"To be criticized for (being dull), it really pissed me off. I'm puzzled by it. What do these people want? Do they want someone to act like a jerk out there?" says Pete Sampras on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury show.

His opponents weren't Agassi, Becker and Courier. They were Laver, Rosewall and Emerson.

Pete Sampras wasn't playing for today; he was competing for history. And when he won his seventh Wimbledon championship in 2000 for his 13th Grand Slam singles titles, Sampras achieved his goal of winning the most majors.

In 2002, he extended his record to 14 by capturing his fifth U.S. Open.

Although he earned $43,280,489 on the ATP Tour, it was winning Grand Slams that consumed him. The easy-going, hard-hitting Sampras would have traded a dozen of his 64 Tour singles victories for one French Open. Let others play for money; he played for majors.

During his career, he said, "I measure my year on how I do at the majors and the more that I have won over the years, the more I want to win. I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history."

Sampras is not the indifferent jock he pretended to be. While he gave the impression that he didn't play with a passion, he deeply wants to be remembered as the best ever.

"I don't think it's arrogant," Sampras said. "I'm not ashamed that I feel that I can actually do it."

Yet, he was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He was a throwback to the days when gentleman played the sport of tennis.

"I could have been a jerk and gotten a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am," said Sampras, who believes in the past, but came of age in the nineties.

Although Sampras broke Roy Emerson's Slams record of 12, the man against whom Sampras ultimately will be measured is that other Aussie that he was taught to emulate, Rod Laver, the winner of two Grand Slams, 11 majors and generally regarded as the game's greatest.

"There wasn't an American that I really idolized," Sampras said. "Sure, I respected [John] McEnroe's talent and [Jimmy] Connors' intensity, but the Aussies, those guys were great guys."

And the players he admired most were the gentlemanly Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Since 1993, when he first claimed the No. 1 ranking, the 6-foot-1 Sampras stood head and shoulders above his playing opponents for six years.

While he had a ferocious forehand and sensational serve, his greatest gift may have been his will to win. He was not afraid to leave his guts on the courts - literally.

He was born Aug. 12, 1971 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Palos Verdes, Cal. His father Soterios, called Sam, was an aerospace engineer for the Department of Defense and his mother Georgia was a homemaker.

He began playing tennis at seven and when he was nine, his father asked Pete Fischer, a physician and amateur player, to hit with his son. Fischer was so impressed with the youngster's ability, he became his coach.

When Sampras was 11, he had the opportunity to trade groundstrokes with Laver, his idol. "Pete was so nervous he couldn't get the ball over the net," Fischer said.

Sampras rarely won a major junior tournament. Fischer believed his protégé needed to play "up" in age groups, against stronger and older players to develop his all-around game.

"From the very beginning, the competition was always Laver," Sampras said.

At 14, Fischer changed Sampras' backhanded from two-handed to one-handed. He also switched him from a safe defensive baseliner to a classic risky serve-and-volleyer. "I played just like [Michael] Chang, grinding from the baseline," Sampras said. "When I started serving and volleying, I became much more laid back."

Fischer told him that someday these changes would help him win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Sampras turned pro at 16 following his junior year in high school. By the late 1980s, he split with Fischer because he thought his coach was an overbearing perfectionist, someone who "wanted to put his brain in my body."

In 1990, Sampras, who was ranked No. 81 at the start of the year, stunned the tennis world - and himself - by becoming the youngest U.S. Open winner at 19 years, 28 days. The 12th-seeded Sampras defeated Ivan Lendl, McEnroe and Andre Agassi in the last three rounds for just his third tour victory. He served 100 aces in his seven matches and contributed his first Slams title to "a hot two weeks."

When he lost in the 1991 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Sampras said he was more relieved than disappointed and that he felt like "a ton of bricks" was lifted from his shoulders. Connors and Jim Courier, among others, criticized him.

"That quote reflected the truth of how I felt," Sampras said. "I wasn't sure then that I really could win another Grand Slam title."

