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| Los Angeles Times May 15, 2003 Sampras Withdraws From French Open, Wimbledon By Bill Dwyre / Times Staff Writer |
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Tennis legend Pete Sampras ended months of speculation about his future today when he pulled out of the French Open and Wimbledon. Sampras, who stunned the tennis world last September by ending a long string of winless tournaments with a dramatic victory over longtime rival Andre Agassi in the U.S. Open final, had announced late last year that he would play for another season, and maybe even another after that. But then, as one tournament after another came and went and Sampras continued to pull out, speculation was fueled that he would not come back, as he had planned. With today's action, Sampras, 31, made it clear that he is unlikely to play competitive tennis again. "I'm not 100% going to close the door," he said from his home in Beverly Hills, "but I know what it takes to be competitive -- the training and preparation and the seven-day-a-week dedication, and I'm just not there right now." Sampras' U.S. Open title last year was his 14th major, two more than any other male player in the history of the game. When he won his seventh Wimbledon title in 2000, he broke a tie with Australian Roy Emerson, who had shared the Grand Slam victory title with 12. If he remains retired, Sampras will have ended with a 762-222 won-loss record on the men's pro tour, plus $43.2 million in prize money in a career that began as a junior player from the Palos Verdes Peninsula of Southern California, moved to the pro tour in 1988, reached stardom with the first of his five U.S. Open titles in 1990 and accomplished nearly every goal he sought except for the elusive French Open title, a major event played on slow clay courts not to Sampras' liking. Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times |