When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.
— Pete Sampras
I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.
I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids.
After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.
I could be a jerk and get a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am.
I've got a great wife, a great life.
I loved Wimbledon and what it meant, but the surface felt uncomfortable. I just didn't like it, I was a hard-court guy, a Californian kid.
You kind of live and die by the serve.
Tennis is seen all around the world; if I am home or anywhere in the country, United States, people will stare.
If Davis Cup was a little bit less or once every two years, I would be more inclined to play. But the way it is now, it is too much tennis for me.
For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.
I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.
I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.
Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure.
It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.
Andre Agassi was my rival in the '90s, and I think as we got older we sort of transcended the game. He was probably the best player I ever played over my career. There's a list of players that were tough, but Andre, certainly, he was the most unique.
I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.
All I cared about in tennis was winning.
When you retire you want to get as far away as possible from the game for a couple of years.
Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.
It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.
I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.
People know me. I'm not going to produce any cartwheels out there. I'm not going to belong on Comedy Central. I'll always be a tennis player, not a celebrity.
I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.
I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids.
It's not easy to retire at 31. In one respect I was glad I was done. But after a few years of having fun, I got a little restless. When you're 33, 34, and you don't have a focus, you can get kind of lost. As a man, you feel a little bit unfulfilled.
I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly.
People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.
I'm staying in shape, working out.
I don't know how I do it, I really don't.
There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.
In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win. Not in golf. I played three rounds in that Tahoe event, and I was drained. Mentally, not physically.
Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.
The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.