Sampras rebounded in 1992, going 70-18 and winning five tournaments. He also helped the United States win the Davis Cup, capturing five-set doubles matches with McEnroe in the semifinals and finals.

But it was a defeat that turned around his career. After losing to defending champion Stefan Edberg at the U.S. Open final, Sampras discovered how much he wanted to win. "I realized that I had given up in the match," he said. "Just a touch, but enough to lose. I came to the realization that getting to finals wouldn't be good enough anymore."

New coach Tim Gullickson showed Sampras the value of playing percentage tennis - going for smart, makable shots rather than flashy, difficult ones. On April 12, 1993, Sampras reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time, and only occasionally did he fall from that perch until 1999. He became the first player in the history of ATP rankings (since 1973) to finish No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993-98), breaking Connors' mark of five.

His 1993 record improved to 83-15 with eight tournament victories, including his first Wimbledon and second U.S. Open. When he won the 1994 Australian Open, he became the first player since Laver in 1969 to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles. After losing at the French Open, Sampras won his second Wimbledon.

At the quarterfinals of the 1995 Australian Open, Sampras wept in the fifth set against Courier when a fan shouted for him to win the match for Gullickson, who had left the tournament because of complications from a brain tumor. Sampras regained his composure to defeat Courier. However, he lost the final to Agassi.

He became the first American to win three consecutive Wimbledons and he regained his U.S. Open title. He capped 1995 by accounting for all three points as the U.S. defeated Russia in the Davis Cup final.

On May 3, 1996, Gullickson, 44, died of brain cancer. Sampras lost in the first three majors that year, but retained his U.S. Open title, showing his guts against Alex Corretja in a four-hour and nine-minute quarterfinal.

With the score 1-1 in a fifth-set tiebreaker, a dehydrated Sampras vomited twice. Refusing to lose, he saved a match point at 6-7 with a desperate, full-extension forehand volley winner. After a fault on a weak first serve, the exhausted Sampras found the strength to deal a second-serve ace. The match ended when Corretja double faulted on the next point.

"I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly," said Sampras, who needed a half-gallon of intravenous fluids afterwards.

Sampras won the 1997 Australian Open and took four consecutive Wimbledons from 1997 to 2000. His four-set victory over Pat Rafter in 2000 tied him with 1880s star Willie Renshaw for most Wimbledon championships. "There's a certain aura about the place that you don't feel anywhere else," Sampras said. "The echo of the balls hit on Centre Court - it just feels significant."

After that Wimbledon victory, Sampras didn't win for 33 tournaments over 26 months. Critics wondered whether he was finished. In September 2002, Sampras - at 31 - answered them. Seeded 17th, he won the U.S. Open, firing in 33 aces in the final as he defeated Agassi in four sets.

That was the last match Sampras played. But it took him almost one year to make that decision. On the first night of the 2003 U.S. Open, he tearfully announced his retirement from tennis.

The only thing missing from Sampras' resume was a victory on the French Open clay. He realizes that without it, he might not be regarded as No. 1 all-time, no matter how many Slams titles he won.

His opponents weren't Agassi, Becker and Courier. They were Laver, Rosewall and Emerson.

Pete Sampras wasn't playing for today; he was competing for history. And when he won his seventh Wimbledon championship in 2000 for his 13th Grand Slam singles titles, Sampras achieved his goal of winning the most majors. In 2002, he extended his record to 14 by capturing his fifth U.S. Open.

Although he earned $43,280,489 on the ATP Tour, it was winning Grand Slams that consumed him. The easy-going, hard-hitting Sampras would have traded a dozen of his 64 Tour singles victories for one French Open. Let others play for money; he played for majors.

During his career, he said, "I measure my year on how I do at the majors and the more that I have won over the years, the more I want to win. I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history."

Sampras is not the indifferent jock he pretended to be. While he gave the impression that he didn't play with a passion, he deeply wants to be remembered as the best ever. "I don't think it's arrogant," Sampras said. "I'm not ashamed that I feel that I can actually do it."

