Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player.

Pete Sampras was born on August 12, 1971, in Washington, D.C. He is the third child of Soterios "Sammy" and Georgia (née Vroustouris) Sampras.

When she was 19, his mother emigrated from Sparta, Greece.

His father was born in the United States to a Greek father, Costas "Gus" Sampras, and a Polish-Jewish mother, Sarah Steinberg.

He attended regular services of the Greek Orthodox Church on Sundays.

His mother would pray for him every day, '' she said.

''Somebody is watching you up there, no matter what you are doing.' Things happen" At the age of 3, he discovered a tennis racket in the basement of his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall.

In 1978, the Sampras family moved to Palos Verdes, California, and the warmer climate there allowed the seven year-old Sampras to play tennis for most of the year.

From early on, his great idol was Rod Laver, and at the age of 11, Sampras met and played tennis with the legend.

The Sampras family joined the Jack Kramer Club, and it was here that Sampras's talent became apparent.

As a teenager, Sampras trained with tennis coach Robert Lansdorp.

The forehand he learned from Lansdorp was the same forehand he used throughout his career.

The key was an emphasis on driving through the ball and not hitting extreme topspin.

Regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, his professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating his longtime rival Andre Agassi in the final.

Sampras won 14 major singles titles during his career, which was an all-time record at the time of his retirement: a then-record seven Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens and a joint Open Era record five US Open titles.

He won 64 ATP Tour-level singles titles in total.

Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked world No. 97 after starting the year at No. 893.

His first professional match was a loss to Sammy Giammalva, Jr. at the February Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia.

However, just one week later, at the Lipton International Players Championships in Miami, Sampras defeated two top-40 players, before losing to No. 18 Emilio Sánchez.

He did not defeat another top-40 player for almost six months, at which point he defeated No. 39 Michiel Schapers at a US Open warm-up tournament in Rye Brook, New York.

In his first Grand Slam singles match, Sampras lost to No. 69 Jaime Yzaga of Peru in the first round of the US Open.

Sampras did not advance past the quarterfinals in his next three tournaments, although he did record wins over No. 79 Jim Courier in their first career match-up, along with defeating No. 8 Tim Mayotte.

The following year, Sampras slightly improved his ranking to a year-ending No. 81.

He was spotted by Dr. Peter Fischer, a pediatrician and tennis enthusiast, who coached Sampras until 1989.

Fischer was responsible for converting Sampras's double-handed backhand to single-hand with the goal of being better prepared to win Wimbledon.

He lost in the first round of the 1989 Australian Open to Christian Saceanu and, at that year's French Open, won a Grand Slam singles match for the first time in his career; in the second round he lost to eventual champion and fellow American teenager Michael Chang in their first career match-up.

A few weeks later, Sampras lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Todd Woodbridge.

At the US Open, Sampras defeated defending champion and fifth-seeded Mats Wilander in the second round before losing to No. 13 Jay Berger in the fourth round.

To end the year, Sampras lost in the first round in four consecutive tournaments.

He lost to Wilander in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Sydney.

At the Australian Open, Sampras upset twelfth-ranked Mayotte in the first round before losing to thirteenth-ranked Yannick Noah in the fourth round in four sets.

His first professional singles title came in February at the Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia, where he defeated sixth-ranked Andre Agassi, eighth-ranked Mayotte, and eighteenth-ranked Andrés Gómez in the final.

This title elevated his ranking into the top 20 for the first time.

Sampras finished 1990 at No. 5, having started the year ranked No. 61 just prior to the start of the Australian Open.

Sampras did not play in the 1990 French Open and again lost in the first round of Wimbledon, this time to Christo van Rensburg.

Sampras played seven consecutive weeks during the North American summer hard-court season.

He defeated John McEnroe in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, but then lost to Chang in the semifinals.

He first reached the world No. 1 ranking in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks (third all time), including an Open Era record of six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998.

His precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete".

In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.