During his tennis career on the pro circuit, Pete Sampras became a world traveler, record holder and respected athlete. Life was a whirlwind of cross-court serves, press conferences, charter planes and room service.
Today, the focus of Sampras’ energy isn’t on the constant verve that surrounds the sport. Rather, it’s on improving his golf swing and hanging out with Christian and Ryan, his two sons.
But the King of Swing appears to have a few serves left in him.
Ten years after winning his last title at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, Sampras returns to Straus Stadium today in an exhibition match at the LA Tennis Open. He will take on his colleague, friend and two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin.
Six years into retirement, “Pistol Pete” admits he’s not the premier serve-and-volley specialist he was during his prime. At 37, his endurance and agility lacks the intensity that bred his title-rife career. Sampras does participate in exhibitions from time to time, continuing to nurture his lifelong relationship with the sport.
This minimalist approach seems to agree with him.
“What I’m doing now is fine for me,” Sampras said. “It keeps me in shape. I still enjoy playing every now and again.”
Sampras isn’t looking to wow spectators’ thirst for heart-pounding, adrenaline-rushing exchanges, but to show up and hold his own. He generally plays in one match every four months and thus hasn’t built up the physical strength to endure a cutthroat match.
“All these matches against the current guys, I want to play well,” Sampras said. “I don’t want to embarrass myself. If I can pull off a set, I’m ecstatic. If I can win the match, that’s even better.”
Safin said the exhibition match will be about enjoying the experience, not about reliving past rivalries.
“It’s going to be mostly fun because I don’t have to show anybody anything, and he doesn’t have to,” Safin said. “Just to play there, remember good times, have fun so that the people have fun.”
At the Los Angeles Tennis Center, Sampras won the 1999 title of the Los Angeles ATP event, then titled the Mercedes-Benz Cup. It is also at this site where his older sister, Stella Sampras Webster, currently conducts practice for the UCLA women’s tennis team as coach.
Sampras Webster, two years Pete Sampras’ senior, followed her brother’s career from start to finish along with the rest of their family. The siblings took up the game together ““ Pete was 6 and Stella was 8 ““ and participated in the junior development program at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates.
“We were lucky to have each other,” Sampras Webster said.
Around the time Pete Sampras turned pro at age 16, Stella Sampras Webster was beginning her career as a student-athlete in the tennis program at UCLA.
Though it was difficult for the two of them to stay in touch regularly in light of their demanding schedules, Sampras Webster said that family members always kept themselves well-informed of Sampras’ events. It was the parents who necessitated regular phones calls, Sampras Webster said, which they got.
“Every tournament he played in we were following,” she said.
When Sampras would compete in the US Open in New York, Sampras Webster would make the trip to the East Coast, where she would get to hang out with her brother and also get some recruiting in.
She was in Flushing Meadows to witness her brother’s last Grand Slam victory in 2002.
Sampras Webster said she couldn’t be more proud of what Sampras accomplished during his professional career and the person he has become since walking away from the limelight.
“He’s enjoying his life now, which has changed a bit,” Sampras Webster said. “It’s neat to see him grow as a person and as a father. I’m glad that he has a great career. … He should be proud of himself. He hasn’t gotten caught up in the world of what stars go through. … He’s stayed true to himself.”
When asked if he’d ever consider a coaching job, he said, “Only from home and on my BlackBerry.”
After 15 years of living on the road, staying at home with his wife and kids has his highest favor.
“He wouldn’t do anything that would take away from his family,” Sampras Webster said. “He’s kind of a homebody.”
Sampras recently left his abode in Los Angeles to watch the 2009 Wimbledon Championships in England, where he witnessed the breaking of his all-time Grand Slam wins record.
Roger Federer, the tournament victor, now has 15.
Could Sampras have beaten Federer in his prime?
“I don’t think anyone could beat me … on grass,” Sampras said. “He’d be a tough guy to break, especially when he’s hitting 50 aces like he did. It would have been a great matchup.”
All speculation aside, Sampras assembled for himself one of the most successful, if not the most successful, athletic careers of all time. But today, his sights are not on the other side of the net but on raising his family.
Still, he finds the time to deliver a few serves and tally a few aces. They just don’t clock in at 135 mph.