Today Pete announced his retirement as a player. And the tennis world has lost one of its most distinguished stars.
Many claim he is the greatest tennis player ever. 14 grand slams (14-4 record in grand slam finals), six years, consecutive world number 1, won Wimbledon 7 times. Truly an amazing record. The only blemish is that he could never win the French Open.
More importantly, he was a very dignified player. No scandals. No brattish behavior. None of the throwing the racket and bickering with the umpires. The amazing first serve and a great serve-and-volley player.
He won his last grand slam, the US Open last year, after a two year hiatus. Incidently, he played the final against his arch-rival Andre Aggasi and won. He pulled out of every tournament since then and today he made it final that he won’t be returning to the court, atleast not as a professional player.
The ony reason that he wasnt able to win the French open was becasue he was a serve & volley player. Serve and Volley work great at other courts but not clay. If you notice French open is mostly won by players who have powerful ground strokes. The ball does not come as quickly as it does on other surfaces thus the oppponent get plenty of time to play the ball which goes agaisnt the serve and volley players. Nevetheless Sampras had a distinguished career, and he enjoyed a lot of success over the years. All the best to him.
He was not the kind of person, who wants to be the center of attention (unlike Andre Agassi). And that makes him a sportsman, who will be remembered even after his retirement.
not a “fan” or ‘follower’ of tennis, but I watched a few games and I really admire Pete for keeping his cool while other guys I watched play were steaming/fuming for missed shots or whatever. great sportsman Pete :k:
There left one of the true legends of the game - and there are very few players now still left in the current game that can match Sampras’ ability and records - Aggasi is the only one but I doubt he could even get close to Pete’s acheievements.
Following the footsteps of Pete Sampras - Michael Chang has also said goodbye to Tennis tonight.
Very sad moment, probably the greatest tennis player ever.
It was a perfect time for his retirement, his last match was Grandslam title.
His record is unmatchable, I don't think anyone will ever win this many grandslams in their entire life.
Bauhat naik player tha :k: pictures main badla badla lag raha hai waisay. He (and a few other players) are the reason i started taking greater interest in tennis.
Achay achay players retire ho rahe hain…first hingis and now him :halo:
