From early on, his great idol was Rod Laver, and at 11, Sampras met and played with him.

Upon entering the US Open as the defending champion that year, he caused controversy when, after losing in the quarterfinals to Jim Courier, Sampras said that he was not disappointed and felt relieved that the pressure to defend his title was no longer on him.

Despite his limited success at Roland Garros, Sampras did win some significant matches on clay.

Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.

2007 saw Sampras announcing that he would play in a few events on the Outback Champions Series, a group of tournaments for former ATP players who have met certain criteria during their careers.

Sampras won his first two events on tour, defeating Todd Martin in both finals ( one of which included Sampras's first trip to his ancestral homeland, Greece ).

Many observers noted that despite his lengthy layoff from competitive tournaments, Sampras still possessed many of the previous skills he had displayed while on the ATP tour, with tennis legend John McEnroe going as far as to say that Sampras would be worthy of a top five seeding at Wimbledon were he to enter the tournament.

However, Sampras was able to win the last match of the series, winning in two sets on fast carpet.

Although his record on other surfaces was less impressive, a late season victory over Pete Sampras on a fast indoor carpet gave him an outside chance at finishing the year no.

And despite his relatively advanced age, his win-loss percentage during the open era was around 80 % for singles, which places him seventh on the open era list behind Björn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Roger Federer but ahead of Pete Sampras.

Great are also Laver's performances on hardcourt and on carpet from 1968 onwards ( even better than those of Sampras ).

* Pete Sampras retires, aged 32 on August 25

He reached the final in 1999, where he lost to Pete Sampras, and went on to reach the final again in 2001 and 2002, where both times he lost to Lleyton Hewitt.

In order to finish the year as the world No. 1 player, Kuerten did what many critics had deemed impossible ( for him to do ): beat Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in back-to-back matches on an indoor hard court.

Sampras however went on to win the tournament.

As a teenager, he played on the junior circuit and competed in the USTA national junior championships, facing future world-class players like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and Todd Martin.

In Miami on 28 March 1997, during the same tournament where he defeated World No. 1 Sampras in the semifinals, Bruguera sank three shots ( layup, free throw, top of key ) during a time-out of a game between the Lakers and the Miami Heat to earn US $ 500.

Bruguera is one of the few players to have a winning record against Sampras, winning three of their five matches: 1 – 0 on hard court, 2 – 1 on clay, and 0 – 1 on carpet.

They had major success with the Micro Machines series and Pete Sampras Tennis on the Sega Mega Drive.

The event has featured such players as Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, James Blake and Andy Roddick, before they turned professional.

Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked world number 97 after starting the year at world number 893.

Sampras used one racket type, the Wilson Pro Staff Original, for his entire professional career – a racket first introduced in 1983.

Ríos turned professional in 1994 and quickly began to acquire international fame after his participation at Roland Garros, where in the second round, at just 18 years of age, he confronted Pete Sampras, fighting a hard battle to lose 6-7, 6-7, 4-6.

She married former ATP professional tennis player Pete Sampras on September 30, 2000.

( In 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, Sampras had dominated the ATP tour.

Gilbert's most successful year on the tour was 1989, during which he won five singles titles, including Cincinnati, where he beat four future Hall of Famers to claim the title: Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, and Stefan Edberg, as well as Agustín Moreno and Jason Stoltenberg.

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

In 1995, Sampras experienced one of the most emotional matches of his career, when he played Courier in the quarterfinals.

Sampras won 20 of the 34 matches he played against Agassi.

On August 2010 Sampras played an exhibition game with Andre Agassi at the indoor arena Coliseo Cubierto El Campin in Bogotá, Colombia.

Sampras won 12 of the 16 matches he played against Rafter, including eight of their first nine.

On April 6, 2006, three and a half years after his retirement, Sampras resurfaced and played his first exhibition match in River Oaks, Houston, Texas, against 23-year-old Robby Ginepri.

On March 10, 2008, Sampras played another exhibition match against world No. 1 Roger Federer at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

On November 17, 2011, Sampras played and lost an exhibition match against Milos Raonic.

Wilander last played in Davis Cup in the 1995 semifinals, where he lost to Andre Agassi 7 – 6 ( 5 ), 6 – 2, 6 – 2 and Pete Sampras 2 – 6, 7 – 6 ( 4 ), 6 – 3.

" Becker is the best indoor player I've ever played ", said Sampras after the match.

He often attends the Championships at Wimbledon, and in 2007 played doubles with John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.

Agassi's tournament win helped him regain the number-one ranking, which he lost to Sampras after they played each other again at the US Open.

Sampras is the last American male to win Wimbledon ( 2000 ) and the ATP World Tour Finals ( 1999 ).

For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the last year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open.

However, Henman's winning streak did not last long, and in the second round he met Sampras, and was defeated 6 – 2, 6 – 3, 7 – 6.

* It was Sampras ' 9th career Grand Slam title and his 2nd and last Australian Open title.