Posted on: April 05th, 2006
Sampras misses game, not pressures that come with it
- petepage[April 4, 2006,By Bonnie DeSimone] He still pictures himself on the court, he says, serving well enough to beat Roger Federer. He still feels a shiver of longing on the last Sunday afternoon of Wimbledon.
The bottom line, though, is that Pete Sampras was one of those rare athletes who retired completely satisfied with his career. His contentment showed Tuesday as he spoke to reporters on a conference call to promote Thursday's exhibition match in which he'll face No. 19 Robby Ginepri at the River Oaks International tournament in Houston.
Sampras recently picked up a racket -- a bigger one than he used to play with -- for the first time in three years to get ready for the match and this will be his first on-court appearance since his dramatic four-set U.S. Open final win over Andre Agassi in 2002.
"Basically, after I retired, I took some time to have some fun, play some golf, and do some fun things," said Sampras, who is married to actress Bridgette Wilson and has two sons, Christian, 3, and Ryan, who was born last July.
"After a few years of that, I asked myself what was next. I need to keep myself busier, doing more, fulfilling things. The end of last year, I opened myself up to playing this year if the right thing came to me.
"Hope I won't embarrass myself out there."
That seems unlikely, but the match will be on clay, Sampras' least favorite surface, and against a worthy opponent. He said he's preparing seriously, hitting (with partners, including Justin Gimelstob, and members of UCLA's men's team) a couple of hours a day, four or five times a week, for the last month.
"Playing tennis is like riding a bike; you don't forget it," said Sampras, winner of 64 pro titles and a record 14 Grand Slam events. "I'm more concerned about my movement and my body than actually hitting backhands and forehands. I'm not really worried about playing anybody."
A questioner noted that he still seems to have a little swagger.
"There's always swagger when I step on the tennis court," Sampras said.
Sampras conceded that Federer's dominance, somewhat like his own during a big part of his career, is not necessarily the healthiest thing for the game.
"I put myself on the court against him and see the game and see there's no one out there that has a big enough game, a big enough serve that can back it up and really put any pressure on him," Sampras said.
"The bigger server, [Andy] Roddick, you know, stays back. That's an uphill struggle for him. I think I would stick to my game and hopefully be good enough to beat him."
But Sampras reiterated that he's not mulling a return to the pro tour. He's been playing a lot of golf and poker, and enjoyed the Indian Wells tournament as an investor rather than a player this year.
"I know playing this sport and coming out of retirement is a whole other animal," said Sampras, who also will play for the Newport Beach team in World Team Tennis this summer. "I can play as much as I want or as little as I want ... Once you've shut it down long enough, you look forward to hitting a few balls.
"I miss the focus. I miss the structured life. I miss the preparation ... I really miss the majors. What I don't miss is the travel, the pressure, the stress of staying on top of the game. I feel like I had a bull's-eye on my chest for most of my career, so just kind of fending people off is something that I don't miss."
The match will be web-cast free of charge on the U.S. Tennis Association's Web site, www.usta.com, with the pre-game starting at 8:15 p.m. ET on Thursday and the match itself beginning at 8:30 p.m.
Also missing in action ...
Sampras commented on the absence of a big serve-and-volley player since his departure.
"The art ... is pretty much extinct," he said. "You have some guys that do a little bit of it, but across the board, everyone stays back and just trades groundies. I miss the contrast. I miss one guy coming in and the other guy defending. I think that's the best tennis.
"But that's just a sign of the times. It's just the kind of direction it was at Wimbledon the last couple years. The part of the court that's worn out is the baseline, not the net. So, you know, if I'd be playing today, I'd be licking my chops on grass."
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