Bio & Career

Making History

by: Sally Turkovich (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)

It all started when a small kid from California found an old tennis racquet in his basement and started hitting a tennis ball off of a garage door. When the shots began to make dents in the door, they all knew this kid was something special. <more>

Quick Bio

Nationality: USA
Wife: Bridgette Wilson Sampras
Children: Christian Charles and Ryan Nikolaos
Parents: Sam and Georgia Sampras
Siblings: Gus, Stella, Marion
Birth date: 12 August, 1971
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., USA
Residence: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Height: 1.85 meters
Weight: 77.3 kilos
Plays: Right-handed
Year turned pro: 1988
Highest rank for singles: 1
Highest rank date for singles: 12 April, 1993
Highest rank for doubles: 27
Highest rank date for doubles: 12 February, 1990
No of titles: 64
Career Win-Loss Record: 762-222

Pete’s Awards And Accolades

Here are some of the prestigious awards that Pete received for his accomplishments. (Thanks to Miriam Garcia-Poggi for supplying the information.)

  • Named ATP Tour Player of the Year in 1993-1998 and Jim Thorpe Tennis Player of the Year in 1993
  • In 1990, became the youngest US Open men’s champion at 19 years and 28 days.
  • In 1997, named U.S. Olympic Committee “Sportsman of the Year”, the first tennis player to receive the award
  • In 1997, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ATP tour, Pete was selected as the No. 1 player of the past 25 years by a panel of 100 current and past players, journalists and tournament directors.
  • In February 2000, named ESPY Tennis Player of the Decade.
  • In October 2000, named GQ Man of the Year, Individual Athlete Category
  • In February 2001, named ESPYTennis Player of the Year for the 7th time and was acclaimed for his “Record Breaking Performance” in winning his 13th Grand Slam title.
  • Voted as the No. 1 Player of the Century on atptour.com by the website visitors.
  • Selected No. 2 (behind Laver) in the Associated Press Men’s Player of the Century
  • Voted 48th athlete of Top 50 Greatest North American Athletes of ESPN’s SportsCentury (also youngest on the list).
  • In 2006, named by Tennis magazine as the top tennis player of the last 40 years.

More Features

Grand Slam Legend – Read about each of Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam Titles

For the Record – Pete’s standing in the record books

Yearly Career Highlights – Yearly highlights from the time he turned professional in 1988 to 2001 when he broke the record and claimed his 13th Grand Slam title.(Special thanks to Niloufer Randeria for her collaboration in this section and to Dalia King for compiling the information for 2000 and 2001.)

Pete Sampras Retirement Ceremony – Pete’s official retirement from tennis on August 25, 2003.

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