Jun 29, 2007
Leaders & Success
Pete Sampras Slammed His Way To The Top
David Saito-Chung
During a quarterfinal match at the 1995 Australian Open --- an event famous for players sweating in the sweltering heat --- Pete Sampras' towel was soaked with tears.
Normally known for his poker-face demeanor on court, the defending champ could not hold back his emotions before the crowd of thousands. His coach, Tim Gullikson, had collapsed before the Open began and was rushed to a Melbourne hospital. Diagnosis: Gullikson had a rare form of brain cancer.
Sampras had kept his nerve throughout the event. But this time, tears streamed down his face during his match against Jim Courier. No wonder his longtime rival and friend shouted across the net: "Are you all right, Pete? You know, we can do this tomorrow if you want."
Courier's words hit a nerve. Sampras would have nothing of that. The world No. 1 snapped back into form, put his game face back on and fired his 20th ace of the match. He beat Courier that night and went on to win his semifinal against Michael Chang before succumbing to Andre Agassi in the final.
His beloved coach no longer could attend Sampras' matches, but he still gave him advice. Sampras vowed to win more big titles. Simply winning the U.S. Open men's title in 1990 at the youngest age in history, adding Wimbledon trophies in 1993 and 1994, then the Aussie crown in '94 were not enough.
The serve-and-volley maestro from Southern California kept his promise. Sampras hauled in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles a few months after his wrenching match with Courier.
In 1996, the year Gullikson died, Pistol Pete defended his U.S. Open crown, despite vomiting during his quarterfinal marathon against Alex Corretja. Sampras dedicated the victory to his late coach.
Sampras was far from finished. He went on to win at Wimbledon four years in a row from 1997 to 2000.
"Most guys, when they win, they want to take a break," Pat Etcheberry, a former conditioning coach for Sampras, said in a Tennis magazine article in 1994. "Not this guy."
At Wimbledon in 1999, Sampras tied Roy Emerson's record of 12 career Grand Slam singles titles. Sampras' hard work and concentration on his game helped him add two more championships to end his 15-year career with a record 14 Slam singles titles --- seven at Wimbledon, five at the U.S. Open and two at the Australian Open.
The media --- especially the British tabloids --- faulted him for not oozing with personality like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. Tennis fans wanted rivalry and controversy.
In reality, Sampras was full of character. He gave it his all and let his racket do the talking. Most of all, Sampras showed his burning desire to stand at the sport's summit and stay there.
"It's not a good year unless I win two majors. They're what count," he told reporters.
Sampras held the top spot in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings at the end of the year from 1993 to 1998 and won 64 career titles, fourth most among men in the Open era.
He will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 14 in Newport, R.I.
The only trophy missing in Sampras' case was for the French Open, where he reached the semifinals in 1996 before losing to eventual winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Sampras' effort still affects players. In this year's event on red clay, French native Marion Bartoli credited Sampras' determination as inspiration for her success in reaching the women's fourth round.
Sampras' tennis career started at the family home in Potomac, Md., when as a kid he found an old wooden tennis racket in the basement and began hitting the ball against a wall. At the age of 6, Sampras and his family moved to Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. There, the family discovered warm, dry weather year-round and an abundance of public outdoor tennis courts.
The son of an aerospace engineer and a former beauty parlor employee, Pete quickly showed talent for the game. At 10, he declared his goal to become a tennis star.
Meanwhile, Sampras caught the eye of Pete Fischer, a physician who treated coaching tennis as a serious hobby. Fischer offered to coach Sampras for free and made a huge impact on Sampras' career.
Fischer drilled Sampras hard on the court. He also helped Sampras build the mental machinery needed to become a world champion.
Fischer visited the Sampras home and showed 16-millimeter films of past great Rod Laver, the Australian tennis wonder who twice won all four Grand Slam singles events in a year. Laver was also known for keeping his cool. Sampras learned to show no emotion on the court, to keep opponents guessing as to how he was feeling. In Fischer's eyes, such a player was the most feared.
Sampras became a complete player partly because he was flexible and trusted his coaches.
When Pete was 14, Fischer made him switch from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed stroke. The coach thought this change would spark his play at the net, so crucial at Wimbledon. Sampras suffered in the early going. At the Easter Bowl junior tourney in 1985, he bowed out in the first round. Other players attacked his weakened backhand, and Pete pleaded with his coach to switch back.
Fischer refused. Over time, Sampras mastered the stroke and soon was able to knock backhand winners down the line. The backhand became a weapon.
"I accepted that it was a shot I was going to hit forever," he said in "Pete Sampras" by Calvin Craig Miller. "The older and stronger I got, the better the shot became."
Sampras also learned from Fischer the art of concealing his intentions with the serve. Sampras would toss the ball, and Fischer would call the serve --- flat or topspin. Whether he was going to serve the ball wide or down the T, Sampras learned to do so with the same serving motion.
It may seem hard to imagine, but Sampras started out as a baseliner. He took Fischer's advice to attack the net and take advantage of his blasting serve, speed and long reach.
When Pete was 18, his nine-year relationship with Fischer ended over a spat with Sampras' family regarding coaching compensation and goal-setting.
Sampras continued to search for good coaches and learn as much as he could. Tim Gullikson gave him valuable training against left-handed opponents. He taught the high school dropout how to build points one shot at a time.
Gullikson also "helped me to grow up, compete, focus, learn to play on grass. I owe so much to him," Sampras said in a Bud Collins column.
With trainer Etcheberry, Sampras achieved supreme fitness. Under the coach's eye, Sampras worked out six days a week, doing stomach crunches and 500-pound leg presses and throwing a medicine ball around the room.
When Sampras asked him to ease up on the leg-press weight, Etcheberry would add another plate. The coach called it "inflation."
Sampras, now 35, paid attention to the details. In a 1994 interview with Tennis magazine, he said he could sleep for 11 hours if he wanted, but only if he did the following: cover the cable TV set-top box light, cover the alarm clock light, crank the thermostat down to as chilly as an icebox and use perfectly smooth sheets.
"I'm a world-class sleeper," he said. "I'm obsessed."