The latest in the ATP’s “uncovered” series features a nice interview with ex/co/forever GOAT Pete Sampras. He talks about his drive to be No. 1, his feelings on Roger Federer breaking his record and his “unbiased” opinion that tennis players are the best athletes in the world. (I agree, Pete!) Look out for the Marat [...]

Pete Sampras and Marat Safin celebrated the start of the LA Tennis Open on Monday with a spirited exhibition, called the “Millenium Challenge.” (I think this references the year 2000 – when a 19 year-old Safin stunned Sampras in the U.S. Open final)
Safin also won last night’s highly-competitive match in a deciding tiebreak: 6-4, 3-6, [...]

To the die-hard Pete Sampras fans who are mourning the loss of his greatest record – stuck down by Roger Federer at Wimbledon this year – you have reason to cheer! Pete Sampras, at age 37, is still a great champion: humble, thoughtful and just a touch melancholic. Oh, and Sampras can still S&V with [...]

It’s not easy choosing the G.O.A.T. Like American Lit exams, it’s more essay question than multiple choice. And even if you’re tennis’s answer to Mark Twain, those snarky Sartre-types can always blow smoke in your eyes and snarl: “What a futile exercise. It’s obvious that the G.O.A.T. is a media construct and not reality.”
Can you [...]

I said it on Twitter and I’ll say it again: If last year’s Wimbledon final was Shakespeare, this year’s was Die Hard. That’s what you get when Andy Roddick plays Rafael Nadal’s understudy. And I say understudy not out of disrespect, but because until a few weeks ago, Rafa was the favorite to make the [...]

At some point this blog will stop obsessing over Roger Federer (at least for a post or two!) But right now the mainstream media is making it really hard to stop. Here’s a funny, strange, Nole-esque, ad from Nike celebrating Federer’s 14th Major:

Hope Pete doesn’t mind. . .

There were so many questions going into the French Open this year, like “will Rafa lose a set?” and “which half will Djokovic be in?” and “Roger’s win in Madrid was a fluke, wasn’t it?”
Only the bravest Fed Fanatics were willing to raise their hands and ask, in embarrassed tones usually reserved for asking teacher [...]

There is a great piece by Christopher Clarey in today’s NYT, titled “Federer Struggles With His Altered World.”
Some sensitive types might want to avoid it, thinking that it’s just another obituary for Roger’s career. But it isn’t. It brings perspective to Roger’s current slump and includes some great quotes from Paul Annacone, Pete Sampras’s ex-coach.

Here [...]

About a week ago I told my tennis teacher at the Y that I had scored some free tickets to the Courier/Sampras exo that was taking place at the Home Depot Center on the first night of the JP Morgan Chase Open in Carson. I looked at him expectantly, thinking he would say “Cool, I’ll [...]