Pete Sampras = class act

[ArrowSmith]

He's the one great who never picked against Federer at the Open. Way to go Pete.

[Legend of Borg]

Sampras never doubted Federer would break his record, and he certainly won't pick against him at the Open. They're great friends with mutual respect.

[danb]

The same Pete we all know.
Vamos Rafa!
Allez Fedex!

[Max G.]

Originally Posted by ArrowSmith

He's the one great who never picked against Federer at the Open. Way to go Pete.

Wait, how does that make him a "class act"? It might make him right, if Federer goes on to win the open, but it's completely unrelated to whether he's a class act or not. You can be right and still be a jerk, or you can be wrong and still be a class act.

(For what its worth, I do agree that Sampras is a class act, but his predictions about what Federer will do have nothing to do with that.)

[borg number one]

Sampras is a class act, no doubt. His speech when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame was very moving, as he thanked everyone including his father, tim gullikson, paul annacone, his mom, wife and others. The speech was great, because he had "let his racket do the talking" his whole career, and then all that emotion came pouring out of him at that speech, as well as at that US Open ceremony after he announced he was retiring with Agassi. What a great guy he is. Much like Federer, Borg, and Laver. It's wonderful that many of the all time greats have great sportsmanship as well. I'd put Nadal on that list as well. Great sportsmanship, even in the face of fierce competition, is not something everyone can pull off easily.

[darthpwner]

Actually to be honest to you, Pete was quite arrogant and wouldnt give credit to his opponent when he lost in his playing days. Almost like Serena Williams. I remember one time when he claimed he deserved as much attention as Michael Jordan. Just because he behaved well on court didn't mean he was a class act.

[BTURNER]

I always felt Sampras held himself to very high standards for off- court and on court behavior. I only knock him for his apathy towards Davis cup in an otherwise blemish less career.

[drwood]

Originally Posted by darthpwner

Actually to be honest to you, Pete was quite arrogant and wouldnt give credit to his opponent when he lost in his playing days. Almost like Serena Williams. I remember one time when he claimed he deserved as much attention as Michael Jordan. Just because he behaved well on court didn't mean he was a class act.

Very true...although overall Pete was classy (especially compared with Lendl, McEnroe and Connors), he was VERY passive-aggressive especially when other players got more attention than him.

Prime examples:
- 1998 press conference after losing to Rafter in the Cincinnati Masters final (his infamous "10 grand slams" remark when asked about the difference between Rafter and himself)
- 1997 Miami Masters after losing to Bruguera on HC --"That's a match I win 8 out of 10 times"

The times I don't miss Pete are when he and his Samprastard legion attempt to downplay the importance of clay, which was only because he always under achieved at the French.

[drwood]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

I always felt Sampras held himself to very high standards for off- court and on court behavior. I only knock him for his apathy towards Davis cup in an otherwise blemish less career.

Pete had other blemishes, but in all fairness he actually gave a lot to Davis Cup...he first played in 1990, and then also in 1992. Unlike Fed, Pete chose to give a full commitment to Davis Cup during his most prime years before he had broken the career Slam record (1995 being the prime example), and had by far his greatest achievement on clay when he single-handedly carried the US to victory in the final on Russian red clay. His effort during the 1995 Davis Cup final (in December) was probably a contributing factor to his early exit from the 1996 Australian Open.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by drwood

Very true...although overall Pete was classy (especially compared with Lendl, McEnroe and Connors), he was VERY passive-aggressive especially when other players got more attention than him.

Prime examples:
- 1998 press conference after losing to Rafter in the Cincinnati Masters final (his infamous "10 grand slams" remark when asked about the difference between Rafter and himself)
- 1997 Miami Masters after losing to Bruguera on HC --"That's a match I win 8 out of 10 times"

The times I don't miss Pete are when he and his Samprastard legion attempt to downplay the importance of clay, which was only because he always under achieved at the French.

First, the quote about Rafter was simply due to repeated questioning about Rafter. It irritated Pete that suddenly a guy with one slam is all reporters were asking him about. Nevertheless, it was a a slip by Sampras. However, I think, if anything, Sampras was overly generous to his opponents.

The Serena Williams comparison is asinine. If Sampras declared he deserved as much attention as Michael Jordon, please give a reference to it darthpwner. Having said that, in many ways he did, and a magazine article once compared him to Jordan, in that he was rewriting tennis history and redefining the complete game, while not receiving appropriate accolade.

[TMF]

Sampras is arrogant b/c for him to say he’s “unbeatable” is ridiculous.
No player is unbeatable. Nadal never said he’s unbeatable on clay and TMF never said that at SW19.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by TMF

Sampras is arrogant b/c for him to say he’s “unbeatable” is ridiculous.
No player is unbeatable. Nadal never said he’s unbeatable on clay and TMF never said that at SW19.

Could you please quote the reference to that. I don't recall Sampras saying that either. I recall him saying he sometimes FELT unbeatable. HUGE difference, obviously.

[drwood]

Originally Posted by Datacipher

First, the quote about Rafter was simply due to repeated questioning about Rafter. It irritated Pete that suddenly a guy with one slam is all reporters were asking him about. Nevertheless, it was a a slip by Sampras. However, I think, if anything, Sampras was overly generous to his opponents. The Serena Williams comparison is asinine.

No, the quote about Rafter was the first question he was asked after the match, and he responded "Ten grand slams". He then went on to say that Rafter was lucky to win the match and that Rafter wasn't truly great until he won a second slam title -- VERY Serenaesque there.

I notice you didn't even try to defend Pete's arrogance after he lost to Bruguera on HC in 97...smart move.

If Sampras declared he deserved as much attention as Michael Jordon, please give a reference to it darthpwner. Having said that, in many ways he did, and a magazine article once compared him to Jordan, in that he was rewriting tennis history and redefining the complete game, while not receiving appropriate accolade.

Unlike Sampras, Michael Jordan was a complete player and never constantly had apologists excusing away his glaring shortcomings the way the tennis media did with Sampras on clay. Now Jordan as a person is a terrible role model c/w with Sampras, but as an athlete, there's no comparison between the two.

[VGP]

I read once that Sampras didn't like Rafter's goofing off in the locker room. He found his humor offensive. What I read (I hope someone can corroborate it) that Rafter would come up to him from behind and rip a huge fart. Pete found it disgusting.

[britbox]

This is a little bit of insight into Rafter's thoughts on a few fellow pros.



Rafter waited for fight with Tarango
May 2, 2005


Pat Rafter admits he once waited in the locker room for American Jeff Tarango to arrive so the pair could have a fist-fight after an angry on-court exchange.

In an interview to be screened on the ABC with Andrew Denton tonight, the former Australian of the year also comes clean on which players he didn't get along with on tour, including Pete Sampras.

Rafter, 32, recalls the day he met Pope John Paul II and made a bit of a mess of things, while also revealing plans to move his family to France, but not for a few years. The two-time US Open champion and his wife, former model Lara Feltham, have a son Joshua, two.

"And we have another baby coming shortly, too," Rafter said. "So for the next, sort of, three or four years I want to be there for the babies and and my family."

Rafter said he had mixed memories of meeting the Pope about five years ago.

"Instead of asking for blessings for the rest of the family or whatever, I just said, 'Um, oh, bless you'," Rafter said. "I've walked out to see Pete, my brother, and I've gone, 'Oh Pete, I think I've just messed up'. I don't know if he [the Pope] heard me. And Pete goes, 'You're supposed to call him Your Holiness'; I called him Your Honour. And I said, well, I just blessed the Pope."


Rafter says he was overcome by nerves in losing the 2000 Wimbledon final in four sets to Sampras, but the following year's Wimbledon final loss to Croatian Goran Ivanisevic was much more painful.

"I choked [against Sampras], but that's OK," Rafter said. "And then after the second Wimbledon when I lost to Goran, and I came away bitterly, bitterly disappointed. Just shattered."

Rafter said he was once challenged to a fight by Tarango, who, according to the Queenslander, had set out to become "the next John McEnroe". "Once he said, 'Let's go for a fight after the match'," Rafter said. "And I thought, well, this'd be a new one … anyway, so he wasn't there."

Rafter said Chile's Marcelo Rios was not one of the most amiable players on the tour and he had strained relationships at times with Austrian Thomas Muster, Sampras and Tarango.

"He was a strange cat," Rafter said of Rios. "Sampras and I had our run-ins but we'd always talk." Rafter said he also had some rows with Mark Philippoussis because the Victorian didn't work hard enough at Davis Cup training sessions.

[britbox]

Here's some of the transcript of that Rafter interview where he talks a bit about other players on the tour and a fair bit about Sampras.
(long)

ANDREW DENTON: Who are the players you couldn't stomach on tour?

PAT RAFTER: Um, I had a bit of a problem with Rios. He was one guy you'd sort of - you'd be in an elevator of all places and say g'day to and he'd just look at you. And you sort of go, "Where did that come from?" So you sort of look the other way. It's a long, you know, 10 storeys up in an elevator. He was a strange cat.


ANDREW DENTON: Yeah.

PAT RAFTER: Sampras and I had our run-ins, but we'd always talk.


ANDREW DENTON: Yeah, because you did have a little bit of niggle happening there. What was that about?

PAT RAFTER: I just found in '97 I got Pete two or three times in that particular year, and then I won the US Open. And I think it was then - no, I didn't beat him in '97, maybe I didn't, but I won the US Open and he felt like I'd taken the title away from him or something. I've got no idea. And then he got his back up a little bit in that Davis Cup. We played him in a semi-final in Washington. I don't know what happened then. Then I wasn't afraid of him anymore, and so then I would sort of voice my opinion. In '98 I beat him in the finals of a tournament, a big tournament in America and he came in and smashed a few things around and...


ANDREW DENTON: Pete smashed things?

PAT RAFTER: He smashed a lot in the locker room. Yeah, he lost it. Then he said something in an interview, and I just said, "Oh, he's just a big baby. Just cop it on the chin" or something like that. And I beat him in the US Open later on in the semi-finals. He said, "I had a sore knee." I said, "Oh, when is this guy going to give me any credit for beating him?" And then the media sort of went on that, and then played it up and took a few misquotes out of the ordinary. I rang him up once, when there was something totally wrong was said, and I just said, "Pete, listen, that wasn't what I said."


ANDREW DENTON: I did not say that you caused the invasion of Poland. When you say you rang him up, I would imagine that's not a regular thing to do. Was that a hard thing for you to do?

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, it was a little bit, because he would have heard what was said, not really what was said, but what was taken completely out of context. I didn't want to face him knowing that, you know, he was really going to dislike me and I don't like people disliking me. It's going to happen, but if I can avoid it I will.


ANDREW DENTON: So how was the conversation? Was it awkward?

PAT RAFTER: I just rang him up and said, "G'day, Pete. It's Pat here." And he just said, "Pat who?"




PAT RAFTER: One thing with Pete, you didn't really want to upset him too much, either.


ANDREW DENTON: Why's that?

PAT RAFTER: Because then you just gave him more ammunition for him to beat you.


ANDREW DENTON: Is that right?

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, see, and unfortunately I did that a couple of times.


ANDREW DENTON: Because you said after that game that you felt you choked.

PAT RAFTER: Oh, definitely.



ANDREW DENTON: Because you would have trained for that all your life, having the mental toughness to deal with the moment.

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, but each occasion and each match is different. And I'd come back from shoulder surgery and I hadn't played a lot of tennis going into there, so for me to be thrown straight into the finals of a Wimbledon, I mean, I didn't know how long I was even going to play for. Could I get back to even playing well again after the surgery? So it was like I was just so excited to be there, and so I walked away from that Wimbledon feeling that was a good result; yeah, I lost, I choked, but that's okay. And then after the second Wimbledon when I lost to Goran, I came away bitterly, bitterly disappointed, just shattered.


