Posted on: April 16th, 2008
Sampras Books London Return
- petepageApril 15, 2008
Seven-time Wimbledon winner Pete Sampras called Centre Court at the All England Club a "tennis cathedral" and in December Sampras will return to the city of his greatest Grand Slam triumphs to play at London's historic Royal Albert Hall.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion has committed to playing the season-ending BlackRock Tour of Champions BlackRock Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall December 2-7. It will mark Sampras' first trip to London since he was upset by Swiss George Bastl in the second round of his final Wimbledon appearance in 2002.
"I remember it being a great arena," said Sampras, who visited the Royal Albert Hall two decades ago for the World Championship doubles event. "You could hear the glasses during the points with all the people drinking champagne, and everyone in their tuxedos. They really live it up there, so I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t been back to London since my last Wimbledon, which was a bit of a nightmare. I hear a lot of good things about the event in London and the stadium and the exposure it brings. So I’m excited and pretty pumped up about it. I hear the people there really support it and so I’m excited to go back and play a little tennis for them."
Sampras pushed World No. 1 Roger Federer to three sets at last month's NetJets Showdown in New York's Madison Square Garden. He held a 5-2 lead in the decisive set against Federer before the 12-time Grand Slam champion rallied for a 6-3, 6-7, 7-6(6) victory that spanned two hours, 15 minutes and lived up to the pre-match hype.
"It's still fun for me to compete, it's still a challenge and I still want to hold that trophy up at the end," said Sampras. "I still want to play well and still want to win. But now I'm a little more relaxed. People do want to see competitive tennis. The crowd still want to see me serve and volley the way I used to and pull off my shots, but with a slightly lighter atmosphere."
Prior to playing London, Sampras will make his first South American appearance next month when he competes in the Grand Champions Brasil in Sao Paulo, May 21-24.
"I’ve heard a lot of good things about Sao Paolo but I’ve never been there, so I’m looking forward to it," Sampras said. "It’s a different culture and I was just thinking the other day that I used to go somewhere and not even care about the city or its history but now I’ll go there and maybe have a few days off to see some sights, something I wouldn’t have done back then. I’m still there to win though, and I’ll be focussed to put on a good show."
The 36-year-old Sampras is set to launch defense of his Boston title on the Outback Champions Series — the American senior circuit — on May 1.
Sampras is grouped with John McEnroe, Jim Courier and Jimmy Arias in group A. McEnroe will play Courier on Thursday, May 1 following Sampras’ opening match versus Arias. Sampras will then play McEnroe on Friday evening, May 2 and Courier on Saturday evening, May 3.Todd Martin, the 2006 Boston champion, is grouped with Wayne Ferreira, Aaron Krickstein and Mikael Pernfors in group B and will open play against Krickstein on Wednesday, April 30.
Sampras is returning to the site where last year he played his first competitive tournament since he won the 2002 U.S. Open. In 2007, Sampras went 3-0 in round robin play in Boston and staved off three match points from Martin to win the championship match 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 (Champions Tie-Break). The seven-time Wimbledon champion also played a much-anticipated sold-out Saturday night match with McEnroe, defeating his former Davis Cup doubles partner 6-3, 6-4 in an electric atmosphere at the Agganis Arena.
On May 18, Sampras is scheduled to play former World No. Marcelo Rios on in an exhibition match at the Arena Santiago in Santiago, Chile.
Source: Tennis Week
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