Pete Sampras and His Tennis Career

Pete Sampras was born in Washington, DC on August 12, 1971. At the age of three, he began playing with a tennis racket and by the time he was 11 he had the joy of playing tennis with his idol, Rod Laver.

Pete began his career in 1987 at the age of 16. While playing tennis, he had an ongoing rival with Andre Agassi and they played against each other 34 times, of which Pete won 20 times.

Sampras played professional tennis for 15 years until 2002, at which time he retired. The last match he played before retiring was against Agassi and he won the match. During his career, he had a total of 14 grand slams in the men's singles division. For a total of six years, beginning in 1993, he was ranked the number one player in the world.

Sampras was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 17, 2007. Two years earlier, he was named the world's greatest tennis player.

In September of 2000, Pete married Bridgette Wilson and they now reside in Tampa, Florida with their two sons. Pete is considered to be a very competitive person, but has an easy going personality. He states that he also enjoys a good game of golf.

In 2006, Pete came out of retirement and has been playing ever since. He does not play as much as he used to, but seems to be playing a good game. Some of the players he has defeated since his comeback are John McEnroe, Todd Martin and Tommy Haas.