12 Aug 2013
Happy Birthday Pete Sampras, one of the greatest Tennis players ever
Sampras turns 42, who won 14 Grand Slams and remained world no.1 for 286 weeks
By Talal Dar
Former world no.1 and one of the greatest Tennis players ever, Pete Sampras has his birthday today and he has turned 42. Sampras was the winner of 14 Grand Slam titles and remained world no. 1, 286weeks.
Born on 12th August 1971, Sampras turned pro in 1988 at the age of 17. He played his first Grand Slam at US Open in the same year and lost the first round. He won his first ATP title at Philadelphia in 1990 and won his first Grand Slam at US Open after beating Andre Agassi in the same year. Sampras still holds the record for being youngest player to win US Open. His rivalry with Andre Agassi became very famous and they are known as two of the greatest rivals of Tennis.
Sampras won Year Ending Championship in 1991 and lost the final of US Open in 1992. He became world no.1 for the first time in April 1993 and followed it by winning his first Wimbledon title and second US Open title in 1993.
Sampras started 1994 by winning Australian Open and defended his Wimbledon crown in July. In 1995 he lost in the Australian Open final to Andre Agassi and also lost his world no.1 ranking. In 1995, he completed his hat-trick of Wimbledon titles and won his third US Open crown by beating Andre Agassi in final. He also took back his world no.1 ranking with that win.
In 1996 he won the US Open and in 1997 he won Australian Open. Sampras won 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles from there on and broke Roy Emerson's record of most Grand Slams at 2000 Wimbledon. He was chasing his 5th straight Wimbledon crown in 2001 but he was stopped by 19-year-old Roger Federer, who was a new face in Tennis World then.
Sampras lost in the finals on 2000 and 2001 US Open. 2002 US Open turned out to be the last tournament that he played and he faced his biggest rival Andre Agassi in the final once again. Sampras overcame Agassi in a 4 set match to win his 14th Grand Slam and said good bye to Tennis court in style.
Sampras won 7 Wimbledon titles, a record which was tied by Roger Federer in 2012. Sampras also shares the record of winning most US Open titles with Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer at 5.
The American also held the record of staying world no.1 for 286 weeks, but this record was broken by Federer later. The Swiss player also broke Sampras' record of winning most Year Ending Championships, which Sampras won 5 times. But there is another record of Sampras which is yet to broken and that is, finishing world no.1 for 6 consecutive years. Sampras also won 2 Davis Cup titles with Team US.
Writers Own Views: This is coming from an Andre Agassi fan, who never liked Sampras when he defeated Agassi. I was a crazy Andre Agassi fan and I was 7 years old when I saw Sampras beating Agassi in 1999 Wimbledon final and I hated him then. But now I have to admit that Sampras was one of the greatest Tennis players that Tennis world ever witnessed and he will always remain so. Once again, A very Happy Birthday to the legend, Pete Sampras!