Pete Sampras Quotes

They talk about those All-Star Games being exhibition affairs, and maybe they are, but I've seen very few players in my life who didn't want to win, no matter whom they were playing or what for.

Winning the Rookie of the Year would be nice but making the playoffs would be even nicer for me.

I'm going to outplay you. That's the mentality I have, and you should want to outplay me.

To be able to have winning in your blood growing up, whether it was pounding my little brother or trying to beat my dad in something, or just competing on teams with my friends, it was nonstop.

I had no friends. I wasn't there to make friends. I was there to win.

It's tough to think before a tournament that you can win.

I want to be at the end stages of every tournament that I play - every time.

I think something that has separated me from the rest of the competition - maybe it's just my way of thinking - I don't necessarily go into fights just wanting to win but to actually dominate. So when I don't feel like I dominate, sometimes I feel like a loser, I guess, you know, maybe in that perspective.

I wasn't fighting in this sport from the beginning for any other reason than being the best.

I never compete to take part but to finish first.

I'm not here for anything other than world championships. I don't want to be here driving around and finishing races and scoring points. I only want to win and if I can't do that - if I can't see that I have a future with wins and championships - then I'm not up for Formula One, I'll do something else where I can win.

If you play a match, then you got to give it all to beat the opponent; there is nothing like playing against a great or a non-great player. I treat them all as opponents and aim to beat them.

I'm trying to win every single week. I'm not trying to come out and just win the majors. I'm 23. This is my first full year.

We might have, with Hockey Canada, an Aero Bar, a chocolate bar. 'Okay we're going to play for this chocolate bar.' Here you have guys who made millions of dollars, they're professional athletes, and they will fight tooth and nail to win. It's not necessarily for the chocolate bar. It's the competitive spirit.

I'm desperately ambitious, and one of the things I haven't been able to do at Everton is win a trophy.

Every time I step on the field, it doesn't matter who we're playing, I want to get an interception.

There is no bigger motivation than playing in a UEFA Champions League final.

I have always and will continue to put myself in the mix at the end of every tournament. That's what I play for.

You get older, and you want to be a professional athlete; you want to win on the biggest stage.

As a competitive athlete, you always want to come out on top and give your best work. So whether it's my sister or any other opponent, I'm competitive.

When I was a rookie, what motivated me was trying to win Rookie of the Year and play the best that I could that I would compete so hard.

It doesn't matter if it's preseason or a scrimmage. I'm trying to have a dominant performance, whether it's preseason first series or whenever I get out there.

I just try to make sure that when I get there on the floor, I play as hard as I can and try to do everything I can to help the team win.

That was...that was choking. You're right. But of course when you play against (Roger) Federer, he's No. 1 in the world, he won three grand slams last year, and he's just full of confidence. It's difficult to do anything regular to beat him. You have to do something extra to be able to have the chance to beat him. Set points, I had six of them and I couldn't take one. But I was close.

It's funny, you can get over the win pretty quick and get ready for the next opponent. When you lose, it just eats at you.... What could we have done? What should I have done? All those things. Just part of playing professional sports and sports in general.