Posted on: August 21st, 2003
The final chapter of a storied career
- petepage[August 11, 2003 Greg Laub]August 1971 was a historic time at the US Open. That year, Billie Jean King and Stan Smith won the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively, giving the United States both titles for the first time in 16 years. In the semifinals, King beat 16-year-old American and future six-time champ Chris Evert, who was making her US Open debut. And men's top seed John Newcombe became the first No. 1 to lose in the opening round since 1928.
But perhaps the most significant thing to happen to the Open that August took place a few weeks earlier and a couple hundred miles south of New York, when Sam and Georgia Sampras gave birth to a future legend in a Washington D.C. hospital.
Seventeen years later, in 1988, Pete Sampras, with as little fat on his body as confidence in his eyes, walked onto the courts at a Grand Slam tournament for the very first time – where else, but here at Flushing Meadows. Though he would lose in the first round to Jaime Yzaga of Peru, he managed to fight to the finish in a close five setter that showed promise and potential, including a couple chances to close out the match if not for some rookie errors.
The next year he came back to the Open with a win at a Grand Slam under his belt, a first-round victory he picked up at the French Open. He took his 1-3 career Grand Slam record back to Flushing, and in a week he tripled his win total, winning his first three US Open matches ever and making his first major splash, highlighted by a second-round upset over defending champ Mats Wilander, and a third-round revenge victory over Yzaga. Meanwhile, on another court the very next day, Chris Evert played her final match ever at the US Open.
Then, in 1990, Sampras’ career hit a bump. Starting the year ranked 61st in the world, Pete was forced to play in a qualifying round just to get into an Australian Open warm-up tournament in Sydney. He then skipped the French Open and lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
A young man with a lot of promise, things weren’t coming easy for Pete. The tennis world wasn’t exactly enamored with his quiet and insipid playing style, and his talent wasn’t translating into victories. He wasn’t winning matches, and he wasn’t winning the tennis world fans over.
Then it all changed. When Sampras returned for his third US Open, he had just turned 19, and New York would soon find out that there was a whole lot of magic behind that stoic face. With the previous year’s fourth-round appearance still the furthest he had ever advanced in a Grand Slam, he shocked many by defeating sixth-ranked Thomas Muster in the fourth round in 1990 to reach his first quarterfinal. His quiet style notwithstanding, there was suddenly a buzz around the grounds.
In the quarterfinals, Pete continued his run, stunning Ivan Lendl in five sets and ending the legend’s amazing string of eight straight US Open finals. The buzz got louder. Then, with the crowd pulling for veteran John McEnroe in the semifinals, Pete disposed of the fan favorite in fairly easy fashion, and suddenly, the crowd had a new American hero. People were realizing that Sampras may be quiet, humble and professional, but with one more victory, he could also be something very special.
And Pete didn’t disappoint. He went on to upset another top-ranked American, this one also a young rising star by the name of Andre Agassi. It was the first All-American final since 1979, and the victory made Pete the youngest US Open champion ever. And as the 12th seed, he also became the lowest men's seed to win the men's title in the Open-era.
That final with Agassi turned out to be the archetype of what would become a legendary rivalry. The two men would wind up battling each other for many years to come, and are now linked in US Open history much like Borg is linked to McEnroe, Evert to Navratilova, and Laver to Rosewall.
Agassi, the flashy kid with the image, had just come off a trip to the French Open final, and while Pete had created a little buzz in the previous year’s US Open with his fourth-round appearance, Andre was making even more noise with a breakthrough Grand Slam of his own, including a quarterfinal win over No. 6 Jimmy Connors (famous for the “You’re a legend, he’s a punk” line), followed by a semifinal loss to No. 1 Ivan Lendl. But when it came time to claim his first title, the subdued Sampras was there to squash Andre’s hopes – for the first time.
However, Andre thought it was going to be the last time. He believed, like many others, that Pete’s magical run in 1990 was merely a fluke.
"Let's not get carried away here,” Agassi said after his loss. “He did it once. Let's see where he goes from here."
Well, you can’t blame Andre for not being able to predict the unpredictable. Pete worked his way to the top, becoming the world’s No. 1-ranked player from 1993 through 1998. He won 63 more ATP titles and over $43 million over his career. A world record 14 of those titles were Grand Slams, and five of those came here in Flushing, matching Jimmy Connors' open-era record.
To top it off, three of the five US Open titles Sampras won came with Agassi at the other side of the net in the final (and in the other two, Pete defeated the player who had beaten Agassi).
