Sport Personalities: Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras known for his aggressive serves and flinging swings carries an easy going straightforward and an extremely candid personality. His competitive style has won him several Grand Slam titles and a vast fan following too. Born on 12th August 1971 in Washington DC, Pete is a Greek immigrant by origin.

Sampras began his professional journey in the game of tennis at the tender age of 17 in 1988 and in only two years he smoothly moved his way up to the top ten strata. He won his very first Grand Slam title the U.S. Open in 1990. His serves in the tournament were such that impressed players like Agassi, Lendl, and McEnroe too. Pete was announced the youngest tennis player ever to win the U.S. Open cup.In 1991, Pete won the IBM World Championship followed by the Davis cup in 1992, where he helped the US regain its first position.

In 1993 he made a record of 1000 aces in a single season that also helped him to win the Wimbledon and the US opens in the same year. Pete's victory in the Australian Open in 1994 made him the first player ever to win three Grand Slam Tournaments in a row. During his career Pete won a total of 64 singles titles, with 14 Grand Slam titles. He won Wimbledon title seven times, the U.S. Open five times and the Australian Open twice in his 15 years of career. Though Pete could never win the French Open tournament ever the fact remains that he is an astounding player who exhibited great caliber on court.

Much on the contrary is his otherwise low-key behaviour and sportsmanlike attitude that kept him from becoming a major celebrity beyond the court. At the age of 32, in August 2003 Pete officially announced his retirement from the game at the US Opens and was the only player in history whose final match was a victory in the Grand Slam Finals so far. Apart from playing tennis professionally Pete is also known to have a liking for Golf as a game and also plays the game as a hobby.