Yet, he was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He was a throwback to the days when gentleman played the sport of tennis. "I could have been a jerk and gotten a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am," said Sampras, who believes in the past, but came of age in the nineties.

Although Sampras broke Roy Emerson's Slams record of 12, the man against whom Sampras ultimately will be measured is that other Aussie that he was taught to emulate, Rod Laver, the winner of two Grand Slams, 11 majors and generally regarded as the game's greatest.

"There wasn't an American that I really idolized," Sampras said. "Sure, I respected [John] McEnroe's talent and [Jimmy] Connors' intensity, but the Aussies, those guys were great guys." And the players he admired most were the gentlemanly Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Since 1993, when he first claimed the No. 1 ranking, the 6-foot-1 Sampras stood head and shoulders above his playing opponents for six years. While he had a ferocious forehand and sensational serve, his greatest gift may have been his will to win. He was not afraid to leave his guts on the courts - literally.

He was born Aug. 12, 1971 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Palos Verdes, Cal. His father Soterios, called Sam, was an aerospace engineer for the Department of Defense and his mother Georgia was a homemaker.

He began playing tennis at seven and when he was nine, his father asked Pete Fischer, a physician and amateur player, to hit with his son. Fischer was so impressed with the youngster's ability, he became his coach.

When Sampras was 11, he had the opportunity to trade groundstrokes with Laver, his idol. "Pete was so nervous he couldn't get the ball over the net," Fischer said. Sampras rarely won a major junior tournament. Fischer believed his protégé needed to play "up" in age groups, against stronger and older players to develop his all-around game. "From the very beginning, the competition was always Laver," Sampras said. At 14, Fischer changed Sampras' backhanded from two-handed to one-handed. He also switched him from a safe defensive baseliner to a classic risky serve-and-volleyer. "I played just like [Michael] Chang, grinding from the baseline," Sampras said. "When I started serving and volleying, I became much more laid back."

Fischer told him that someday these changes would help him win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Sampras turned pro at 16 following his junior year in high school. By the late 1980s, he split with Fischer because he thought his coach was an overbearing perfectionist, someone who "wanted to put his brain in my body."

In 1990, Sampras, who was ranked No. 81 at the start of the year, stunned the tennis world - and himself - by becoming the youngest U.S. Open winner at 19 years, 28 days. The 12th-seeded Sampras defeated Ivan Lendl, McEnroe and Andre Agassi in the last three rounds for just his third tour victory. He served 100 aces in his seven matches and contributed his first Slams title to "a hot two weeks."

When he lost in the 1991 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Sampras said he was more relieved than disappointed and that he felt like "a ton of bricks" was lifted from his shoulders. Connors and Jim Courier, among others, criticized him.

"That quote reflected the truth of how I felt," Sampras said. "I wasn't sure then that I really could win another Grand Slam title."

Sampras rebounded in 1992, going 70-18 and winning five tournaments. He also helped the United States win the Davis Cup, capturing five-set doubles matches with McEnroe in the semifinals and finals.

But it was a defeat that turned around his career. After losing to defending champion Stefan Edberg at the U.S. Open final, Sampras discovered how much he wanted to win. "I realized that I had given up in the match," he said. "Just a touch, but enough to lose. I came to the realization that getting to finals wouldn't be good enough anymore."

New coach Tim Gullickson showed Sampras the value of playing percentage tennis - going for smart, makable shots rather than flashy, difficult ones. On April 12, 1993, Sampras reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time, and only occasionally did he fall from that perch until 1999. He became the first player in the history of ATP rankings (since 1973) to finish No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993-98), breaking Connors' mark of five.

His 1993 record improved to 83-15 with eight tournament victories, including his first Wimbledon and second U.S. Open. When he won the 1994 Australian Open, he became the first player since Laver in 1969 to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles. After losing at the French Open, Sampras won his second Wimbledon.

