Tuesday, May 15, 2007
After all the globe-trotting, Sampras visits his ancestral home
By JOHN F.L. ROSS, Associated Press Writer
ATHENS, Greece (AP) --- All the travel, all the tournaments and all the titles, and not one trip for Pete Sampras to his ancestral homeland --- until now. The retired 14-time Grand Slam champion finally has come to Greece --- for tennis and for personal reasons.
"This is about sharing some time with my folks in my mom's homeland," Sampras told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm going to go out and enjoy it. It's a personal trip and obviously a professional trip, and I didn't want to lose sight of either one."
"I'm here to explore my heritage more," he added. "I'm proud to be here for the first time."
Sampras' mother, Georgia, left Greece with her six siblings when she was 25 and moved to Canada and then to the United States.
"Very much a big Greek family," said the 35-year-old Sampras, whose father, Sam, was born in the United States to a Greek immigrant father. This trip is coinciding with Sam Sampras' 70th birthday.
Sampras will be playing in a seniors tournament in Athens this week. He played for the last time on the tour in 2002 when he beat Andre Agassi in the U.S. Open final.
"I kind of regret stopping," said Sampras, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 14.
Sampras will play in three Champions Cup events this year --- he won in Boston this month and will head to Charlotte, N.C., in September.
"It is flattering knowing ... that I can still be competitive," said Sampras, who ruled out a return to the All England Club for a chance to win an eighth Wimbledon title. "I don't want to tempt it."
Since retiring, he has divided his time between a growing family --- he and actress wife Bridgette Wilson have two young children --- and non-tennis pursuits, such as working his golf game down to a 4 handicap.
When he was still playing, Sampras' stoicism and grit was legendary. He once beat Alex Corretja at the U.S. Open after vomiting on court during the fifth-set tiebreaker.
"I'm a bit like my mom as a competitor," he said. "That toughness, dedication, competitiveness, to leave your homeland and not speak a word (of English). That's where I get a lot of my toughness, deep down in my belly."
But his restraint kept him at a distance in the media.
"They wanted me to be someone I wasn't, on and off the court. That's not who I am. I've never been abrasive or brash," Sampras said. "I just kept it pretty simple, pretty quiet. ... I wasn't going to sell out how I was raised, for more media coverage or more money."
His game more than compensated for his lack of showbiz appeal. He finished as the top-ranked player for six straight years.
"It's one thing to reach No. 1, but another to stay there, to dominate your generation, to stand the test of time," Sampras said. "It was stressful. There were sleepless nights."
One of his most memorable moments came at Wimbledon in 2000 when Sampras, battling injury, broke Roy Emerson's record of 12 major victories.
"It was pretty painful. I almost had to withdraw from the tournament," Sampras said. "I got injected (with cortisone), but it was raining and it wore off. I remember just the pain, just getting through it, toughing it out. I was pretty amazed myself when I got through those two weeks."
May 16, 2007
Sampras, Courier set for match below Acropolis
By JOHN F.L. ROSS, Associated Press Writer
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ---Pete Sampras will play former Davis Cup teammate Jim Courier on Thursday in an exhibition match on a temporary tennis court below the Acropolis.
Sampras, a 14-time Grand Slam champion who is making his first visit to his ancestral homeland, is in Greece to play in the four-day Athens Cup at the Olympic tennis venue in northern Athens.
The event is part of the Outback Champions Series, which is making its first stop outside the United States. The seniors' tour was started by Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion.
"We're thrilled to be here," Courier said Wednesday. "It's a beautiful facility and a beautiful city."
The Athens Cup also will feature Pat Cash, Richard Krajicek, Wayne Ferreira and Anders Jarryd. Mark Philippoussis and Mats Wilander have pulled out, however.
"The players are big names. They're in shape," Courier said. "These are not exhibitions. We're playing for real."
The players will be divided into two groups of four for the round-robin competition. The group winners will play in Sunday's final, while the second-place finishers face each other for third place.
To play, competitors must be more than 30 years old and be either a Grand Slam finalist, a former top-5 player or have played singles for a winning Davis Cup team. Organizers are also allowed a wild card assignment.
"People don't appreciate the array of talent it takes," Courier said. "I don't think the general public can truly understand what it takes for (champion) tennis players to do what they do."
The Athens Cup tournament will be played at the 7,800-seat Olympic tennis facility, and there will also be a temporary exhibit from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. Sampras will be inducted into the hall with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Sven Davidson and Russ Adams in July.
Sampras, who last played a professional match at the 2002 U.S. Open when he beat Andre Agassi in the final, said he had a chance to play in Greece once before.
"I was actually approached to play for Greece when I was 17," Sampras said. "I was in Germany, just turned pro, someone approached my Dad, but nothing came of it."
Ticket sales for the event have not met expectations, however.
"Not too great, mostly because we started late," tournament president Konstantinos Makrykostas said. "But the Greek people always do things at the last minute."
Athens also recently held basketball's Euroleague Final Four, and next Wednesday hosts the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan.