "I don't have to look at Andre or others to see what they are doing and to inspire me to do better. After breaking the Grand Slam record I've had to find my new goal, to re-invent something, which is to keep winning majors, add to the record and put distance between myself and the others." It would appear that Sampras has all the happiness, wealth and titles he could possibly ask for. But there is one glaring omission on his record. He's never won the French Open.... never even reached the final, and even his most diehard fans must now doubt he will ever rule the red clay of Roland Garros. This year he managed to sneak through the first round after saving three match points against a French qualifier, Cedric Kauffmann, but he couldn't even take a set from Spanish journeyman Galo Blanco in the second round. "It's one thing to lose and play the way you should play, but the way I played this year was absolutely dreadful," he admits. "I didn't play well, and it's still a mystery to me why not." "It's a mental thing, but also a tennis thing. It's second nature to me playing on grass and hard courts. But on clay I think I can go out with the same energy and the same type of aggressive game, and I'm going to teg burned. You need to calm down the horses a little bit. And that's not so easy for me. I'm used to just going straight ahead with my power and pace. When it's not as effective and I start pressing a little bit, I start missing and dig myself a hole. And that's kind of been my tendency." "I'm trying to be aggressive, trying to came in and put pressure on these guys, but the guys are good today, there's no question. And they know I'm a touch vulnerable, which helps them. I can't rely on my aura at the French. But at Wimbledon and all the other tournaments I still feel like I am definitely one of the guys to beat. At French, I'm a little bit more of a dark horse." "I still believe I can win the tournament. It probably gets more difficult, but then I think the French is the toughest Slam to win because everyone can play on clay. There are about 30 guys who can do it. It's so demanding physically but I still believe that things need to fall into place, you need a little bit of good fortune, you need to be playing well, play the right guys and one year it could be my destiny." Without the French Open on his CV, it will always be open to debate whether Sampras is the greatest player ever. What does he think? "It's really hard to answer, but I believe you have players for generations. Rod Laver was the player of his generation in the 1960s, and I think I was the player of my generation in the 1990s. To compare the two of us is really impossible. With the competition, the technology, it's a different sport. And if Laver were playing today, or I were playing back then, I think we would still dominate but I can't say who would win if I played Laver. I like my chances against anyone who's played the game." Sampras is a player whose skill and domination can be admired and appreciated, but somehow he lacks the charisma and public affection attracted by players like Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten and Boris Becker. He is often characterised as boring, both professionally and personally. "Recently the media has been fine with me," he says. "I think maybe from winning my second Grand Slam until about my ninth it was all about how the game wasn't doing enough for the game. That sat with me for a while and made me a little cynical. It wasn't until maybe my 10th Grand Slam victory when finally they were saying, 'We have something special here, possibly someone who could be the best of all time' and the emphasis shifted again, to appreciate my tennis." And the bottom line is that's all that Pete wants it to be about.... his tennis. He is only interested in the titles, the records and his place in history. "Living in Los Angeles makes everyone think that I'm doing talk shows," he declares. "But I can't stand that stuff. It's not me. I like privacy. I don't mind doing some (talk shows) if it's worth-while, or I deserve it, but I'm not just going to do a talk show just for the sake of it. If I've nothing to promote I am not going to promote myself." "If I've won a major (title) I will do something, but it won't be for anything other than that." What you see is what you get with Pete. He's not flashy or flamboyant and, although he enjoys the trappings of success, he prefers to avoid a high-profile celebrity lifestyle. "Everyone has the perception that living in LA you go to premieres, which I've never had any interest in, and I still don't. I just spend a lot of time at home. I could be living anywhere, but LA just happens to be my home." "I like being at home with my wife, watching a movie on the TV, or sports, occasionally seeing an LA Lakers basketball game, or watching golf and just seeing my folks in Palm Springs and my family. I've just become an uncle for the first time and, yes, children is obviously something we've talked about and eventually we are going to start working on it! But not just now. If it happens, it happens, but we are not planning on it, that's for sure." As far as the immediate future is concerned, it's business as usual. "When I retire it will be because I don't want to do it any more. It won't be because of my ability. I would be willing to go out and lose to people as long as I still wanted to go out there and compete. I mean, I'm not happy losing. I know I can have bad days. I have had too many of those this year, but I won't stop until I feel that, mentally, that's enough." "I've not thought specifically what I am going to do when I do retire, but I do know I have to do something. I can't just sit around, play golf or watch TV. Commenting? I don't know. As for playing on the Senior Tour, I don't have that in me." If it ended tomorrow, honestly, I would be very happy to have been No. 1 for so many years and having won more Slams than anyone. But having said that, I've still got a few years left in me.... I'm not retiring yet!" |
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| Personal Factfile Born: Washington DC, August 12, 1971. Lives: Los Angeles, California. Height: 6ft 1in. Weight: 175lbs. Family: Married actress Bridgette Wilson on September 30, 2000. Parents are Sam and Georgia, Has two sisters -- Stella (elder) and Marion (younger), and one elder brother -- Gus. |
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| The all-time No. 1 champ Pete Sampras has spent more weeks at No. 1 in the ATP singles ranking (now known as the Entry System) than any other player. He was No. 1 for 286 weeks, first hitting the top spot on April 12, 1993 and last being there on November 19, 2000. His longest continuous stay was for 102 weeks from April 15, 1996 to March 23, 1998. The other long haul No. 1s are: Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia/USA) --270 weeks between 1983 and 1989. Jimmy Conors (USA) -- 268 weeks between 1974 and 1983. John McEnroe (USA) -- 170 weeks between 1980 and 1985. Bjorn Borg (Sweden) -- 109 weeks between 1977 and 1981. However, Connors holds the record for the longest unbroken run at No. 1 -- 160 weeks between July 29, 1974 and August 23, 1977. Sampras was ranked continuaously in the Top 10 between September 1990 and July 2001. |
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