At first though, it didn’t look like Andre’s comments were that far off. Pete labored a bit after his 1990 US Open title, not even getting a sniff of a Grand Slam final for another two years, a rough ride that included a straight-set quarterfinal loss to Jim Courier at the 1991 US Open.
But it wasn’t as if Andre could gloat. He fell apart completely, winning just four total matches at the US Open between 1991 and 1993, while Sampras managed to find his game again in 1992. Working his way back into the final with a huge revenge victory over No. 1 Courier in the semifinals, Sampras ran out of gas and fell to No. 2 Stefan Edberg in the final. But the magic was back.
In 1993, with Agassi still struggling, Sampras once again was back in the final, and this time he made it over the hump and took home his second title. In fact, he breezed right through the entire event, dropping only two sets en route to a straight sets victory over Cedric Poiline.
Not to be outdone, Agassi stunned his critics and finally took home an Open crown in 1994. Meanwhile, it was like 1989 all over again – as Andre was on top of his game and barreling his way through the field, Pete was once again losing to Jaime Yzaga, this time in the fourth round.
But just as he did five years earlier, Pete again came back to beat Yzaga the following year en route to a trip to the final, and once again he ran into a red-hot Agassi in the final. And just like in 1990, Pete denied Andre the title, only this time he also denied him the shot at becoming a back-to-back champion. Andre again had his dreams crushed by Pete, and again he spent the next few years trying to find his game. To make matters worse, the following year Pete became a back-to-back champ.
While Sampras didn’t get to face Agassi in the 1996 Open, it wasn’t without its own special moments. Pete was having a very difficult season both on the court and off, as his play was down due in part to the death of his coach and good friend, Tim Gullikson. After Pete won a gut-wrenching, five-set victory over Spain's Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals, a match memorable for the courage and heart Pete exemplified, he went on to win the final over Chang and looked up to the sky to dedicate the win to his friend.
“He would have been 45 today,” Pete said after the match, “and I was thinking about him all day today and all during the match and things he told me to do on the court. I still felt his spirit and even though he is not with us, he is still very much in my heart and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for his help. I saw Tom when I was holding up the trophy and
that was a nice moment.“
As for Agassi, he made his second career comeback, finally finding his way back into the final on Center Court in 1999. As it was in 1993, he didn’t have to face his nemesis en route to victory, as this time Pete sat out due to a herniated disc in his back.
Pete came back from his back injury strong, and while he wasn’t able to win the title over the next two years, he did reach back-to-back finals in 2000 and 2001. Interestingly, in 2000 he beat Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinal before losing to Marat Safin in the final, while in 2001 he beat Safin in the semifinal and lost to Hewitt in the final.
One other interesting fact: in the 2001 quarterfinal he overcame his most difficult match of all, running into an opponent that gave him everything he had and pushed Pete to a fifth set with tie-break after tie-break. In the end, Agassi still couldn’t beat Pete in the big match.
Did it end there? Of course not. What story would be complete without the ultimate climax. Hollywood couldn’t have written it any better. In 2002, Pete looked like he was finally finished. The years of pounding were taking their toll, and his poor play and the hopelessness in his eyes was becoming more and more obvious. By the time the Open rolled around in August, he was 32 years old and deemed a longshot to even reach the quarterfinals. He was the No. 17 seed, but many felt that was generous. Everyone except Sampras.
He scratched and crawled all the way to another final, with one unforgettable match after another. A five-set classic with Greg Rusedski, in which the Canadian-born Brit implied that he lost to an inferior player. Wins over higher seeds Tommy Haas and Andy Roddick. A semifinal romp over Sjeng Schalken. And then, Andre Agassi in the final.
In the 1990 Open, Sampras became the youngest titlest. When the curtain fell on 2002 and Agassi was once again left wondering what hit him, Pete found himself the event's second oldest winner ever (Ken Rosewall won it at 35 in 1970).
Pete hasn’t played a match since, probably ending his career the way it started, and without much fanfare. That makes sense, as it was a career in which every win proved to the world that he didn’t need to have an image to have heart. He didn’t need to show emotion to show desire. But most importantly, that he didn’t need to prove it.
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Back in 1993, Pete was asked how it felt to be a 3-time champ.
“Well, if I can do – maintain this for 10 years; then I will be in good company. But you know, I have three Grand Slams titles, and you know my goal one day is to be in the same set as Laver and Rosewall. Those guys were class acts. That is something that I try to present when I play.”
Now, 10 years later, a class act is ending the magic right where it began. He rode the carpet and came full circle, more than just once, in a storied career that repeated itself time and time again, and each time amazed even those who came to expect it.
What other ending could you expect from a legend.
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