Samprasfanz

States of PlayArt Spander Marat Safin, who was about to take his leave, unrequested, had been asked why Pete Sampras wasn’t even taking his chances. How come Sampras had turned into the invisible man when everyone expected him to be turning up everywhere for a last leg of a wonderful journey?’I don’t know what’s in his brain,” said Safin about Sampras, which hardly made Marat much different from the rest of us. ‘I mean, he’s doing whatever he wants. Probably he doesn’t want to play for the moment.” The moment? Sampras’ absence has been not momentary but monthly. He’s been seen at Los Angeles Lakers games, at the opening of a tennis camp, but not facing an opponent. Sampras has competed in no tennis tournaments in 2003 but has pulled out of … Read entire article »

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Pete Sampras withdrew from next week’s Pacific Life Open, tournament organizers said Friday. Sampras has not played competitively since winning the U.S. Open in September. Sampras, 31, also withdrew from tournaments in San Jose and Scottsdale in February. Sampras has been practicing with coach Paul Annacone, and does not believe he is ready yet to return, according to The Los Angeles Times. After winning at the Open, Sampras said he was going to take some time off but was planning on resuming his career. It is unknown whether Sampras will be ready to return to play in the Nasdaq 100 Open in Miami, which begins on March 17. Sampras has won a record 14 Grand Slam singles titles. Source: ESPN Tweet … Read entire article »

INDIAN WELLS, California, March 7 (Reuters) – Pete Sampras continued his slew off pullouts on Friday, withdrawing from the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami just hours after pulling out of next week’s Pacific Life Open. With Sampras deciding to skip the Florida event starting on March 19, he has now withdrawn from four consecutive tournaments. His brother Gus, the tournament director of the Scottsdale Classic in Arizona, told Reuters by telephone that he spoke to his brother on Thursday and he still had not made a decision on whether he was set to retire. “He’s still holding off,” Gus said. “He’s still practicing and training the way he always has, but he’s not ready to make a decision.” Gus Sampras added that his brother may still come back to contest the … Read entire article »

Pete Sampras won’t be playing in a tournament again next week, but he’ll have plenty to do besides spend time with his wife, Bridgette Wilson, and his 3-month-old son, Christian. That’s because Sampras, who holds the career Grand Slam tournament titles record of 14, is lining up his business future as his tennis career winds down. Sampras has become active in two business ventures, as a financial stakeholder in The Tennis Channel and the Pete Sampras Tennis Academy, both of which are expected to begin this year. In December 2001, Sampras bought a stake in the round-the-clock cable channel with which he will have a presence both behind the scenes and on the air. Sampras has told network executives he wants to have an instructional show and a behind-the-scenes look at Sampras will … Read entire article »

I don’t know whether Pete Sampras’ stunning championship at last fall’s U.S. Open was, in fact, his valedictory as a force in American tennis. But I know it should be. Sampras’ performance at the Open was what a successful life in sports is supposed to be: It was favored Tweet … Read entire article »

Tennis champ Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, have listed a Beverly Hills home they bought early last year. The asking price is $8.9 million, close to what they paid for it. The couple, married in 2000, had planned to completely remodel the house, built in 1933, but their priorities changed. The Country English home, designed by John Byers, has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in about 8,200 square feet. It sits on slightly more than an acre and has mature trees, a pool, city views and a tennis court. Sampras, 31, won his fifth U.S. Open in September. In the early ’90s, he was the youngest player ever to win a U.S. Open. He was also the first man to win the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the … Read entire article »