Pete Sampras Quotes

I do play tennis, but I don't really like competition. I'm supposed to be so intense, but I hate competition.

Tennis is an individual sport, and I am quite a self-conscious person.

I played with a lot of great players before. They're all the same. They take a lot of responsibility for their own play, put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform and to play well.

Once you are on court, everything is different. I focus on the match.

Things change when you're fighting the best guys in the world.

I always have to play very aggressive on the court. It's something that's easier said than done.

In tennis you're on an island. Of all the games men and women play, tennis is the closest to solitary confinement.

Tennis is the loneliest sport.

People think this is all about the top players hitting tenins balls and they talk about technique and strategy and how important that is. But they don't understand the essence of competition. This is one-on-one, two players out there fighting each other with everything they have, trying to bring the best out of themselves. And the difference at this level of the game is all in the head and in the heart.

Players are under such pressure in crucial moments, especially at the highest level with what is on the line.

One thing that is 100% certain is that emotions are always incredibly high in a match and, I would imagine, definitely more so in a grand slam final.

When I'm out there on the mound, I'm fighting for my teammates, fighting for the ability to stay in the game for a long time. It's war. I see the hitter - I think about what I want to do, but it's a very quick process. Then I attack. It's almost primal.

I guess sometimes when the game is on the line you kind of focus a little more.

Competition is normal at a big club, but I've never been worried about it.

There are no excuses in fighting. You can be playing a team sport and have a good game, and you can lose. In fighting, it's all on me. If I go out there and lose, then it's my fault. I like that.

Guys like Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal know how to win matches, they don't need to have as much confidence as other players.

In a World Cup you don't have anywhere to hide.

I've been in the States and fought before. When I'm in that changing room, I'll feel as if I've been in that situation before. Obviously I'm going to have to deal on the biggest stage, and it's the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, but it doesn't faze me.

To win the major, you have to play two weeks your best tennis and deal with a lot of things around, to put things together so to be really focused.

For my entire Duke career, people were gunning for us and hating us and wanting us to lose, so I got used to that right away. Every team is going to give you their best shot. Everyone wants to beat you.

Ahead of a semi-final, there is always the same buzz. You know you are very close to reaching the final, but there is no way you can relax because then you will be punished.

I am aggressive only on court.

Tennis is a tough sport - a long year, a lot of matches, a lot of travelling. It's not easy so being mentally tough is a big attribute. It doesn't come easy, you have to work on it.

In high school, you can just go out there and play. In the NFL it was so much more mental.

In tennis, you can have a bad set and still win. The part of track cycling that is difficult to find in other sports is that it's so final; there's no second chance if you make a mistake.