Sampras Takes His Slice of the carat Cake
December, 1990
Three months ago, Pete Sampras earned $ 350,000 as the youngest male ever to win the United States Open title, having played seven matches over the best of five sets. Yesterday he guaranteed himself a mere $50,000 less for winning a first round match over three sets in the Compaq Grand Slam Cup.
Money is the least of the 19-year-old American's concerns at the moment, although a disagreement over terms is believed to be one of the reasons he has parted from his coach, Joe Brandi. The Puerto Rican, who guided Sampras through a year which confirmed the big-serving player's immense potential, appears to have taken a view similar to that of his predecessor, Pete Fischer, that his services deserved a greater reward. The word is that Brandi asked for double what had been agreed.
''You should ask Joe or my agent about anything to do with money,'' Sampras said. ''As far as I know he decided to split because he was missing seeing his children growing up because of all the travelling. We had a good relationship. I really want to travel with Joe. It really worked.''
Sampras has meantime recruited the aid of Andre Agassi's one-time trainer, Pat Etchenberri, having also taken on two of his fellow American's exhibition commitments in Europe last weekend, which hardly seems wise for one suffering from sore shins.
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