Samprasfanz

The following is a report from a member of Samprasfanz who went to the event [October 3, 2002]: “Hey all, I haven’t posted here in a while, but I just got back about an hour ago from seeing Pete play in the Smash Hits tennis event. It was the first time I got too see him live, and I was so overwhelmed — it was just awesome. This was a tiny venue (a college basketball stadium) so my seats were right behind the court, and since it is a charity thing, I even got to move down way to the front! I could see the sweat on Pete’s arms! He looked very relaxed and was having a lot of fun. He played mixed doubles with an up and coming junior … Read entire article »

By MARC NARDUCCI / Philadelphia Inquirer/ October 3, 2002 – VILLANOVA, Pa. – Pete Sampras won his first professional tennis tournament in Philadelphia. Thursday night, he may have also made this area the site of his final appearance as a pro tennis player. Sampras participated in Thursday night’s 10th annual Smash Hits event hosted by Elton John and Billie Jean King at Villanova’s Pavilion. The event, which included a live and silent auction, raised more than $700,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and two area charities, ActionAIDS and the Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance. Sampras’ participation came a day after he said he would withdraw from all remaining ATP tournaments this year. That led to speculation that he would retire. “I’ll make a decision in a month or so, … Read entire article »

October 2, 2002 Reuters / Miami Herald – Pete Sampras will not play tennis again this year, the winner of a record 14 grand slam titles said on Wednesday. Sampras, who won his fifth U.S. Open singles crown last month, has withdrawn from all the remaining ATP tournaments in which he was entered in 2002. The move fans rumours that the 31-year-old is ready to hang up his racket for good. “Since winning the U.S. Open on September 8, I have been taking some time to reevaluate where I want to go from here,” Sampras said. “I’m therefore not sufficiently prepared to compete in the upcoming tournaments in Madrid, Basel and Paris.” He also told reporters in Philadelphia where he is scheduled to appear at the Smash Hits charity event … Read entire article »

[October 2, 2002 Patrick McEnroe, Special to ESPN.com] Pete Sampras never got excited about playing at this time of the year anyway, but he had to before. So it’s not entirely surprising that he’s pulled out of the rest of this year’s tournaments. The honest truth is that I don’t think anybody, including Pete Sampras, knows if this really is it. He still has some desire to go out and play — especially after what happened at the U.S. Open. He loves to play and to win. He also realizes that this is the dream-come-true way to go out. What a way to ride off into the sunset: win your 14th Grand Slam and your fifth U.S. Open by beating your main rival, Andre Agassi, who has been playing the … Read entire article »