Pete Sampras famous quotes

The only person that I have met, that I have ever been in awe of, is Eddie Vedder.
-- Pete Sampras

#Mets #Awe #Persons

I'm enjoying my retirement, enjoying my life. I have two kids and a lot of my time is spent chasing these two animals.
-- Pete Sampras

#Retirement #Kids #Animal

I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.
-- Pete Sampras

#Success #Interesting #Guy

In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win. Not in golf. I played three rounds in that Tahoe event, and I was drained. Mentally, not physically
-- Pete Sampras

#Couple #Mistake #Golf

I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.
-- Pete Sampras

#Winning #Talking #Tennis

The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.
-- Pete Sampras

#Sports #Player #Differences

I made it look so easy on court all those years. No one realized how hard I had to work. No one realized how much I had to put into it. They underestimated my intensity.
-- Pete Sampras

#Years #Tennis #Looks

All I cared about in tennis was winning.
-- Pete Sampras

#Winning #Tennis

For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.
-- Pete Sampras

#Taken #Winning #Years

The way I look at the top five, (Rod) Laver, (Roger) Federer, myself, Borg and (Ivan) Lendl. I think those five guys dominated their generations better than anyone. Maybe Roger will dominate better than any one of the other four. Maybe I put Andre (Agassi) as kind of six through 10 with, you know, (John) McEnroe and (Jimmy) Connors, kind of those guys. That's kind of how I see it.
-- Pete Sampras

#Thinking #Guy #Four

I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids.
-- Pete Sampras

#Kids #Golf #Play

I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.
-- Pete Sampras

#Nice #Littles #Return

I'm not worried about the weekend, I'm worried about Saturday.
-- Pete Sampras

#Weekend #Tennis #Worried

After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.
-- Pete Sampras

#Sports #Passion #Winning

A champion is suppose to hate to lose, and it wasn't like I was ever crazy about the idea. But I learned to deal with losing without having my spirit or confidence broken, which would help immensely over time, not just in the big picture but even in specific matches when I found myself in a jam. Fear of losing is a terrible thing.
-- Pete Sampras

#Hate #Crazy #Ideas

Choking is being in a position to win, and then experiencing some critical failure of nerve or spirit. That never happened to me. And I can't help but think it was because I was never afraid to lose.
-- Pete Sampras

#Winning #Thinking #Tennis

By putting pressure on myself to develop a great game, I had less pressure to win. These days, I tell kids that the way I grew up, it wasn't about winning. It was about playing well, about playing the "right" way. That approach helped me enjoy the game and develop mine to its maximum potential.
-- Pete Sampras

#Kids #Winning #Games

I didn't have a big fat Greek wedding, but I have a lot of fat Greek friends.
-- Pete Sampras

#Hilarious #Greek #Fats

Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.
-- Pete Sampras

#Sports #Fall #Swings

It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.
-- Pete Sampras

#Nice #Court #Walks

I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.
-- Pete Sampras

#Reality #Icons #Historical

I loved Wimbledon and what it meant, but the surface felt uncomfortable. I just didn't like it, I was a hard-court guy, a Californian kid.
-- Pete Sampras

#Kids #Guy #Wimbledon

I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.
-- Pete Sampras

#Regret #Careers #Focus

I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids.
-- Pete Sampras

#Kids #Golf #Boys

I've got a great wife, a great life.
-- Pete Sampras

#Wife #Great Wife

When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.
-- Pete Sampras

#Tennis #House #Exhibitions

It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.
-- Pete Sampras

#Believe #Athlete #Political

Throughout my career, my mind rarely wandered, and I was never sidetracked by distractions, no matter what I was going through off the court.
-- Pete Sampras

#Careers #Focus #Mind

My serve was there, everything was just clicking. Those are the days you dream about, especially in a final.
-- Pete Sampras

#Dream #Finals

Tennis is seen all around the world; if I am home or anywhere in the country, United States, people will stare.
-- Pete Sampras

#Country #Home #People

Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.
-- Pete Sampras

#Years #Swings #Forever

It's one-on-one out there, man. There ain't no hiding. I can't pass the ball.
-- Pete Sampras

#Men #Balls #Hiding

I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly.
-- Pete Sampras

#Hate #Winning #Ugly

There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.
-- Pete Sampras

#Hitting #Balls #Shots

People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.
-- Pete Sampras

#People #Lasts #Firsts

Anybody who has played sports and says they have never choked is lying to you.
-- Pete Sampras

#Sports #Lying #Wrestling

When you retire you want to get as far away as possible from the game for a couple of years.
-- Pete Sampras

#Couple #Years #Games

You kind of live and die by the serve.
-- Pete Sampras

#Kind

If Davis Cup was a little bit less or once every two years, I would be more inclined to play. But the way it is now, it is too much tennis for me
-- Pete Sampras

#Years #Play #Two

People know me. I'm not going to produce any cartwheels out there. I'm not going to belong on Comedy Central. I'll always be a tennis player, not a celebrity
-- Pete Sampras

#Player #People #Tennis

In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win.
-- Pete Sampras

#Couple #Mistake #Winning

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.
-- Pete Sampras

#Goal #One Day #Sentences

I could be a jerk and get a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am.
-- Pete Sampras

#Who I Am #Publicity #Jerk

Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure.
-- Pete Sampras

#Retirement #Progress #Trying

I'm staying in shape, working out.
-- Pete Sampras

#Work Out #Shapes