“Roger, Rafa, and Novak are much more social and outgoing than me,” Pete Sampras compares his “lone wolf” qualities with the Big 3’s extrovert personalities
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Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras, the former tennis player from America, is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time who went on to win 14 singles Grand Slam titles, which was an all-time record at the time of his retirement in 2003. He played his last match at the US Open in 2012 against the American Andre Agassi, whom he had met in his very first Grand Slam final, and eventually, became the champion in a four-set match battle between the two veterans.
He has won 64 singles ATP titles in total including 14 singles major titles consisting of his seven Wimbledon titles, two Australian Open titles, and five US Open titles. He first reached the world No. 1 ranking in 1993 and held that position for a total of 286 weeks including an Open Era record of six consecutive Year-End No. 1 rankings. Pete Sampras has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the year 2017.
“If I was playing now, I’d be more like these guys!” Pete Sampras on adapting to the mindset as the Big 3
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer are considered the Big-3 of tennis as they together have 63 out of the last 77 singles Grand Slam titles and still continue to prove their dominance over the past two decades.
Rafael has already won two titles in 2022 at the Australian and French Open but had to withdraw from Wimbledon due to his abdominal injury followed by a disappointing exit at the 2022 US Open. Djokovic had a tough year dealing with his struggles over missing tournaments due to his unvaccinated status but has managed to win the title at Wimbledon whereas Federer has been missing in action since Wimbledon in 2021 due to his injury and rehabilitation.
Sampras during an interview drew comparisons between his generation and the current generation players’ mindsets that are poles apart. He said “Look at Roger, Rafa, and Novak today and they are much more social and outgoing than me. Maybe it’s through social media and where we are in society. Maybe if I was playing now I’d be more like these guys. It’s just a different mindset. In my generation, everyone was a bit more apart, but now Roger has Rafa’s phone number, and everyone texts and has Instagram. “
He further added “Knowing a bit about Roger, I guess he can be the life of the party in the locker room. I was more in the corner, away from everyone, and I loved the last weekend of Wimbledon when no one was in the dressing room. I’m a lone wolf. I get energy being alone. I like to be alone. This is how I am connected and how it always has been.”
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)