STERN（Germany）
May, 2001 (No. 22)
OLD? I'M ONLY 29!
English Translation: Cornelia Schwertner

PETE SAMPRAS has won all Grand-Slam Tournaments, except the French Open.
The American talks about his last big aim, his young challengers -- and
why a lot of good players endanger tennis.

Mr. Sampras, in this season, you haven't won a single tournament. In Hamburg, you even lost in the first round. Are you tired after 13 years of professional tennis?

Pete: No, not tired. Defeats still bother me. At the moment, I just try to find my game. Until the French Open, I just have to build up my confidence again.

 Is this still necessary for the best tennis player ever?

Pete: Oh, yes! In order to play well at Grand Slams, you have to find your rythym. It doesn't make click and your form is back. When I go to Paris, I want the guys to fear me a little. That I have an aura. That the others whisper: Pete is in form!

You've won 13 Grand Slam titles, nobody did this before. But you haven't won in Paris so far. What would it mean for you to win there?

Pete: This would be the absolute dream. Because of being more vulnerable on clay than on other surfaces. My game loses some pressure [on clay] and my service jumps off more slowly. The guys realize this and think: I can beat Pete today. Anyway, the level of the top of the world is higher that it has ever been. Young players like Safin, Ferrero, Kuerten, Hewitt are unbelieveably good.

Despite of this, there's a crisis in men's tennis. There's a lack of personalities, who make the sport attractive. Why?

Pete: There are too many different winners. Only if a few top athletes dominate a sport, rivalry can arise. And rivalry is what people are interested in and what sells. In former times, Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Lendl played each other for the victories. Today 20 players are good enough to win a GS title.

Thomas Haas and Nicolas Kiefer, too?

Pete: They too. Tennis is now in state of transition. When Andre Agassi and I will retire, all these guys will be ready to be acknowledged as individuals. This was the same in former times. When I won the US Open in 1990 at the age of 19, McEnroe and Lendl were supposed to be at the end of their careers and everyone wondered: Who's this kid?

You know how long it can take to be appreciated as a star: A lot of years you were said to be boring -- only your constancy made you popular.

Pete: If I still want to prove something for somebody, at the most for myself. Every professional has his personality, in which he grows into. As a young player, you live like in a bubble- you don't notice at all what's happining around you. Ten years later your eyes are wide open.

Are the youngsters nowadays different from you at the beginning of your career?

Pete: No: They are as ambitious and hungry like me.

Do you see sombody who could dominate tennis like you did in the 90s?

Pete: Some of them have an extraordinaire talent and Kuerten is the one, who plays most constantly. But it is hard to be always on the top.

How did you manage this?

Pete: You have to be possessed. Like Lendl and Connors were. I only think about winning. I don't let it happen that I get deflected. I don't pay attention to what people say or what the press writes.

Boris Becker retired in 1997, after losing to you in Wimbledon. He said, he had done his best but this wouldn't be enough anymore. Do you know this feeling?

Pete: No, I've never felt the way that I thought: I've no chance, even if I play my best tennis. I still don't see anyone who can play better and is able to beat me then [if I play my best tennis].

Although you are an old man among the tennis players?

Pete: Old man? I'm only 29. That's still very young. The level I play on is as high as in former times. What has gotten worse is the constancy. I have to pay a certain price.

How did you change during all these years?

Pete: I'm not that naive anymore. At the age of 20 you aren't mature, you are running around like a little toy dog. But this job makes you mature faster than a job in an office. I learned to appreciate Europe, for example. Tennis is still important to me but I know now: It's not the end of life.

Have you already thought about retirement?

Pete: No, never. If there will be a day, when it doesn't matter to me if I win or lose, I will say: Stop! That's enough. But I have decided one thing: If it is over, there won't be a return. But this day is still far away. For sure.

For a lot of athletes the retirement is the most difficult decision of their career...

Pete: ...because the feeling of playing a great match is unbelieveably exciting. And because everyone knows how hard it is to find such an intensive feeling in real life. Look at Michael Jordan that basketball star, who is planning again a comeback. It's like addiction.

Can you imagine a life without tennis?

Pete: I don't know. In any case, I need to have something to do. Just playing golf and going to the cinema wouldn't be enough for me.

As you can see it in Becker's case, it is hard to have the same success as a business man.

Pete: On the court, everything is under my control. And that's why many athletes fail in business life: They think they must do everything on their own. But business is not a tennis match. You need partners, you can rely on.

Will you be able to manage this?

Pete: I don't think that I'll make those mistakes. Because I won't be interested in making more money. I just want to find something to do that I can enjoy in order to find my peace. Perhaps, I'll show kids how to play tennis. Why not?