Pete Sampras’ Memoir Puts Me to Tears

I came to know this memoir of Pete Sampras, titled "A Champion’s Mind," by viewing a video clip on YouTube. The book was published in 2008, but it wasn’t available in the library until very recently. You bet how excited I was when the book finally got into my hands.

 

In fact, I played very little Tennis as I grew up and, to be honest, never found myself any talent in it. But that doesn’t prevent me from becoming a huge fan of the game. The beginning of my love of watching this wonderful sport could be dated as early as my primary school years, starting with the emergence of Boris Becker. However, it was Pete Sampras who showed me how fantastic this sport is.

 

I finished the book in just two days. That’s partly because the book is so well-written and partly because I knew most of the facts in the book even before reading it. Throughout the years, Sampras has always been my hero, even to this day. The rise of Sampras started in 1990 and he finished his career in 2002 by winning his last US Open title, which marked his record of 14 Grand Slams. His 13-year career in Tennis happens to span from my high school years, to my college years, and to the last year I was in China. In other words, Sampras played in my time, and I grew up watching Sampras’ games. Among the Tennis G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time), Sampras and Federer are the only two players that I have chance to follow closely. Reading Sampras’ history is like reflecting my own. If someone mentioned to me one particular year in the 90’s, I can always recall what I was doing back then and what champions Sampras had won that year. I can still remember in the summer of 2003 when Sampras announced his retirement from Tennis at US Open’03, I couldn’t help breaking into tears because that not only means a Tennis legend is gone, but also marked the end of my youth era. In this past two days, the same feeling hit me again, which made me shed a few more tears while reading this book.

 

Although the facts are nothing new to me, this book is a great read. Like the title suggests, it is not about a champion’s achievements but a champion’s mind. It is based on Tennis but more about his life. In his book, Sampras opens himself to let us know what was really going on his mind during each of his epic battles against his opponents, each up and down in his career, and each life-and-death story with his friends and coaches. He analyzed how each win or loss help shape his character as a player and, more importantly, as a person. If you follow Sampras throughout the years, you will be surprised that Sampras, a low-profile and once-called "boring" player who only let his racket do the talking, is in fact a person with rich emotions and such a soft heart. Throughout the book, you can learn about his love to his family, coaches, friends, and most impressively, his wife Bridgette. The most well-known love story in Tennis is perhaps the one between Andre Agassi and Stephi Graf. However, if you finish reading this book, you will find Sampras’s love story is every bit as romantic as, if not more romantic than, that of Agassi and Graf.

 

My favorite stories in this book include: 1) His famous broke down in 1995 Australia Open semifinal against Jim Courier when he got the news that his coach, Tom Gullikson, had been diagnosed with brain cancer; 2) How he won his record-breaking 7-times Wimbledon titles and his personal feeling toward this arguably the greatest Tennis major in this world; 3) How he and Bridgette met and how he won his last Grand Slam for his wife from his most worthy opponent — Agassi; and 4) His career-long bitter sweet rivalry and friendship with Andre Agassi.

 

To conclude, I want to let those who are not familiar with Sampras know how great a player he is. Even though Roger Federer appeared to be the dominant player after Sampras retired and is currently poised to break Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slams, I would rank Sampras slightly higher than Federer in my G.O.A.T. list. I am an engineer and I believe numbers don’t lie. I judge a player based on how well he performed head-to-head against his main rivals.

 

For Sampras, the number are startling: 20-14 against Andre Agassi, 12-7 against Boris Becker, 12-8 against Michael Chang, 16-4 against Jim Courier, 8-6 against Stefan Edberg, 5-3 against Ivan Lendl, and 12-4 against Patrick Rafter. In fact, during his 13-year span of dominance, none of his opponents has a winning record against Sampras. For Federer, however, his current record against Rafael Nadal is an embarrasing 6-13.

 

In fact, I love Federer’s games and really think that he is the one who carries the torch from Pete Sampras. But before he can break through the barrier from Nadal, which I think is becoming less and less likely, I still list Sampras as my No.1 hero in Tennis.