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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.
In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people “inside his head” finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for the game. But while this single-minded determination led to tennis domination, success didn’t come without a price. The constant pressure of competing on the world’s biggest stage—in the unblinking eye of a media machine hungry for more than mere athletic greatness—took its toll.
Here for the first time Pete speaks freely about what it was like to possess what he calls “the Gift.” He writes about the personal trials he faced—including the death of a longtime coach and confidant—and the struggles he gutted his way through while being seemingly on top of the world. Among the book’s most riveting scenes are an early devastating loss to Stefan Edberg that led Pete to make a monastic commitment to delivering on his natural talent; a grueling, four-hour-plus match against Alex Corretja during which Pete became seriously ill; fierce on-court battles with rival and friend Andre Agassi; and the triumphant last match of Pete’s career at the finals of the 2002 U.S. Open.
In A Champion’s Mind, one of the most revered, successful, and intensely private players in the history of tennis offers an intimate look at the life of an elite athlete.
Introduction
Chapter 1 1971-1986: The Tennis Kid 1
Chapter 2 1986-1990: A Fairy Tale in New York 29
Chapter 3 1990-1991: That Ton of Bricks 49
Chapter 4 1992: My Conversation with Commitment 71
Chapter 5 1993-1994: Grace Under Fire 91
Chapter 6 1994-1995: The Floodgates of Glory 119
Chapter 7 1996: My Warrior Moment 155
Chapter 8 1997-1998: Wimbledon Is Forever 185
Chapter 9 1999-2001: Catching Roy 213
Chapter 10 2001-2002: One for Good Measure 245
Epilogue 271
Appendix: About My Rivals 277
Acknowledgments 293
Index 295
ktrock
Posted July 18, 2011
Just about everyone in the tennis world knows that Andre Agassi wrote a book but I'm sure few people know that Pete did. Pete (or his ghost writer) has a really clean writing style. It's neat to see the way he thinks of himself as he takes you thru his pro career.
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Posted January 14, 2011
I thought the book gave a few bits of insight in the private life of Pete, but I feel like I could have gotten everything I wanted to know in a 10 page essay. The book goes on and on about how great Pete was and it's true, but I want to know more behind the scenes things, not what I can figure out from watching the match (i.e. I knew that Pete cramped and threw up when he played Corretja). I only read this book b/c I just just finished Open by Agassi and Andre mentioned Pete a bunch of times. It's a decent complimentary book, but it's not fast paced at all.
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Posted December 22, 2010
I was very interested in how this book compared to Andre Agassi's book "Open". The style of this book vs Andre's is as comparable as their style of play. Andre's book got tiresome with his constant reference of how he hated tennis. Pete's book really talks about how fortunate he was to play this game. I liked this book better than Andre's and I thought this book showed more class than what Andre's book did. That's not to say Andre's book was bad, but Pete's book really is a must read for those who love tennis and lived in this era.
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Posted February 5, 2010
It was an insight into the game that you don't see. Pete Sampras was a great champion, but not recognized because he wasn't as flabount as some other players. As you read you understand that he worked hard, but also he loved and respected the game. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a child interested in the sport of tennis...It shows the right way to do things.
I always enjoyed watching Pete play tennis, and book was a wonderful peek into his world.
I bought this book for my teenage son who plays tennis and enjoys biographies of sports figures. He really enjoyed this memoir.
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Posted December 10, 2008
I Also Recommend:
A Champion's Mind is an interesting and revealing autobiography about a sometimes misunderstood champion, Pete Sampras, who for the most part let his racket do the talking during his career. Sampras talks about growing up in Southern California, his toughest rivals, especially Agassi and how they couldn't have been more different, his most famous matches, life on the tour, his coaches, his family -- but omits his love life, prior to getting married.
