People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.

~ Pete Sampras

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.

~ Pete Sampras

I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.

~ Pete Sampras

A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

By Pete Sampras (Author) & Peter Bodo (Author)

Book Description
Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.

Until now.

The difference of great players is at a certain point they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set.

~ Pete Sampras

A champion is suppose to hate to lose, and it wasn’t like I was ever crazy about the idea. But I learned to deal with losing without having my spirit or confidence broken, which would help immensely over time, not just in the big picture but even in specific matches when I found myself in a jam. Fear of losing is a terrible thing.

~ Pete Sampras

Note: this quote is from Pete Sampras’ book A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

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.

~ Pete Sampras

Note: this quote is from Pete Sampras’ book A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

By putting pressure on myself to develop a great game, I had less pressure to win. These days, I tell kids that the way I grew up, it wasn’t about winning. It was about playing well, about playing the “right” way. That approach helped me enjoy the game and develop mine to its maximum potential.

~ Pete Sampras

Note: this quote is from Pete Sampras’ book A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

Throughout my career, my mind rarely wandered, and I was never sidetracked by distractions, no matter what I was going through off the court.

~ Pete Sampras

Note: this quote is from Pete Sampras’ book A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis