Pete Sampras Wins Wimbledon

On July 9, 2000, tennis player Pete Sampras wins his thirteenth Grand Slam tennis title at Wimbledon.

Sampras debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final.

He was the year-end World No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993–1998), a record for the Open Era.

His seven Wimbledon singles championships is an Open Era record shared with Roger Federer, while Sampras' five US Open singles titles is an Open Era record shared with both Federer and former World No. 1 player Jimmy Connors.

Sampras is the last American male to win Wimbledon (2000) and the ATP World Tour Finals (1999).

Over his 15-year career Sampras totaled 762 wins and 222 losses for a 77.43 winning percentage, with 64 career titles. His highest ranking came at No. 1 on April 12, 1993.

In the Grand Slam, Sampras was the Australian Open in 1994 and 1997, Wimbledon seven times including four consecutive times from 1997-2000. He was on the US Open five times including back-to-back wins in 1995 and 1996.

Sampras also won the Tour Finals five times, including back-to-back wins in 1996-1997.

The best Sampras ever finished in singles at the French Open was in the semi-finals in 1996. He also made it to the third round of competition in the 1992 Olympic games.

In Doubles Sampras was not as impressive but still won two career titles, with 64 wins and 70 losses. His highest ranking as a duo came in 1990 when he and Jim Courier reached No. 27 overall on February 12, 1990.

The two titles Sampras won in doubles competition both came at the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995, but he was never able to pair that success in the Grand Slam only making it to the first round in the US Open from 1988-1990, the second round of the Australian Open and French Open in 1989 and the third round of Wimbledon in 1989.

Since his retirement Sampras has played in many matches, with his first coming on April 6, 2006, three and a half years after his retirement. Sampras resurfaced in River Oaks, Houston, Texas, against 23-year-old Robby Ginepri. Ginepri won the match in two sets. Sampras later announced that he would be playing in World Team Tennis events.

The year 2007 saw Sampras become a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It also saw Sampras announce that he would play in a few events on the Outback Champions Series, a group of tournaments for former ATP players who have met certain criteria during their careers. Sampras won his first two events on tour, defeating Todd Martin in both finals.

On November 20, 2007, Sampras lost the first of three exhibition matches in Asia against Roger Federer in Seoul, Korea. Two days later in Kuala Lumpur, Sampras again lost to Federer in two tiebreaks. However, Sampras was able to win the last match of the series, winning in two sets on fast carpet.

On February 18, 2008, in an exhibition match during the SAP Open at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Sampras defeated another active player, former world No. 2 Tommy Haas. Sampras dispatched the German in 43-minutes.

On March 10, 2008, Sampras played another exhibition match against world No. 1 Roger Federer at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Sampras once again lost the match in three tight sets.

In 2009 Sampras won two Outback Champions Series titles. He defeated McEnroe in the final of the Champions Cup Boston in February and Patrick Rafter in the final of The Del Mar Development Champions Cup in March.

In 2010 with Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal, he played an exhibition doubles match at Indian Wells to raise money for the people of Haiti who had been affected by the earthquake.

On November 17, 2011, Sampras played and lost an exhibition match against Milos Raonic. This was the last match that Sampras had played in.

For his career Sampras still ranks as the fourth highest money winner in tennis history, with a total of $43,280,489 of prize money won.

Connors Fined $20,000

On Feb. 21, 1986, tennis legend Jimmy Connors was in the midst of a semifinal match against Ivan Lendl in the Lipton International Players Championship in Boca Raton, Florida when he took his criticism of the umpire just a little bit too far.

In the sixth game of the fifth set, Connors loudly protested what he thought was a bad line call. After a series of warnings, the umpire penalized Connors a point. But this just made things worse for Connors - as did the game penalty that followed after further protest. Past the point of no return, Connors was ultimately defaulted for refusing to continue play. Meanwhile, an unfazed Lendl would continue on to win the tournament.

Following Connors’ outburst, the Men's International Professional Tennis Council conducted an investigation and concluded that his conduct constituted "aggravated behavior." The Council then suspended Connors for 10 weeks and fined him $20,000. Connors would later miss the French Open, becoming the first player to be suspended during a Grand Slam tournament.

Former professional tennis great Jimmy Connors on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1974, more than a decade before his outburst at the Lipton International Players Championship.

Connors would go on to have a brilliant tennis career including eight Grand Slam singles titles and two Grand Slam doubles titles with Ilie Năstase. He was also a runner-up seven times in Grand Slam singles, a doubles runner-up with Năstase at the 1973 French Open, and a mixed doubles runner-up with Chris Evert at the 1974 US Open. He held the top ranking for a then record 160 consecutive weeks from July 29, 1974 to August 22, 1977 and an additional eight times during his career for a total of 268 weeks.

In 1974, Connors became the second male in the open era to win three or more Grand Slam singles titles in a calendar year (Rod Laver being the first in 1969 and having been joined since by Mats Wilander, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic). Connors is also the only person to win U.S. Open singles championships on grass, clay, and hard courts.

Connors won a record 109 ATP tournaments, 15 more than Ivan Lendl, and over 30 more than Roger Federer and John McEnroe. His career win-loss record of 1243–277 (81.77%) is third after Björn Borg (82.7%) and Ivan Lendl (81.8%), and he holds the record for total number of wins for a male player.

