By: Hemal Ashar, Mid-Day
August 24, 2003
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P is for Power. Pistol Pete followed Boom Boom Becker into the game’s wham-bam era. The American packed a lethal punch when it came to a serve. The sight of Pete Sampras serving will remain frozen in time forever. The slight rocking back of his heels, the tongue hanging out, the ball high in the air and then the body which leapt behind the ball — strength coming from shoulder and torso while speed was generated from the swiveling hips. Almost Zen-like, Pete Sampras was ‘One with his serve’.
E is for Everything. Pete Sampras was an ideal champion — a man who could win on every surface and had all kinds of firepower in his arsenal. Sampras did not have a notable ‘chink’ in the armour. Quick hands and quicker feet made him get to the net fast.
He could camp at the baseline so he would not be passed on the flanks easily. He dug out deep shots, he ran down impossible-to-reach winners and could play with ‘soft hands’ when the point demanded it.
T is for Tears. Sampras in tears? The poker-faced player, who sent scribes into paroxysms of frustration with his dour demeanour, allowed the world a look into Sampras the human, when he broke down on court for friend and coach Tim Gullikson, who died in 1995 of brain cancer.
The phalanx of flash bulbs popped as they caught a private moment in the life of a discreet figure. A beam had pierced through flesh, bone, blood and sinew straight into the soul. Sampras was no longer a machine. He was a man.
E is for End. The end of the tennis road is here for Pete Sampras. Tomorrow, he will formally remove his tennis sneakers and step into the more conventional leather shoes as he prepares for his full time post-retirement roles of husband and father.
Characteristically, the going will be as silent as the stay has been. Do not expect grandiose goodbyes from Pete Sampras. He came, he played, he conquered — no fuss, no frills.
S is for Stayer. Stayers are slayers. In a world where the competition is so hot that even two months as number one player is considered an achievement, Sampras’ records are staggering. In a 15-year career, Sampras has been the Association of Tennis Professionals’ (ATP) number one player for six consecutive years. It is a feat unique in modern tennis.
He also has also won 14 Grand Slam titles. Pistol Pete had the hallmark of greatness, the big C that stands for consistency.
A is for American. He was touted as the great American dream, though it was his Greek father who gently shoved his son towards the racquet and fuzzy, yellow ball game. Tennis folklore reveals that Monica Seles’ late father used to draw cartoon characters on tennis balls to induce his eight-year-old to whack the ball.
It is hard to imagine his parents saying even to little Sampras: ‘a Mars bar for you if you stick to your tennis lesson’. From as early as pre-teen days, Sampras needed hardly any push to play. He has always scrambled around within his six-foot-one-frame and found the will to play inside.
M is for Motivation. Though he was combustive on court, Sampras was ice off it, compelling people to wonder where exactly he kept that desire to win. Sampras has never talked about his motivation.
In the early ’90s there was a feeling that it was all slipping out of his grasp as he started careening downhill. Then a coach called Tim Gullikson put it all back for him. It was the one outside ‘prop’ that brought the one-man-tennis-show back on track.
P is for Passing. With the curtains falling on Sampras’ career, the baton has passed on to Andy Roddick who has grasped it as eagerly as a waiting runner in a relay race. Unlike Sampras, Roddick has ‘attitude’.
In early days, players had charisma; now they have attitude. Whatever it is, the dude-with-attitude description would never fit Sampras. It would be like giving a pair of a tight, suggestively slashed at the thighs pair of jeans to a man more comfortable in cassock.
R is for Records. When you are talking records with Sampras, he has enough of them to rival a music store. But sweet Pete simply had no time for the big R of sport. Never in his career has Sampras spoken about being spurred on to a title because he wanted to break some record.
While legends come out of retirement closets spurred on to become the oldest person to win another tennis title, it is apparent that books hold little fascination for Mr Pete Sampras. Record books included.
A is for Australian. An Aussie called Rod Laver figured prominently in Pete Sampras’ life. Laver was an Australian tennis legend who won on all surfaces, had all the shots, and took all four Grand Slam events in 1962 and ’69. He had hardly said anything on court except ‘good match’. Sounds like the person being written about here.
Even as young as 10, Sampras’ scientist coach Dr Pete Fischer was showing him films of Rod Laver and telling him he would be as great as Laver one day.
S is for Sponsors. Boris Becker had commentated that the money in the game was ‘obscene’. Sampras will never have to worry about saving enough to send his kids to college. In a world where tennis players have to be performers — say witty things, pull down their shorts, give the finger to opponents to get sponsors in — Sampras was not.
Yet, the sponsors kept coming. As a player, he was too good to ignore. As for all those outrageous antics, frankly, my dear, Pete Sampras never gave a damn.