Sampras and the letter during a change over
 

Hey,

Perhaps it's old news to some but I came across this nice article about Pete pulling a letter off his bag during a change over at Wimby.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/l...cle6843958.ece

I saw this happen as it happened (on TV at least), wondered at the time what was in the letter!

Looks like an encouraging note.

He mentions it in his book. He was down 2 sets and then won the next 2 but ended up losing. If he had of won, that letter would be in the HOF. He actually read it in the locker room before the match, but for whetever reason (he had no idea why) he just re-read it during the match. nice story indeed..just another example that Pete is more human than people give him credit.

It makes him look OTOneH human, but OTOtherH quite insecure.

It's a tribute to the ignorance of many posters, and Pete's championship character that Pete is ever portrayed as not human or boring. First his tennis was sublime...all court power and touch excellence (only surpassed by prime Mac...though not in power obviously). But this is a guy who wept through a huge battle with Courier at a slam, not because he is a spoiled brat who can't control being a sore loser, but because his coach had just been weeping in hospital bed with brain tumours. This is a guy who kept secret his struggle with a disease sapping his stamina, threw up during a dramatic slam win, collapsed in a Davis cup win....fought Yzaga with feet covered in bloody blisters, prompting Vitas Gerulaitis to say it was just an honor to carry his racquets out for him after he was being taken away.....Sampras boring? Sampras inhuman? When he appeared inhuman it was only because his heart was so strong.

This is a great post, I didn't know lots of this!

In the UK at least, he is considered boring because firstly he won easily a lot, which is ridiculously unfair!

But also considered boring because at Wimbledon he rarely did show any emotion during a match, had little interation with the crowd, and spent most of the time walking back to the baseline, after an ace or a superb volley winner, with his head down and his tongue out. It did get a bit boring to be honest!

That is fair, but you know, how much of that is media fueled perception? How much of that is purely superficial judgment based on appearance?

Other than 1986-1988, was Agassi very emotive on court? In fact, when Agassi was at his best, he was just as "robotic" as Sampras. Marching back and forth, going about his business. He just did it with bright clothes on, and long/no hair...and lots of commercials. Bjorn Borg??? Again, long hair, mono-dimensional style (by his own admission...he WANTED to make every point the same), and NO personality whatsoever...on or off court(amazing how fanboys read so much into Borg). Edberg? He made Sampras look like a fist-pumping machine! Courier was emotive in his first few years on the tour, and got criticized roundly for it ie. redneck american! So he toned it down, and become not much different than a Sampras.

In a way though, this is not just a commentary on tennis or tennis fans. It happens in all avenues of life. Frankly, psychology tells us that looks/attractiveness sell. We inherantly rate those people as more interesting, more charismatic, more everything....based on as little as an anonymous picture!

In any case, he didn't have Mac's tantrums or Connor's theatrics or Hewitt's jerkiness...maybe he didn't whine as much as a Safin or Goran....but really...compared to all the other tennis players, I don't see him suffering. He gave the occasional fist pump or even yell, usually at really key moments.

Excellent stuff again:)

I completely agree about Agassi, Borg and Edberg as well, really good point!

excellent post, I shed a tear. Pete had a lot of heart and he showed it.

again, right on the mark. Its been a while a poster that truly understands what is going on. great, great post. any chance you are female?:)

\

LOL. Nope sorry, too many Y chromos!

Thanks all. Glad somebody read this.

Dude was a bore
 

Watching someone hit an ace or play serve and volley in Lilly white outfits is a bore. Hey pete if your going to try and shake things up by wearing black shoes breakdown and get some black socks to match, you dork.

Nice read. Some really great posts. Times published entire letter after Pete won his final US Open. It would be an interesting read. Does any one have a link? (I already searched, but no luck).

Please tell us more about Sampras's "struggle with a disease sapping his stamina"?

He was referring to Sampras having thalassimia minor....Sampras kept it quiet as not to further allow his opponents to gain an edge on him.

What about him fighting his way through a swollen foot that required cortisone injections to earn his seventh Wimbledon title and thirteenth grand slam title? It was reported that he didn't practice and had a hard time walking and only hit the courts for his matches during the whole second week of the fortnight. He got injections prior to the match, but they wore off due to the rain delay. The doctor refused to inject it again and he went out, played, and won.

What did it say?