Posted on: November 04th, 2009
Sampras on tennis, life after retirement
- petepageThe owner of 14 grand slam titles and the top-ranked player at the end of the year for six consecutive years, Pete Sampras will be in Atlanta for an exhibition match against Todd Martin on Nov. 7 at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Proceeds will benefit the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. Tickets are available at etix.com. Recently, Sampras spoke with the AJC about the game and his life since his retirement in 2003. Answers were edited for length.
Q: What do you see for the future of U.S. men's tennis?
A: I think after Andy [Roddick] and James [Blake], Sam Querrey is sort of the guy that is the best hope. After that, I think it is pretty thin. It's hard to predict where it's going to go. I don't know. I'm not too in touch with the young guys coming up.
Every country has their time. You look at the Swedes in the '80s and early '90s, they had four guys at the top. It's unfortunate, the media and the fans, they want grand slams, and they were a little bit spoiled in the '90s [by U.S. players], but you've got to be fair to James and Andy, that they can't be compared to myself and Andre [Agassi].
Q: So you're not of a mind that the answer is in training junior players differently?
A: I just don't think there's a magic formula to build a tennis center, do this, do that. It just goes through cycles. U.S. tennis competes with a lot of sports, basketball, football, baseball and golf now. It's tougher to get these kids out playing tennis. There'll be another crew of players at some point. It just might take a little time.
Q: Have you seen [former Georgia player] John Isner play?
A: I've seen John play. I think he's obviously got a huge game, a huge serve. He's going to have a lot of big wins. To be someone that tall gives him a great advantage, but can also hurt him. He's got great potential. He's going to get a lot of experience over the next number of years.
One thing I look at is, Does he have a weapon? John definitely has a huge weapon in his serve. He just has to be able to back it up with a few things and work on movement.
He's kind of crashing through here. He's also someone that American tennis should be looking at and saying we've got someone in our stable.
Q: What do you like about Roger Federer?
A: Just his movement and his balance. When he's playing, he always seems like he's under control. He obviously has a pretty big serve and an incredible forehand, backhand's real solid. He does everything real well. Just his movement, and he makes it look effortless.
Q. When you were described as the best player ever, was that something you heard so often that you grew numb to it?
I just feel good that I was a player of the '90s in a very tough generation. All-time, I never looked at myself like that. It was flattering, but I never really believed it.
Q: Is it possible there's a player on tour using performance-enhancing drugs?
A: Across the board now, there might be an isolated incident here or there. I don't think it's a regular thing in the sport. I don't think it's anything to be too concerned about.
But people always ask me, ‘[Rafael] Nadal's got to be on the juice.' There's no way the kid's on the juice. He's too good a guy. That's one person people always ask me about because of his energy. I just think he comes from a good background and isn't someone who would have to cheat to be successful.
Q: Do you watch women's tennis?
A: You can ask someone like Kobe [Bryant] if he watches the [WNBA Los Angeles] Sparks. If I have time -- I've got two kids -- to watch something, it's not going to be ladies' tennis. It's going to be basketball or football. Ladies' tennis, there's some great players, but it's not anything I'm interested in.
Q: How do you view these exhibition matches that you play? Strictly for fun, or something more than that?
A: Both. I think we're all having fun, but at the same time, when the ball goes up, you want to hit a good serve and play well. I still prepare myself to play good tennis. It's harder to now, because I don't move as well. I can still hit it good and get around. We'll have some good tennis and hopefully the fans will enjoy it.
Q: What athletes do you like watching outside of tennis?
A: I like watching Kobe. LeBron [James] is just a sick athlete. He's just a specimen. Roger's a great athlete and is fun to watch. I like athletes who make it look easy. Those guys, if they're on TV, I'll stop and watch them.
Q: What were you expecting when you retired?
A: I didn't know what to expect. What I did know was I was done playing and I spent three years of not doing anything, which was great for me. I could decompress and have some fun and eat some food I didn't eat while I was playing and just live it up a little bit. But after awhile, having fun and playing golf, I put on a few pounds and I thought ‘I need to turn this around.'
Q: Finish this sentence. Even though I won 14 grand slams and was the No. 1-ranked player in the world, I still have to ...
A: I still have to pay taxes. And they're going up. [Laughs]
Q: Have you been to Atlanta previously?
A: The first-ever professional thing I ever did was at the Omni. I played doubles there, I was being recruited by [sports agency] ProServ. I was such a rookie, I went through the regular admission [gate] and kind of walked down the stadium [steps to the court]. That was my first Atlanta experience.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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