Posted on: September 28th, 2007
Champs Recall Their Sacrifice
- petepageSeptember 27, 2007
CHARLOTTE, NC - Serves, Pete Sampras knew. Running forehands, Sampras knew. Dating, Sampras didn't know. So early in his pro tennis career, he turned to his buddy, Jim Courier, for a lesson in "Get a Life 101."
"I remember going to Pete's room, helping him select clothes" for a first date, Courier said. "I told him, `Make sure to pay for the meal and open doors for the lady.'
"You can't worry about going to the prom if you want to be No. 1. You have to put everything else aside at 16, 17, 18, because that's how you become that good."
They were both that good. Courier preceded Sampras as the world's top singles player, holding the distinction for about a year. Then Sampras dominated as no one ever before, holding the top ranking for six consecutive years (1993-98).
Now retired from the main tour, Sampras, 36, and Courier, 37, headline the eight-man field for this week's Outback Champions event at The Palisades development in south Charlotte.
How do you get that good at anything? How do you stay that dominant? And what are the life tradeoffs to be so virtuoso?
"You reduce everything to what's most important," Sampras said of the ordered, Spartan way he lived atop the tennis rankings. "I didn't party, I didn't go out, I didn't chase girls. I have kind of a low-key personality anyway, so that worked for me."
It was life according to tennis, not the other way around. He once joked the best thing about retirement would be expanding his diet beyond the pasta-chicken-fish regimen. There weren't a lot of colors on his palette; whatever worked for his training, he accepted without protest.
"You eat when you're not hungry, you drink when you're not thirsty and you sleep when you're not tired," Sampras said. "I always felt like if I didn't get maximum rest, I wouldn't be ready."
That speaks to the unsettling feeling both had that No. 1 was a narrow ledge. Each used the word "hunted'' to describe how it felt. Courier recalls a friend mailing him a Nerf ball, painted like a globe, with a card reading, "Enjoy this token because you're standing on top (of the planet)."
"But it wasn't all that pleasurable," Courier said, "because you were always trying to defend it."
Each one learned that dominance in an individual sport made for some strange interaction on and off the court.
Courier said being No. 1 meant he got something different from opponents. Either they'd be inspired to play their best or be so psyched out they'd lose mentally before striking a ball.
Sampras' recollection was more about the time between matches. The tennis schedule puts you on the road 11 months a year. Being No. 1 installed a sort of barrier between Sampras and his peers that interfered with normal friendships. "You couldn't really give yourself over" to people, Sampras said about letting down his guard.
Yet both transitioned comfortably when they slipped off the peak. Courier learned in the latter stages of his career to concentrate on improving his game, regardless of whether that raised his ranking. Sampras said slipping from No. 1 to the top five was almost a relief.
"Once I broke (Jimmy) Connors' record of six years (top ranked) in a row, I was tired of being the man," Sampras said.
So they moved on. Courier went into business, as a partner in the senior tour they're playing. Sampras is raising a family and playing exhibitions this fall against No. 1 Roger Federer-- the man best positioned to break his record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Sampras sees himself in Federer -- an even-tempered, humble guy with the self-discipline to excel.
"People want a little more pizzazz; we live in the MTV sound-bite era," Sampras said. "But I think we both understand how to keep things simple and be nice to people."
Source: Charlotte Observer
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