At the quarterfinals of the 1995 Australian Open, Sampras wept in the fifth set against Courier when a fan shouted for him to win the match for Gullickson, who had left the tournament because of complications from a brain tumor. Sampras regained his composure to defeat Courier. However, he lost the final to Agassi.

He became the first American to win three consecutive Wimbledons and he regained his U.S. Open title. He capped 1995 by accounting for all three points as the U.S. defeated Russia in the Davis Cup final.

On May 3, 1996, Gullickson, 44, died of brain cancer. Sampras lost in the first three majors that year, but retained his U.S. Open title, showing his guts against Alex Corretja in a four-hour and nine-minute quarterfinal.

With the score 1-1 in a fifth-set tiebreaker, a dehydrated Sampras vomited twice. Refusing to lose, he saved a match point at 6-7 with a desperate, full-extension forehand volley winner. After a fault on a weak first serve, the exhausted Sampras found the strength to deal a second-serve ace. The match ended when Corretja double faulted on the next point.

"I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly," said Sampras, who needed a half-gallon of intravenous fluids afterwards.

Sampras won the 1997 Australian Open and took four consecutive Wimbledons from 1997 to 2000. His four-set victory over Pat Rafter in 2000 tied him with 1880s star Willie Renshaw for most Wimbledon championships. "There's a certain aura about the place that you don't feel anywhere else," Sampras said. "The echo of the balls hit on Centre Court - it just feels significant."

After that Wimbledon victory, Sampras didn't win for 33 tournaments over 26 months. Critics wondered whether he was finished. In September 2002, Sampras - at 31 - answered them. Seeded 17th, he won the U.S. Open, firing in 33 aces in the final as he defeated Agassi in four sets.

That was the last match Sampras played. But it took him almost one year to make that decision. On the first night of the 2003 U.S. Open, he tearfully announced his retirement from tennis.

The only thing missing from Sampras' resume was a victory on the French Open clay. He realizes that without it, he might not be regarded as No. 1 all-time, no matter how many Slams titles he won.

His opponents weren't Agassi, Becker and Courier. They were Laver, Rosewall and Emerson.

Pete Sampras wasn't playing for today; he was competing for history. And when he won his seventh Wimbledon championship in 2000 for his 13th Grand Slam singles titles, Sampras achieved his goal of winning the most majors. In 2002, he extended his record to 14 by capturing his fifth U.S. Open.

Although he earned $43,280,489 on the ATP Tour, it was winning Grand Slams that consumed him. The easy-going, hard-hitting Sampras would have traded a dozen of his 64 Tour singles victories for one French Open. Let others play for money; he played for majors.

During his career, he said, "I measure my year on how I do at the majors and the more that I have won over the years, the more I want to win. I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history."

Sampras is not the indifferent jock he pretended to be. While he gave the impression that he didn't play with a passion, he deeply wants to be remembered as the best ever.

"I don't think it's arrogant," Sampras said. "I'm not ashamed that I feel that I can actually do it."

Yet, he was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He was a throwback to the days when gentleman played the sport of tennis. "I could have been a jerk and gotten a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am," said Sampras, who believes in the past, but came of age in the nineties.

Although Sampras broke Roy Emerson's Slams record of 12, the man against whom Sampras ultimately will be measured is that other Aussie that he was taught to emulate, Rod Laver, the winner of two Grand Slams, 11 majors and generally regarded as the game's greatest.

"There wasn't an American that I really idolized," Sampras said. "Sure, I respected [John] McEnroe's talent and [Jimmy] Connors' intensity, but the Aussies, those guys were great guys." And the players he admired most were the gentlemanly Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Since 1993, when he first claimed the No. 1 ranking, the 6-foot-1 Sampras stood head and shoulders above his playing opponents for six years. While he had a ferocious forehand and sensational serve, his greatest gift may have been his will to win. He was not afraid to leave his guts on the courts - literally.

