Samprasfanz

Source: Ap May 17, 2007 – Pete Sampras traded forehands with Jim Courier at the foot of the Athens Acropolis in a tuneup for his first match in the Athens Champions Cup. Making his first trip to his ancestral homeland of Greece, Sampras hit balls with Courier on the makeshift cement court, then edged South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 7-6 at the Olympic Tennis Center to improve to 5-0 in senior competition. Sampras, who retired after winning the 2002 U.S. Open, broke Ferreira twice to take the first set 6-3 despite some good passing shots by his opponent. In a closely fought second set, Sampras displayed more of the vintage serve-and-volley game that brought him seven Wimbledon titles and 14 total majors. After Sampras, coming off a tournament victory two weeks ago in his … Read entire article »

Source: The Journal News May 12, 2007 – Tennis great Pete Sampras will be playing an exhibition match in Rockland County this July – and it will be free to the public. Sampras will appear as part of the Kennedy Funding Invitational, a tennis tournament held July 11-15 at Dellwood Country Club in New City. The event will award over $250,000 in prize money and is expected to raise over $400,000 for the breast care centers at Nyack Hospital and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Last year’s tournament, the first in the Lower Hudson Valley to attract top-100 players, was won by American Paul Goldstein. He will be joined in this year’s men’s field by New Jersey native Justin Gimelstob and Americans Robby Ginepri, Robert Kendrick and Amer Delic. This year, there also will … Read entire article »

Thanks to Shaw Sherman for the video! Tweet … Read entire article »

May 7, 2007 BOSTON (AP) – For Pete Sampras, it was a day to live dangerously. First, the future Hall of Famer faced a triple match point against Todd Martin in the final of the Champion’s Cup event at Boston University on Sunday. Then, between beating Martin and grabbing the first-prize check of $50,000, Sampras shared some bad news with the Red Sox [team stats] fans in the crowd. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I believe the New York Yankees just signed Roger Clemens,” Sampras said during the trophy ceremony as the crowd of 3,560 erupted in boos. “I’m serious.” On the day that the 35-year-old Sampras made a successful return on the seniors tour, another old-timer announced that he would be making a comeback that was much … Read entire article »

Pete Sampras advanced to the title match of the Champions Cup Boston with a 6-3 6-4 victory over 48-year-old John McEnroe at Agganis Arena. Sampras, 35, has yet to lose a set in the event, his first since retiring following a U.S. Open title over long-time rival and friend Andre Agassi in 2002. Three of Sampras’ 762 career victories came against McEnroe, the last a straight-sets win in the semi-finals in Philadelphia in 1991. By improving to 4-0 lifetime against McEnroe, Sampras advances to face Todd Martin in Sunday’s final. McEnroe, who defeated Petr Korda and Tim Mayotte in straight sets in his earlier matches, will play Jim Courier in a third-place match on Sunday. Showing a little less hair on top of his head but still an impressive array of shots, Sampras never … Read entire article »