【Tennis】7月號特集：Sampras Speaks (二)
Q: Are you going to line up your Wimbledon trophies on top of the
TV and watch the tournament?
A: As you can see, I don’t have them out. I’ve never been a big
watcher. The only tennis I’ve seen for the past year was [Roger]
Federer playing [Marat] Safin in the final in Australia, just to
see what Federer was playing like, and I was pretty impressed.
But to watch a three-of-five match takes a long time. I follow
some results, see who’s doing what. But it’s interesting, when
you’ve been in a sport for so many years you look forward to
getting as far from the game as possible, and that’s kind of
what I’ve done since the Open in 2002.
Wimbledon starts very early here. I’m not going to be like a
12-year-old, setting my alarm clock so I can watch Wimbledon at
like 6 in the morning. Slowly, that’s dissipated. If there’s
ever a day I want to get back to the sport, I’ll become more
of a fan. Right now, I’ve shut it down, in a lot of ways.
Q: Why do so many players—Steffi Graf comes to mind—turn away from
the game as if they’re in denial about having been players?
A: When it’s been your life, you kind of resent it. The misery, the
stress, that life of being on top of the game, everything that
tennis reminds you of. You enjoyed a lot of it, but a lot of it
came with a pretty big sacrifice. That’s part of me a little bit,
but not a lot. I feel like . . .
I’ve done my tennis, kind of moved on to other things, like having
a family. I look back at it and think of the good times and good
memories, and also remind myself of pressure and stress. In that
sense, it’s been nice to get away.
Q: Does it feel like a big transition to you?
A: It’s a huge transition, having different focuses. It’s always
been about me and my tennis and my traveling, and now I’m doing
a lot of other things, taking care of my son, trying to be a better
husband, doing things I haven’t had a chance to do, like travel,
play some golf tournaments. It’s like going from 100 miles an hour
to basically stopping. It was weird for me. I mean, I enjoyed it.
But it’s like I’d wake up in the morning and for 30 years I always
had something to do, training or practicing. Now it’s a different
priority. I understand more now why players come out of retirement,
for the limelight, because they’re bored. But that really hasn’t
hit me.
I miss hitting tennis balls. I miss playing the majors. That’s the
rush of our sport and there’s a sense that when the Slams come
around I’m interested—it kind of gets my juices going. But it also
reminds me, man there’s a lot of stress! People ask if you really
enjoy it. I don’t know if “enjoying” is the right word, you almost
more accept it. The stress of Tiger Woods playing the Masters—is he
really enjoying it?
Like when I was playing the Open—was I enjoying it? I enjoyed winning,
and the aftermath of putting in the work and getting the result. But
you just kind of accept it, especially when you raise the bar so high.
Q: What have you learned about yourself since retiring?
A: I’ve learned that I didn’t play for the limelight. I played to win,
played because I enjoyed playing. I don’t miss that part, the stage.
I don’t know, what else have I learned about myself? I like a pretty
simple life. I like just being home, just being with my family. I love
just having some friends, playing some golf, doing normal things. I’ve
always enjoyed that, but the fact that I’m not playing anymore just
gives me more time to do that.
I’ve been so goal-oriented all my life, there are days when I feel
like I want to do a little more than play golf. But I haven’t figured
that out yet. It might happen in five years or 10 years, or it may
never happen. But I realize that there’s something more I want to do,
but in what fashion I don’t know yet.
It’s a tough transition, going from being so focused to the opposite.
And it wasn’t a gradual thing, like if you’ve worked for 30 years,
and you’re 60 years old and planning on retiring and traveling. This
is like, OK, your life stopped. You’re a tennis pro, you stopped, what
are you going to do to fill your day? It’s a shock, but then you get
in a rhythm, focus on other things. So it’s been fine.
Q: Is there an urge there, to be commissioner of tennis, or the something
like that?
A: I was never one to walk around like I was more important than anyone
else. I was a really good tennis player; I don’t care to be in politics
of any sort. I’m an athlete. I still get to go to good restaurants and
I play great golf courses and at some level that’s all I really want.
I never really expected tennis to open doors to anything else.
Q: Having had an entourage, is it tough having to do most practical things
for yourself?
A: You kind of have to have a team around you when you’re playing: the
stringer, the trainer, the coach. You pay them to cater to you. Not to
kiss your ass, but just to take care of stuff so you focus 100 percent
on tennis. Obviously, I don’t need that now. My wife takes care of me
and that’s all I really need. I have a really simple life and I enjoy
my retirement so far.
Q: You said before that you wanted to be a better husband; was your career
putting a strain on your marriage?
A: A tennis player is the type of athlete where it really is all about you,
your schedule, when to practice, when to leave, when to play the next
tournament. You have to be with someone who is selfless. Fortunately,
my wife was willing to put her career on hold, travel with me, be all
about me. That’s priceless. It would have been tough if we had two
separate lives, she doing her thing, me doing mine—that’s when you
get in trouble.
She understood what I was trying to do, what we were trying to do. I
wanted to win another major. And she was willing to give up her life a
little bit, her career, to support me through a tough time. And now
that it’s done, I can get up at 6 in the morning and take care of my
son. It’s not about me, it’s about us. I can be more giving, I have
the energy to be more giving than when I was playing.
Q: Do you ever feel guilty or look back thinking, I was selfish?
A: When you’re in it, you’re just so into your matches and winning that
you focus on that. But when I look back on it, yeah, it was about me.
That’s pretty much the way I was as an athlete. I knew I had to do A,
B, and C, and I just did them. I didn’t want to compromise that. We
both look back now and feel it was worth it, we got through a tough
time when my tennis was still important to me and I was struggling a
bit. That’s why it was such a great ending.
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