Pete Sampras dominated tennis in the 1990s with a serve so powerful it earned him the nickname "Pistol Pete." While he often appeared calm and robotic on the court, he secretly battled a physical condition that made every match a struggle. For instance, he slept significantly more than other athletes just to function. Furthermore, he famously met his wife after seeing her in a movie and begging his agent to find her. Prepare to serve and volley with the fourteen-time Grand Slam champion.
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras suffered from a genetic condition called Thalassemia Minor. This inherited blood disorder causes anemia and limits physical endurance. Consequently, Sampras often felt extreme fatigue in hot weather, but he kept it a secret to avoid showing weakness to his rivals.
He vomited on the court during the 1996 US Open. In a brutal quarterfinal match against Alex Corretja, he became so dehydrated that he threw up near the baseline. Despite being barely able to stand, he saved a match point and eventually won the fifth-set tiebreaker.
He slept for twelve hours a day. To manage his energy levels and his blood condition, he required massive amounts of rest. He would often wake up, practice, and then go right back to sleep, which earned him a reputation for being “boring” among other players.
Andre Agassi accused him of being a terrible tipper. In his autobiography, Agassi claimed that Sampras once tipped a parking valet only one dollar. This story sparked a petty feud between the two legends that lasted for years after they retired.
He met his wife because he saw her in a movie. He was watching the film “Love Stinks” when he saw actress Bridgette Wilson and fell in love instantly. He jokingly told his friend he wanted to meet her, and his agent actually managed to set them up on a date.
A pediatrician taught him how to play tennis. Peter Fischer was not a professional tennis coach, but a child doctor who loved the sport. He was the mastermind who convinced Sampras to change his game to win Wimbledon, even though he had never coached a pro before.
Pete Sampras switched to a one-handed backhand at age fourteen. Originally, Sampras used a two-handed backhand like most junior players. However, his coach told him he would never win Wimbledon with two hands, so he sacrificed his junior ranking to learn the harder shot.
His racquet was incredibly heavy. He used a Wilson Pro Staff 85 weighted with lead tape to nearly 400 grams. This “log” of a racquet allowed him to generate massive power, but it was so heavy that most other pros couldn’t even swing it properly.
He strung his racquets at an absurdly high tension. He played with natural gut strings pulled to around 75 pounds of tension. This created a board-like feel that gave him ultimate control, but it offered zero margin for error if he missed the sweet spot.
Thieves stole most of his trophies in 2010. He stored dozens of his career trophies in a public storage facility that burglars raided. Although he still has his 14 Grand Slam replicas, he lost most of the cups and plates from his 64 other tournament victories.
He never won the French Open. Despite his dominance on grass and hard courts, the slow red clay of Paris neutralized his serve. He reached the semi-finals once but ultimately failed to complete the Career Grand Slam because of this one missing title.
Pete Sampras openly cried during a match at the Australian Open. In 1995, his coach Tim Gullikson suffered a stroke during the tournament. Sampras was so overcome with emotion that he wept on the court while trying to serve against Jim Courier.
He retired immediately after winning a Grand Slam. Most athletes fade away slowly, but Sampras quit right after beating his rival Agassi in the 2002 US Open final. He walked off the court as a champion and never played a professional match again.
His “Slam Dunk” smash came from basketball. Sampras was arguably the best athlete in tennis history, with a vertical leap that rivaled NBA players. He loved to jump and hit overheads in mid-air, a move that became his signature shot.
Finally, he held the Grand Slam record for seven years. When he retired with 14 majors, most experts thought the record would stand for decades. However, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic eventually passed him, pushing him to fourth on the all-time list.