How he overcomes adversity, such as beloved coach Tim Gulllikson's death, losing to Edberg in the U.S. Open final, his own illnesses and injuries, and some statements to the media that haunted him make the human side of Sampras really come out. Sampras also stresses "The Gift" which is his rare natural talent that enables him to be a great champion. But hard work is a huge factor, too. The new best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell, should include information about Sampras, if it doesn't, because this autobiography contains lots of wisdom about becoming successful from hard work to persistence to finding and assembling a winning team to staying hungry and humble and focused. Sampras did all that, and the pressure took its toll on him, especially during his quest to stay No. 1 for six straight years. But I don't want to give away too much. This book succeeds on several levels. You'll enjoy it, and if you're a tennis player, you'll get plenty of food for thought to improve your game.
Anonymous
Posted July 26, 2008
Pete¿s book isn¿t a biography in the strict sense. As correctly point out by others, the vast majority of the book is a review of his matches -- and that¿s not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed reminiscing about his career. However, although I was (and still am) a huge Sampras fan I was surprised at several interesting contradictions. Sampras reminds us throughout the book that he let his racket do the talking and yet at the same time throughout the book he constantly tells the reader how is better than his peers (in some cases just a little better and some cases significantly better). While I don¿t doubt that someone at his level needs to think this way, it can be a bit jarring for anyone who never considered this. In addition, Sampras was well aware of his reputation that his conservative style was look down upon by many, and while he maintains that he was able to ignore much of it, he spends a lot of time addressing it in the book. As a result, I think that he was bothered by the perception more than he admits because his responses are slightly defensive. Finally, Sampras tells us several times how his emotions caused him to express himself in the most crude language (like most every other normal person). Yet he doesn¿t even spell the words out in the book and instead uses the ¿#%&¿ type symbols. Pete, if your audience can accept the fact that you sometimes talk like a sailor, I suspect that they can accept reading the actual curse words. Still, I recommend the book to anyone that is a fan of tennis or of Sampras.
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Posted June 26, 2008
Doesn¿t a biography give you information so you know the individual better? The 1st chapter and 10th chapter did that and were enjoyable to read. The remaining chapters were a review of his matches but really had no interesting facts that I didn¿t already know. I did finish the book and would recommend this book for people that never heard of Sampras or for those who never watched him play for years. Maybe I didn't realize how much I knew about Pete before I bought the book. It does have some advice for succeeding in this world and what you might have to sacrifice to succeed or at least what Pete had to scarifice to be successful.
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Posted June 30, 2008
Sampras' autobiography combines personal details with strategies for success that apply to any competitive situation. He is candid dealing with both parts of his career and it is easy to see how his deportment on court demonstrated his respect for 'the Gift' of tennis athleticism. Any fan of the sport will enjoy this memoir, but especially those who still regard Sampras' game as the best ever.
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Posted June 21, 2008
This book is amazing. It talks about how Pete got through his troubles and how he can play great tennis. I look forward to read it over and over again until the book is worn out.
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Posted June 11, 2008
In reading 'A Champion's Mind' I was amazed at the insight he provides in what it took him to become a champion and the pressures involved in maintaining that level throughout his career. I follow tennis pretty closely and there were many things he revealed in the book that I had never heard-- very insightful.
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Posted June 10, 2008
Even in the face of adversities, lifes struggles, and challenges, this book exhibits resilence to overcome any obstacle which may cross your path. Determination does pay off, and very well at that. Author of: Embrace the Light-a womans story through poetry to touch your heart Donna Solitario
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Posted June 14, 2008
Pete Sampras was not just a great tennis player. He is one of the classiest athletes to ever compete in big-time professional sports. The fact that he was polite, soft spoken, and exceedingly decent probably reduced his overall fame and appeal in this strange upside-down celebrity culture of ours. We should all appreciate athletes like him when they come along. I highly recommend this book, not just for tennis fans but for everyone. It offers a peek inside an amazing career that was not only high-pressure and often filled with glory but also totally dependant upon hard work. Sampras may not have been flashy but he was the real deal, a talented player who worked harder than most of us can ever imagine. His reward is a legacy of both class and greatness. --Guy P. Harrison, columnist and author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
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Posted January 10, 2010
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Posted November 17, 2008
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Posted March 16, 2010
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Overview
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.
In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people “inside his head” finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for ...