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Pete Sampras (1971-) - The Last, Great, Pure Serve-and-Volley Tennis Player, and One of the Greatest Ever


DonRocks

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I have something bordering on total respect for the tennis game of Pete Sampras. Awhile back, I read his autobiography, "A Champion's Mind" - I was impressed with his competitive demeanor, but was equally impressed by how focused (I'm trying very hard not to say, "self-centered") he was - to the point of excluding any acknowledgment to his peers. To this day, Sampras appears to be this way.

People accused Sampras of being "boring," and I never thought such a thing, but quite honestly, on the Jerk-o-Meter? McEnroe was a first-class jerk during the heat of battle, but is someone I'd love to have a beer with; Sampras comes across as simply being a first-class jerk, with a perma-chip on his shoulder, and a perma-axe to grind, against the world, to this very day.

You want respect "from the media," Pete? You have it from me (and have always had it) - in terms of the greatness of your game. But if you don't think tennis players should be media monkeys, then why are you strutting your unveiled anger in front of the media?

There's still time to change your attitude, and I hope you do - you're probably a great person, but you're not showing it to the public. Do you not care? Then I urge you to live a reclusive life and stop parading your resentment before the world. Think about what the love of the public means to you going forward, because there is still a lot of time to change your surly image, and I really hope you do: If all you still care about is "setting records" - your records have already all been broken, so maybe time for plan B?

You know who had a right to be long-term pissed? Arthur Ashe; not you.

 

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One thing Sampras is responsible for is making "number of majors" the defining statistic in tennis - before him, people like McEnroe, Connors, Borg, etc. were just out there trying to win tournaments; Sampras really put an emphasis on Roy Emerson's record of 12 majors.

Nov 7, 2017 - "Sampras Reflects on a Year To Remember" by Mark Hodgkinson on wimbledon.com

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