A legend in his lifetime, American tennis star Pete Sampras was born on 12.8.1971 in Washington D.C. Famous as “Pistol Pete” all over the tennis world, Sampras now lives in Los Angeles, California. Considered one of the all time greats along with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, he won a record 14 Grand Slam titles till his retirement in 2002 after turning pro in 1988. Only the French Open title eluded this elegant American, who finished the year as No. 1 on the ATP rankings for six years in a row, yet another landmark in his illustrious career. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.
The third son of Greek immigrants Sam and Georgia Sampras, Pete showed great promise in his early years and announced his presence in the big scene in 1989 when he ousted defending champion Mats Wilander in the second round of the US Open and won the title for the first time in 1990. The 1990 US Open also saw the beginning of a great rivalry between Sampras and Andre Agassi, which dominated the game for a long time. After a moderate success in between, he won the Wimbledon for the first time in 1993 and followed it up with his second US Open title. There was no looking back for Sampras since then, and he went on to win six more Wimbledon, three more US Open and two Australian Open titles till 2002.
Sampras tied the nuptial knot with actress and former Miss Teen USA Bridgette Wilson in September 2000. The couple was blessed with their first son Christian Charles in November 2002. Their second son, Ryan Nicolas was born in July 2005. Although still a force to reckon with, Pete now only plays a few charity or exhibition matches.
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