By Mike Szostak , projo.com
July 15, 2007
P Losing made Pete Sampras the greatest winner in the history of men�s tennis.
It was the final of the 1992 U.S. Open, and Sampras, a 21-year-old kid ranked No. 6 in the world, was in the final against the gentleman Swede, Stefan Edberg, the defending champion.
Sampras, the 1990 U.S. Open champ, won the first set, 6-3, but Edberg took the second, 6-4, and third, 7-6. Sampras gave away the fourth, 6-2, and Edberg left New York with his sixth and final Grand Slam singles title of his Hall of Fame career.
�When I lost that match, it was really a wakeup call for me,� Sampras said yesterday. �It really showed me that I hate to lose. When I kind of gave up in that fourth set, I just promised myself that I would never let that happen again, never give up again. There is no guarantee you�re going to get into these finals, and I kind of was letting them slip away a little bit.
�My heart really wasn�t beating hard enough. I felt I was just a little bit on the soft side. From that loss, it changed my whole mentality. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be No. 1. I wanted to win majors.�
And that�s exactly what he did for the next 10 years, winning the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon seven times and the U.S. Open four more times for a total of 14 singles Grand Slams, a record. He was No. 1 for 102 consecutive weeks from April 15, 1996 to March 30, 1998, and the year-end No. 1 for six consecutive years from 1993 to 1998, a record. He won $43 million in prize money, another record.
His last match, the 2002 U.S. Open final, was one for the ages and the stuff of dreams. Mired in a two-year title slump and seeded only 17th, he beat his friend and rival, Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and celebrated by climbing into the stands to hug his wife, who was pregnant with their first child.
Yesterday, a perfect summer afternoon in the City by the Sea, Sampras took his place with the greats of the game when he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, the three-time French Open champion from Spain and one of only four women in history to be ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously; Sven Davidson, the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title, at the French Championships in 1957; and Russ Adams, the Massachusetts photographer who went from shooting fires for the old Boston Herald to shooting tennis around the world for 50 years.
In a tearful acceptance speech before a capacity crowd of 3,800 at the historic Newport Casino, Sampras said he was most proud of never straying from the core values of champions he watched as a youngster: humility and class, sportsmanship and dignity.
�I stand before you humbled and grateful,� he said.
Sampras thanked his father for providing him the opportunity to play even though he had no experience in the game, his mother for hitting balls with him even though she didn�t quite know what she was doing, and his brother and sister for not being jealous and keeping him grounded.
�Thank you for supporting me. I love you guys. This celebration is for all of you as much as it is for me,� he said.
Pausing repeatedly to compose himself or to wipe tears _ �We love you, Pete� drifted from the stands more than once � Sampras at one point quipped, �I�d rather play tennis right now.�
He credited Tim Gullikson, the 1977 Hall of Fame champion and his coach in the mid-1990s, for tinkering with his game and changing his attitude toward Wimbledon from hating to embracing grass.
�Tim got me to be the best player in the world,� he said. He became emotional in mentioning Gullikson�s diagnosis of brain cancer in 1995 and death in 1996.
He also thanked former pro Paul Annacone, who became his coach after Gullikson took ill and who introduced him yesterday.
�I won a lot of majors with Paul . . . He never got the credit he deserved,� he said. Turning to Annacone and sobbing, he added, �Thanks, Paul.�
Sampras termed the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the 1999 U.S. Open �the best injury of my life� because he then met actress Bridgette Wilson, whom he later married.
�During the two hardest years of my career she became my rock and my sounding board. She had to live with me at a time that couldn�t have been fun,� he said. When he hit bottom after losing in the second round at Wimbledon in 2002, he talked to her about retiring.
�She said, �I�ll support you in whatever you do, but promise me when you do go out, it will be on your terms,� � he said to loud applause.
Two months later he went to New York for what proved to be his last hurrah. He had not won a tournament since Wimbledon in 2000. He had lost to Marat Safin in straight sets in the 2000 U.S. Open final and to Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets (7-6, 6-1, 6-1) in the 2001 final. He described 2001 and 2002 as a death watch.
But at the 2002 Open he fought his way through Tommy Haas, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5, in the Round of 16, eliminated Andy Roddick in straight sets in the quarterfinals and escaped Sjeng Schalken in the semifinals, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2. The final against Agassi was a classic.
�I remember we were in the tunnel and about to walk out, and the crowd erupted and I just said, �This is pretty cool,�?� he said before the induction ceremony. �Two of the best players in the world. I was 31, he was 32, and we�d been through a lot together. I think it was a great match. I won the first couple of sets. He played a good third, and I just kind of squeaked the one out in the fourth. It was a great moment from two years of permanent death watch � Should I retire, should I quit?� to winning that, and to show the sort of heart that I have to come back was a great moment. And to embrace it with my wife, who was pregnant at the time, was sort of a fitting end to my career.�
Sanchez-Vacario, 35, is the third Spaniard and first Spanish woman in the Hall of Fame. In addition to her three French singles titles, she became the first Spanish woman to win the U.S. Open in singles in 1994. She also won six doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam championships, played on 16 Spanish Fed Cup teams, winning in 1991, and represented Spain in five Olympics, winning four medals in singles and doubles.
She said that entering the Hall of Fame is �the best recognition I can ever have� and that going in with Sampras, �the best player ever,� was an honor made more special.
Davidson recalled the old days when he played against Hall of Famers Vic Seixas, Tony Trabert and Dick Savitt, all in attendance to honor him. He also thanked his family and mentioned that the last two months have been difficult since he was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer�s Disease. �I�ve had a very full life,� he said, noting that he turned 79 the previous day, an announcement that drew a round of applause.
Adams, 76, the only photographer to capture Rod Laver leaping over the net after beating Tony Roche in the 1969 U.S. Open final to complete his second Grand Slam, thanked the officials and players who helped him early in his career when he knew nothing about tennis. He recalled an assignment to shoot a forehand volley when he didn�t know what a volley was.
�I called Jack Kramer, and he told me.�
Jack Kramer is in the Hall of Fame (1968), and today so is Russ Adams. And Pete Sampras, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Sven Davidson.