He was born Aug. 12, 1971 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Palos Verdes, Cal. His father Soterios, called Sam, was an aerospace engineer for the Department of Defense and his mother Georgia was a homemaker.

He began playing tennis at seven and when he was nine, his father asked Pete Fischer, a physician and amateur player, to hit with his son. Fischer was so impressed with the youngster's ability, he became his coach.

When Sampras was 11, he had the opportunity to trade groundstrokes with Laver, his idol. "Pete was so nervous he couldn't get the ball over the net," Fischer said.

Sampras rarely won a major junior tournament. Fischer believed his protégé needed to play "up" in age groups, against stronger and older players to develop his all-around game. "From the very beginning, the competition was always Laver," Sampras said. At 14, Fischer changed Sampras' backhanded from two-handed to one-handed. He also switched him from a safe defensive baseliner to a classic risky serve-and-volleyer. "I played just like [Michael] Chang, grinding from the baseline," Sampras said. "When I started serving and volleying, I became much more laid back."

Fischer told him that someday these changes would help him win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Sampras turned pro at 16 following his junior year in high school. By the late 1980s, he split with Fischer because he thought his coach was an overbearing perfectionist, someone who "wanted to put his brain in my body."

In 1990, Sampras, who was ranked No. 81 at the start of the year, stunned the tennis world - and himself - by becoming the youngest U.S. Open winner at 19 years, 28 days. The 12th-seeded Sampras defeated Ivan Lendl, McEnroe and Andre Agassi in the last three rounds for just his third tour victory. He served 100 aces in his seven matches and contributed his first Slams title to "a hot two weeks."

When he lost in the 1991 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Sampras said he was more relieved than disappointed and that he felt like "a ton of bricks" was lifted from his shoulders. Connors and Jim Courier, among others, criticized him.

"That quote reflected the truth of how I felt," Sampras said. "I wasn't sure then that I really could win another Grand Slam title."

Sampras rebounded in 1992, going 70-18 and winning five tournaments. He also helped the United States win the Davis Cup, capturing five-set doubles matches with McEnroe in the semifinals and finals.

But it was a defeat that turned around his career. After losing to defending champion Stefan Edberg at the U.S. Open final, Sampras discovered how much he wanted to win. "I realized that I had given up in the match," he said. "Just a touch, but enough to lose. I came to the realization that getting to finals wouldn't be good enough anymore."

New coach Tim Gullickson showed Sampras the value of playing percentage tennis - going for smart, makable shots rather than flashy, difficult ones. On April 12, 1993, Sampras reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time, and only occasionally did he fall from that perch until 1999. He became the first player in the history of ATP rankings (since 1973) to finish No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993-98), breaking Connors' mark of five.

His 1993 record improved to 83-15 with eight tournament victories, including his first Wimbledon and second U.S. Open. When he won the 1994 Australian Open, he became the first player since Laver in 1969 to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles. After losing at the French Open, Sampras won his second Wimbledon.

At the quarterfinals of the 1995 Australian Open, Sampras wept in the fifth set against Courier when a fan shouted for him to win the match for Gullickson, who had left the tournament because of complications from a brain tumor. Sampras regained his composure to defeat Courier. However, he lost the final to Agassi.

He became the first American to win three consecutive Wimbledons and he regained his U.S. Open title. He capped 1995 by accounting for all three points as the U.S. defeated Russia in the Davis Cup final.

On May 3, 1996, Gullickson, 44, died of brain cancer. Sampras lost in the first three majors that year, but retained his U.S. Open title, showing his guts against Alex Corretja in a four-hour and nine-minute quarterfinal.

With the score 1-1 in a fifth-set tiebreaker, a dehydrated Sampras vomited twice. Refusing to lose, he saved a match point at 6-7 with a desperate, full-extension forehand volley winner. After a fault on a weak first serve, the exhausted Sampras found the strength to deal a second-serve ace. The match ended when Corretja double faulted on the next point.