ANDREW DENTON: Because you thought you were going to win that one, didn't you?

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, I did. I did. Even to the last point I still thought I was going to win, and I was very, very close there again. I had love-30 on his serve to two points away from the match. He came up with a couple of amazing serves. And the one thing about Goran, which is good, you don't have time to choke. This guy just hits it. He doesn't know where the ball's going, so how are you going to know? You're sort of going - so but that one really hurt and I stayed in the house for about a week after that; didn't want to go and face anyone; didn't want to talk about it.


ANDREW DENTON: You talk about his serve, which was I think clocked at 820,000 km an hour. Did you ever get hit by one of his serves? What did that feel like?

PAT RAFTER: No.


ANDREW DENTON: Just as well, or you wouldn't be sitting here right now.

PAT RAFTER: No, but I remember talking about getting hit by serves, I remember playing doubles with Mark Philippoussis and we were playing against a couple of guys, Guy Forget and a guy called Jacob Lasic from Switzerland. And we were playing at Wimbledon on a back court and Mark was popping them down, and I said to Mark, "All right, let's do a body serve." And he's gone straight at them, and they've turned their back and hit them in the back, you know, and they've given up and given an awful look, and "stop doing that sort of thing", and Mark goes, "Now where should I serve now?" And I said, "Go up the body again." And this happened and I just kept saying "body" to him - and I was, and these guys were getting so irate, and it was just great to see these guys get so mad. I just kept fuelling the fire.


ANDREW DENTON: Because I was about to say you always had a reputation as a nice guy and in fact you - you got I think four times you got the ATP sportsmanship award. The other players obviously thought you were a nice guy, but was it overrated? When were you a *******?

PAT RAFTER: The only real guy I had a run in was a guy called Jeff Tarango on the actual court itself. We had a few run-ins and he went out of his way to, um, to sort of wind things up. He thought he was going to be the next John McEnroe, but he just couldn't play tennis very well. He could play it OK, just enough to annoy you.


ANDREW DENTON: Yeah.

PAT RAFTER: But no generally, I mean, I tried to play the game as fairly as I could and I think what turned that whole thing around or started giving me the awards was a point that I gave back to a guy in Adelaide on a very, very big occasion in a tournament there, which obviously you don't normally do, but it was just so far out and I conceded that I'd lost the point, and they called it in and I went back to serve and they've gone 9-8 Rafter in the tie-break, and I've just gone, "oh, I can't accept that". So and then everyone thought I was this nice guy.


ANDREW DENTON: Who won that game?

PAT RAFTER: I think I double faulted the next point and lost. And that was exactly what Rochey did.


ANDREW DENTON: Is that right?

PAT RAFTER: He was he was very disappointed. "What were you doing?" I said, "Well, I don't know, a weak moment."


ANDREW DENTON: It's interesting 'cos a few years ago you said you've been watching Lleyton Hewitt playing. You said "I couldn't remain that intense for more than two weeks." Do you reckon you had enough mongrel in you?

PAT RAFTER: Yeah, I think so. People always said to me growing up "You've got to be a mongrel, you've got to be this, you've got to be that. You've got to be hard, you got to be like McEnroe" and sort of stuff everyone else. But that wasn't really my philosophy. I thought you could play the game and hold your head high and do your best and you could win that way... I think I would have cramped after two minutes if I did what Lleyton does. So, ah, no, Lleyton has an amazing amount of in intensity and that's how he needs to get himself up to win matches and that's what works for him. But for me, I sort of needed to pace myself but when certain moments called for it, I definitely got fired up.



ANDREW DENTON: Having that background, having that family background, being brought up that way, do you feel comfortable when you watch Lleyton and his carry on?

PAT RAFTER: I don't necessarily agree with everything he does, but, you know, that's him and that's his personality and that's what works for him, and Lleyton's a completely different cat when you get him off the court.


ANDREW DENTON: Yeah.

