Quotes from Pete Sampras

I loved Wimbledon and what it meant, but the surface felt uncomfortable. I just didn't like it, I was a hard-court guy, a Californian kid.

All I cared about in tennis was winning.

I've got a great wife, a great life.

I'm enjoying my retirement, enjoying my life. I have two kids and a lot of my time is spent chasing these two animals.

I've always led a pretty simple life, with few extravagances. The money in tennis never drove me.

After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.

When you go through certain moments of your career and you're struggling, it just takes time. Time heals, when you're a little bit down.

I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.

Most of the time after the US Open, it is kind of like you are trying to finish strong. But to do it five years and maybe six is something that has never been done before, so it is a huge challenge.

The future is flying home. That's the immediate future. But long-distance future, I plan on being back. I'm not going to end my time here with that loss.

When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.

I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids.

I didn't have a big fat Greek wedding, but I have a lot of fat Greek friends.

It's one-on-one out there, man. There ain't no hiding. I can't pass the ball.

It's not easy to retire at 31. In one respect I was glad I was done. But after a few years of having fun, I got a little restless. When you're 33, 34, and you don't have a focus, you can get kind of lost. As a man, you feel a little bit unfulfilled.

I made it look so easy on court all those years. No one realized how hard I had to work. No one realized how much I had to put into it. They underestimated my intensity.

I'm staying in shape, working out.

Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure.

I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.

Choking is being in a position to win, and then experiencing some critical failure of nerve or spirit. That never happened to me. And I can't help but think it was because I was never afraid to lose.

Winning is about taking your opponent's heart out and squeezing it until all the blood has come out, even the very last drop. There are no prizes for a funny loser.

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.

It's one-on-one out there, man. There ain't no hiding. I can't pass the ball.

It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.