"I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly," said Sampras, who needed a half-gallon of intravenous fluids afterwards.

Sampras won the 1997 Australian Open and took four consecutive Wimbledons from 1997 to 2000. His four-set victory over Pat Rafter in 2000 tied him with 1880s star Willie Renshaw for most Wimbledon championships. "There's a certain aura about the place that you don't feel anywhere else," Sampras said. "The echo of the balls hit on Centre Court - it just feels significant."

After that Wimbledon victory, Sampras didn't win for 33 tournaments over 26 months. Critics wondered whether he was finished. In September 2002, Sampras - at 31 - answered them. Seeded 17th, he won the U.S. Open, firing in 33 aces in the final as he defeated Agassi in four sets.

That was the last match Sampras played. But it took him almost one year to make that decision. On the first night of the 2003 U.S. Open, he tearfully announced his retirement from tennis.

The only thing missing from Sampras' resume was a victory on the French Open clay. He realizes that without it, he might not be regarded as No. 1 all-time, no matter how many Slams titles he won.

His opponents weren't Agassi, Becker and Courier. They were Laver, Rosewall and Emerson.

Pete Sampras wasn't playing for today; he was competing for history.

And when he won his seventh Wimbledon championship in 2000 for his 13th Grand Slam singles titles, Sampras achieved his goal of winning the most majors. In 2002, he extended his record to 14 by capturing his fifth U.S. Open.

Although he earned $43,280,489 on the ATP Tour, it was winning Grand Slams that consumed him. The easy-going, hard-hitting Sampras would have traded a dozen of his 64 Tour singles victories for one French Open. Let others play for money; he played for majors.

During his career, he said, "I measure my year on how I do at the majors and the more that I have won over the years, the more I want to win. I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history."

Sampras is not the indifferent jock he pretended to be. While he gave the impression that he didn't play with a passion, he deeply wants to be remembered as the best ever. "I don't think it's arrogant," Sampras said. "I'm not ashamed that I feel that I can actually do it."

Yet, he was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He was a throwback to the days when gentleman played the sport of tennis. "I could have been a jerk and gotten a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am," said Sampras, who believes in the past, but came of age in the nineties.

Although Sampras broke Roy Emerson's Slams record of 12, the man against whom Sampras ultimately will be measured is that other Aussie that he was taught to emulate, Rod Laver, the winner of two Grand Slams, 11 majors and generally regarded as the game's greatest.

"There wasn't an American that I really idolized," Sampras said. "Sure, I respected [John] McEnroe's talent and [Jimmy] Connors' intensity, but the Aussies, those guys were great guys." And the players he admired most were the gentlemanly Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Since 1993, when he first claimed the No. 1 ranking, the 6-foot-1 Sampras stood head and shoulders above his playing opponents for six years. While he had a ferocious forehand and sensational serve, his greatest gift may have been his will to win. He was not afraid to leave his guts on the courts - literally.

He was born Aug. 12, 1971 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Palos Verdes, Cal. His father Soterios, called Sam, was an aerospace engineer for the Department of Defense and his mother Georgia was a homemaker.

He began playing tennis at seven and when he was nine, his father asked Pete Fischer, a physician and amateur player, to hit with his son. Fischer was so impressed with the youngster's ability, he became his coach.

When Sampras was 11, he had the opportunity to trade groundstrokes with Laver, his idol. "Pete was so nervous he couldn't get the ball over the net," Fischer said.

Sampras rarely won a major junior tournament. Fischer believed his protégé needed to play "up" in age groups, against stronger and older players to develop his all-around game. "From the very beginning, the competition was always Laver," Sampras said.

At 14, Fischer changed Sampras' backhanded from two-handed to one-handed. He also switched him from a safe defensive baseliner to a classic risky serve-and-volleyer. "I played just like [Michael] Chang, grinding from the baseline," Sampras said. "When I started serving and volleying, I became much more laid back."

