【Tennis】7月號特集：Sampras Speaks (五)
Q: Would it make you proud if Christian took to tennis?
A: If he’s into it, I’m all for it, but if he’s not, I’m all for that.
It would be difficult for him to play tennis, not be as good, have the
comparisons. People always reminding him who I was. But if he’s into
it, I’m more than willing to help him.Maybe it’s an area he wants to
stay away from, or maybe it’s something that he’ll be interested in
and want to hit some balls with me, which I look forward to doing.
He does walk a lot with a golf club in his hand.Maybe that will be his
sport. But it’ll be up to him. What I would like is for him to have a
focus.Growing up in Palos Verdes,tennis and sports was a great way to
stay out of trouble,stay out of drugs and parties and getting into the
wrong crowd.If it’s sports or acting or whatever it is he wants to do,
I don’t want him to lose track and be in the wrong crowd. That’s
something about this area too, go down Sunset Boulevard, 10 minutes
away, and I mean there you go . . .
Q: Do you have any sense that Christian has athletic genes, and would it
make you happy if he did?
A: He kicks righty, but I don’t know yet. I want him to be an athlete,
no question. That’s the other thing, you look to see how coordinated
he is. My dad said he knew I was going to be an athlete at age 1 or 2.
He saw I could kick or throw a ball straight. So I looked for that in
Christian too. Yeah, just like Dad. You know, you’re just protective.
You want the best for your child and you don’t understand that feeling
until you have a child. I appreciate my parents more, what they went
through—the bad decisions, what a jerk I was.I look back,what a jerk
I could be, what that must have done to them!
Q: You’re going to be able to do activities with Christian soon,is that
exciting for you?
A: That’s just the main thing.You look forward to going out,throwing a
ball around, golf, fishing.
Q: The rhythm of your life is different now, as you’ve said. Do you do
things like go down to the Starbucks, read the paper?
A: You know, Bridgette and I kind of trade off who gets up early.I enjoy
when Christian gets up that early, like 6:30 or 7:00,and I’m feeding
him, there’s no phones ringing or anything,that’s our time together.
That’s the kind of ritual I enjoy.
I play a ton of golf. I’ve gotten a little better, it’s a challenge.
I’m down to about a six [handicap] now. When you have time you try
different clubs or balls, you have fun with it, you spend a little
money on all that stuff.It’s really a way to be somewhat competitive,
play for a little money, get out there for three or four hours with
your friends.
Q: Do you play with that other golf nut, Ivan Lendl?
A: I’ve seen him at this Tahoe event. We were never really friends,
although I practiced with him for a week. After I won the [2002] Open,
he left me a message.He couldn’t be nicer.I’ve always had tremendous
respect for him.
He treats his golf like he did his tennis. He’s out at six in the
morning. You look at someone’s game, it’s a representation of their
personality, even their tennis game. My golf game’s a little wild, I
hit it far but I miss.That was my tennis game.I always took my chances.
You play with Courier, he’s straight and he’s solid, he doesn’t do
anything spectacular but he doesn’t make any big mistakes. He’s a
really good golfer. Todd Martin’s the same way.
Q: Ten years, 15 years down the road, will you be disappointed if you
don’t find something else that really fires you up?
A: You touch on something interesting, if there is something in the next
five or 10 years that will really move me, if it’s a charity or
something else, I don’t know. But I feel like there could be, if
there was something I was truly passionate about, having a good name,
I could do something. I don’t know what that is right now, maybe
there won’t be a need to.
I saw Connors at a Laker game. We talked for a few minutes. I said,
“Watcha doing?” He said, “Not much.” Driving home, I was thinking,
here’s someone, he’s 50. Great tennis player, played until he was 38.
Did a few things. And he’s still retired. Still going out and playing
golf. That kind of told me, I could not get involved in too many of
the political things and still be OK.
I feel like I’ve got a lot to offer, but I’m not one of these guys
that’s going to walk in and give unsolicited advice, like, “Mark
Miles, this is the way you should do this.” “Or, USTA, this is the
way you should do the Open.” That’s just not my personality. I’m
more, you need to ask me to do something. But maybe in five, 10 years
I’ll run for Congress [laughs]. But I doubt it.
Q: People wonder, what’s Pete Sampras doing with himself? Is it a long
day for you?
A: Not really. I’m like, hey, this is work. You’re with your son half
a day, feeding him. I mean, men are different that way. I’m with him
half an hour, I feed him, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.
Then I’ll go play golf, between, say, 10 and 2. Come back, have some
food, maybe go to a Laker game, play poker, go see a movie. There’s
enough things that I don’t sit home at 2:00 in the afternoon watching
TV.
Q: The merry-go-round of a career: Now that you’re off it, what was the
most interesting part?
A: When I was growing up and won the U.S. Open [in 1990], I wasn’t sure
what I wanted. I wasn’t that great a competitor, not very strong
mentally, always a little question about my heart. That’s the way I
was up until that loss in the 1992 Open final. If that loss never
happened, I wouldn’t have achieved what I achieved. That was my
career-defining moment.
It changed my whole outlook on my tennis. I kind of find that
transformation interesting, from not wanting it, from not wanting the
pressure, to saying, “OK, I’m willing to do it, to welcome the
pressure, the burdens.” I always found that time an interesting part
of my career. It made me a better competitor, it made me hate to lose.
Before that, I was happy at No. 6 in world,getting to semis and finals
of majors. But I always kind of packed it in a little bit—no, that’s
too strong, I just didn’t dig deep enough. Thankfully, I lost that
match. It was clear what I wanted. I lost the third set and then . . .
I just didn’t fight hard. That was a reflection of my career up to
that point. That summer I had won three tournaments, which was fine.
But I found out the hard way that nobody cares who comes in second.
It’s a hard truth. That loss made me become a winner. It made me
believe.
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