PAT RAFTER: He's very shy; he's quiet, he's polite and when he gets on the court he fires up and that's what makes him perform. That's what he needs to do.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by drwood

No, the quote about Rafter was the first question he was asked after the match, and he responded "Ten grand slams". He then went on to say that Rafter was lucky to win the match and that Rafter wasn't truly great until he won a second slam title -- VERY Serenaesque there.

I notice you didn't even try to defend Pete's arrogance after he lost to Bruguera on HC in 97...smart move.



Unlike Sampras, Michael Jordan was a complete player and never constantly had apologists excusing away his glaring shortcomings the way the tennis media did with Sampras on clay. Now Jordan as a person is a terrible role model c/w with Sampras, but as an athlete, there's no comparison between the two.

Ah. I see you're a troll who hates Sampras. Funny lines "Jordan a complete player"....LOL. Trying to hit all the Sampras hot buttons and not caring if you make any real sense.

Funny how trolls are used to getting away with outright lies...but sooner or later, Troll will run into somebody like me who knows the facts.

No point in arguing with a troll, BUT FOR THE RECORD, and anybody who reads this, NO, it was not the "first" question Sampras got asked. It was in the middle of the interview, and the Sampras/Rafter bad blood had been brewing for quite some time, largely created by the media, who wanted to stir up trouble (As Rafter and Pete have both acknowledged now)

Note also that Sampras was STEAMING mad about a line call in that match, and came off the court still mad. It had been a very close match and Sampras had felt that call may have cost him the match. NOTE ALSO, that the "ten grand slams" was a joke (though Pete had no love for Rafter), and Sampras said it in a lighthearted way. Drwood is a liar/ignorant and his statements should be taken accordingly.

[coyfish]

I agree nowadays Pete is much more gracefull / refined but . . . Back in his playing days he was arrogant especially when he lost. Quite a drama king at times. I don't think hes anymore classy than your average top 10.

Not to mention Pete has stated that he could win a prime fed vs prime sampras matchup. However confident you may be thats just not something you say publicly imo. Its as crazy as calling Fed the GOAT.

I don't think Fed and Sampras are "friends." I think there is just a mutual respect based on each others careers.

[drwood]

Originally Posted by Datacipher

Ah. I see you're a troll who hates Sampras. Funny lines "Jordan a complete player"....LOL. Trying to hit all the Sampras hot buttons and not caring if you make any real sense.

Anyone who calls me a troll is demonstrating ignorance at its best. EVERYTHING I have ever stated is backed up by FACT. I'm sorry if you can't handle the truth about the ungracious part of Sampras. Michael Jordan was a complete player -- there was no important barrier in his sport he couldn't overcome. We all know that Pete could never consistently win big matches at the French, hence why he never came close to reaching a final (and no, making 1 SF where you lose in straight sets including getting bageled is not close).

Funny how trolls are used to getting away with outright lies...but sooner or later, Troll will run into somebody like me who knows the facts.

I know the facts b/c I followed Sampras his entire career. Obviously you didn't. That's how I also know about his comments after losing to Bruguera on HC in 1997, which are so indefensibly arrogant you haven't even tried to address them.

No point in arguing with a troll, BUT FOR THE RECORD, and anybody who reads this, NO, it was not the "first" question Sampras got asked. It was in the middle of the interview, and the Sampras/Rafter bad blood had been brewing for quite some time, largely created by the media, who wanted to stir up trouble (As Rafter and Pete have both acknowledged now)

Note also that Sampras was STEAMING mad about a line call in that match, and came off the court still mad. It had been a very close match and Sampras had felt that call may have cost him the match. NOTE ALSO, that the "ten grand slams" was a joke (though Pete had no love for Rafter), and Sampras said it in a lighthearted way. Drwood is a liar/ignorant and his statements should be taken accordingly.

The "ten grand slams" was not a joke. As Sampras himself said right after that statement, it was a smartaleck remark -- but he never denied meaning what he said.

To call me a liar is trolling and flaming at its best. You have no evidence whatsoever to support your conclusions about me. Period.

[World Beater]

comparing jordan to sampras? lawl.