Fischer told him that someday these changes would help him win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Sampras turned pro at 16 following his junior year in high school. By the late 1980s, he split with Fischer because he thought his coach was an overbearing perfectionist, someone who "wanted to put his brain in my body."

In 1990, Sampras, who was ranked No. 81 at the start of the year, stunned the tennis world - and himself - by becoming the youngest U.S. Open winner at 19 years, 28 days. The 12th-seeded Sampras defeated Ivan Lendl, McEnroe and Andre Agassi in the last three rounds for just his third tour victory. He served 100 aces in his seven matches and contributed his first Slams title to "a hot two weeks."

When he lost in the 1991 U.S. Open quarterfinals, Sampras said he was more relieved than disappointed and that he felt like "a ton of bricks" was lifted from his shoulders. Connors and Jim Courier, among others, criticized him.

"That quote reflected the truth of how I felt," Sampras said. "I wasn't sure then that I really could win another Grand Slam title."

Sampras rebounded in 1992, going 70-18 and winning five tournaments. He also helped the United States win the Davis Cup, capturing five-set doubles matches with McEnroe in the semifinals and finals.

But it was a defeat that turned around his career. After losing to defending champion Stefan Edberg at the U.S. Open final, Sampras discovered how much he wanted to win. "I realized that I had given up in the match," he said. "Just a touch, but enough to lose. I came to the realization that getting to finals wouldn't be good enough anymore."

New coach Tim Gullickson showed Sampras the value of playing percentage tennis - going for smart, makable shots rather than flashy, difficult ones. On April 12, 1993, Sampras reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time, and only occasionally did he fall from that perch until 1999. He became the first player in the history of ATP rankings (since 1973) to finish No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993-98), breaking Connors' mark of five.

His 1993 record improved to 83-15 with eight tournament victories, including his first Wimbledon and second U.S. Open. When he won the 1994 Australian Open, he became the first player since Laver in 1969 to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles. After losing at the French Open, Sampras won his second Wimbledon.

At the quarterfinals of the 1995 Australian Open, Sampras wept in the fifth set against Courier when a fan shouted for him to win the match for Gullickson, who had left the tournament because of complications from a brain tumor. Sampras regained his composure to defeat Courier. However, he lost the final to Agassi.

He became the first American to win three consecutive Wimbledons and he regained his U.S. Open title. He capped 1995 by accounting for all three points as the U.S. defeated Russia in the Davis Cup final.

On May 3, 1996, Gullickson, 44, died of brain cancer. Sampras lost in the first three majors that year, but retained his U.S. Open title, showing his guts against Alex Corretja in a four-hour and nine-minute quarterfinal.

With the score 1-1 in a fifth-set tiebreaker, a dehydrated Sampras vomited twice. Refusing to lose, he saved a match point at 6-7 with a desperate, full-extension forehand volley winner. After a fault on a weak first serve, the exhausted Sampras found the strength to deal a second-serve ace. The match ended when Corretja double faulted on the next point.

"I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly," said Sampras, who needed a half-gallon of intravenous fluids afterwards.

Sampras won the 1997 Australian Open and took four consecutive Wimbledons from 1997 to 2000. His four-set victory over Pat Rafter in 2000 tied him with 1880s star Willie Renshaw for most Wimbledon championships. "There's a certain aura about the place that you don't feel anywhere else," Sampras said. "The echo of the balls hit on Centre Court - it just feels significant."

After that Wimbledon victory, Sampras didn't win for 33 tournaments over 26 months. Critics wondered whether he was finished. In September 2002, Sampras - at 31 - answered them. Seeded 17th, he won the U.S. Open, firing in 33 aces in the final as he defeated Agassi in four sets.

That was the last match Sampras played. But it took him almost one year to make that decision. On the first night of the 2003 U.S. Open, he tearfully announced his retirement from tennis.

The only thing missing from Sampras' resume was a victory on the French Open clay. He realizes that without it, he might not be regarded as No. 1 all-time, no matter how many Slams titles he won.