Sunday, August 06, 2000
Pete seeks repeat
Sampras already has three Cincinnati titles
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pete Sampras has made himself quite at home in Cincinnati.
Since 1991, he has competed at the ATP Tennis Center in Mason eight times, been a finalist five times and won three championships. There is only one other place he has had as much success during the same time span: You guessed it — Wimbledon.
![[PHOTO]](/tennis2000/art/sampras2_150x205.jpg)
Pete Sampras, the 1999 Great American Insurance ATP Championship winner, got engated to actress Bridgette Wilson about two months ago.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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Sampras has won two of the last three titles at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati — formely known as the Great American Insurance ATP Championship — last year against Patrick Rafter and in 1997 over Thomas Muster. Rafter defeated Sampras in the 1998 final.
It has been four weeks since Sampras won his seventh Wimbledon championship and record 13th Grand Slam, and one of the sport's all-time greatest players has a hard time contemplating his place in tennis history.
“I would never ever walk around here thinking I am the best ever,” Sampras told reporters last week in Toronto. “I still try to walk around here humble and not letting all the success get to my head and still be the same guy. But 13 majors is something that will be hard to be duplicated and so time will tell to see how long that record stands out. I am still amazed that I have been able to do what I have done over the course of the past 10 years.
“ ... But as far as my career and my story, it's not over yet. I still want to continue to play at the highest level and continue to do well at the majors.”
It was 10 years ago, at age 19, that Sampras won his first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, defeating Andre Agassi in three sets.
Sampras would go on to win four U.S. Opens and two Australian Opens. The only item missing from his resume is a French Open championship.
“It's gone by quick," Sampras said. “The way I looked at 19, I was such a skinny scrawny kid that was a little bit over my head at that time, wasn't really that proven as a player at 19 and came out of nowhere, and a lot's happened since then.”
Indeed.
He turns 29 Saturday. He has finished in the top six in the world the past 10 years, including a record six consecutive years at No. 1.
Sampras is no longer concerned about being the so-called “No. 1-ranked” player in the world. He is more selective about the tournaments in which he competes.
The re-emergence of Agassi could help fuel Sampras' fire a little longer. He has said that playing Agassi in the finals of big events keeps him excited. The two met in the semifinals in Cincinnati last year and have squared off 29 times — Sampras leads 17-12 — since they turned pro, including three showdowns since last year's meeting here.
“The game today is very, very strong and a lot of young guys are trying to prove themselves,” Sampras said. “And that's a challenge for me, to try to fend them off and keep on winning and keep on doing the things I've done over the course of my career.
“I don't look at just the young guys. I look at Andre and Rafter and guys that are in their mid-to-late 20s. ... The challenge for me is myself and how far I want to take it and how far I want to go over the next number of years.”
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![[PHOTO]](/tennis2000/art/sampras2.jpg)