Todd Martin, is 36 year old, and played for over two hours against Sampras. Unfortunately, Sampras made a few errors, like a forehand shot into the net, a backhand shot that went way out of bounds, or a double fault that made him lose his service game. Most of Sampras’ ace serves were like bullets that Martin couldn’t return. I know I couldn’t return any of Pete’s serves. Both players seemed to be having a lot of fun. Martin joked with the crowd and because Martin lives not too far from Jacksonville, he had the crowd cheering for him more than Sampras. Sampras even joked a little with Martin. But I found that Sampras was more serious than Martin. After an exhausting match, Martin won 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. It was my first experience at a tennis match. I enjoyed watching these guys volley back and forth. It was an unforgettable tennis!

These are the questions that I asked Pete: 

1) What other sports did you play as a kid, and at what age did you first realize that tennis would be your sport? 

I played Basketball for fun, but by the time I was 8-9 I realized that tennis would be my focus 

2) How often did you practice tennis as a kid, and did your brother Gus play tennis with you? Did Gus ever beat you?

Played a couple hours a day 5-6 days a week. Gus never really got into tennis but my sister Stella played and went to UCLA and played on the ladies team there.  Stella and I had some battles on the court and she used to win until I was 10-11 years old. 

3) What role did your parents play in your success? My parents were very supportive and involved in my development by providing the resources necessary to find the right coaches and trainers.

4) How were you able to balance school with your practice schedule? The balance was tough. It was more about setting time for both and creating a routine that would work for me.

5) What did you do to develop your powerful serve? Did you do any special exercises?  There was nothing that I did in developing my serve just a tremendous amount of practice and one day it just started clicking.

6) Who gave you the nicknames, Pistol Pete and King of Swing?  Don’t know exactly where those nicknames came from probably some reporters looking for a headline.

7) Now that your retired, do you do any tennis clinics for kids?  Not really.  I have practiced with a number of elite 16-18 year olds that are looking to turn pro.

8) I am Greek like you. Did your religion help you in being successful?  I don’t know if religion help in being successful but the morals my family instilled in me did have an impact on the type of person I became.

9) Do you speak Greek?  Unfortunately, I do not speak Greek

10) In Greek, is your name Petros or Panayiotis?  Petros

11) What part of Greece do your mom and dad come from?  Mom is from a small town called Selicia. Dad grew up in Chicago.

12) Are you still involved with the Greek community? Not really

Pete Sampras also has two sisters, Stella who is older and Marion who is younger. Pete is married to actress Bridgette Wilson and has two young sons, Christian Charles and Ryan Nikolaos.