Pete Sampras Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“The only person that I have met, that I have ever been in awe of, is Eddie Vedder.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I'm enjoying my retirement, enjoying my life. I have two kids and a lot of my time is spent chasing these two animals.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win. Not in golf. I played three rounds in that Tahoe event, and I was drained. Mentally, not physically”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I made it look so easy on court all those years. No one realized how hard I had to work. No one realized how much I had to put into it. They underestimated my intensity.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“The way I look at the top five, (Rod) Laver, (Roger) Federer, myself, Borg and (Ivan) Lendl. I think those five guys dominated their generations better than anyone. Maybe Roger will dominate better than any one of the other four. Maybe I put Andre (Agassi) as kind of six through 10 with, you know, (John) McEnroe and (Jimmy) Connors, kind of those guys. That's kind of how I see it.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I'm not worried about the weekend, I'm worried about Saturday.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“A champion is suppose to hate to lose, and it wasn't like I was ever crazy about the idea. But I learned to deal with losing without having my spirit or confidence broken, which would help immensely over time, not just in the big picture but even in specific matches when I found myself in a jam. Fear of losing is a terrible thing.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“Choking is being in a position to win, and then experiencing some critical failure of nerve or spirit. That never happened to me. And I can't help but think it was because I was never afraid to lose.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“By putting pressure on myself to develop a great game, I had less pressure to win. These days, I tell kids that the way I grew up, it wasn't about winning. It was about playing well, about playing the "right" way. That approach helped me enjoy the game and develop mine to its maximum potential.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I didn't have a big fat Greek wedding, but I have a lot of fat Greek friends.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I loved Wimbledon and what it meant, but the surface felt uncomfortable. I just didn't like it, I was a hard-court guy, a Californian kid.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“Throughout my career, my mind rarely wandered, and I was never sidetracked by distractions, no matter what I was going through off the court.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“My serve was there, everything was just clicking. Those are the days you dream about, especially in a final.”
-- Pete Sampras -
“Tennis is seen all around the world; if I am home or anywhere in the country, United States, people will stare.”
-- Pete Sampras