Connors won three year-end championship titles, including two WCT Finals and one Masters Grand Prix. He also won 17 Championship Series titles (1973–1984). He was the first male player to rank no. 1 for more than 200 weeks in total and the first male player to be no. 1 for more than five years in total. He is the only male player in the open era to win more than 100 singles titles during his career and also holds the record for most major quarterfinals (41) reached. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time due to his many records in the game.

In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, ranked Connors as one of the 21 best players of all time.^[

Connors won more matches (1,337) than any other male professional tennis player in the open era. His career win-loss record was 1,337–285 for a winning percentage of 82.4. He played 401 tournaments and through many years it was a record until Fabrice Santoro overcame it in 2008.

Connors was the only player to win the US Open on three different surfaces: grass, clay, and hard. Connors was also the first male tennis player to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces: grass (1974), clay (1976), and hard (1978).

Connors reached the semifinals or better in one of the tennis majors a total of 31 times, a record recently surpassed by Roger Federer. Connors' achievement is particularly remarkable considering that he entered the Australian Open Men's Singles only twice and that he did not enter the French Open Men's Singles for five of his peak career years. Of the 31 major semifinals Connors contested, he managed to win 15 of them and progress to the final. Roger Federer holds the record for most consecutive semifinal appearances at these events.

Connors was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998 and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1986.

At a time when most other tennis pros played with wooden rackets, Connors pioneered the "Wilson T2000" steel racket, which utilized a method for stringing that, had been devised and patented by Lacoste in 1953.

"The T2000 set the wood racquet traditionalists on their ears with its lightweight steel construction. It didn't need a racket-press (it didn't warp), and its slender framework meant less wind resistance."

He played with this chrome tubular steel racket until 1984, when most other pros had shifted to new racket technologies, materials, and designs. The T2000 in the eighties "had the aura of a dinosaur – it had been introduced in 1968."^[

In 1984, Connors switched to the new Wilson ProStaff that had been designed especially for him. But 1985 again found Connors playing with the T2000. Not until 1987 did he finally switch to a graphite racket when he contracted with Slazenger to play their Panther Pro Ceramic. In 1990 Connors signed with Estusa.

Connors also used lead tape, which he would wind around the racket head to provide the proper "feel" for his style of game.

Connors did commentary with NBC-TV in 1990 and 1991, during its coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon tournaments. During the Wimbledon tournaments of 2005, 2006, and 2007, Connors commentated for the BBC alongside John McEnroe (among others), providing moments of heated discussion between two former archrivals. Connors has also served as a commentator and analyst for the Tennis Channel since the U.S. Open tournament of 2009.

On July 24, 2006, at the start of the Countrywide Classic tournament in Los Angeles, American tennis player Andy Roddick formally announced his partnership with Connors as his coach. On March 6, 2008, Roddick announced the end of that 19-month relationship.

Sampas Takes Down Agassi

On Sept. 10, 1990, tennis great 19 year old Pete Sampras beats Andre Agassi to win US Open

Over his 15-year career Sampras totaled 762 wins and 222 losses for a 77.43 winning percentage, with 64 career titles. His highest ranking came at No. 1 on April 12, 1993.

In the Grand Slam, Sampras was the Australian Open in 1994 and 1997, Wimbledon seven times including four consecutive times from 1997-2000. He was on the US Open five times including back-to-back wins in 1995 and 1996. 

Sampras also won the Tour Finals five times, including back-to-back wins in 1996-1997. 

The best Sampras ever finished in singles at the French Open was in the semi-finals in 1996. He also made it to the third round of competition in the 1992 Olympic games.

In Doubles Sampras was not as impressive but still won two career titles, with 64 wins and 70 losses. His highest ranking as a duo came in 1990 when he and Jim Courier reached No. 27 overall on February 12, 1990.

The two titles Sampras won in doubles competition both came at the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995, but he was never able to pair that success in the Grand Slam only making it to the first round in the US Open from 1988-1990, the second round of the Australian Open and French Open in 1989 and the third round of Wimbledon in 1989.

Since his retirement Sampras has played in many matches, with his first coming on April 6, 2006, three and a half years after his retirement. Sampras resurfaced in River Oaks, Houston, Texas, against 23-year-old Robby Ginepri. Ginepri won the match in two sets. Sampras later announced that he would be playing in World Team Tennis events.

The year 2007 saw Sampras become a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It also saw Sampras announce that he would play in a few events on the Outback Champions Series, a group of tournaments for former ATP players who have met certain criteria during their careers. Sampras won his first two events on tour, defeating Todd Martin in both finals.

On November 20, 2007, Sampras lost the first of three exhibition matches in Asia against Roger Federer in Seoul, Korea. Two days later in Kuala Lumpur, Sampras again lost to Federer in two tie-breaks. However, Sampras was able to win the last match of the series, winning in two sets on fast carpet.

On February 18, 2008, in an exhibition match during the SAP Open at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Sampras defeated another active player, former world No. 2 Tommy Haas. Sampras dispatched the German in 43-minutes. 

On March 10, 2008, Sampras played another exhibition match against world No. 1 Roger Federer at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Sampras once again lost the match in three tight sets.

In 2009 Sampras won two Outback Champions Series titles. He defeated McEnroe in the final of the Champions Cup Boston in February and Patrick Rafter in the final of The Del Mar Development Champions Cup in March.

In 2010 with Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal, he played an exhibition doubles match at Indian Wells to raise money for the people of Haiti who had been affected by the earthquake. 

On November 17, 2011, Sampras played and lost an exhibition match against Milos Raonic. This was the last match that Sampras had played in.

For his career Sampras still ranks as the fourth highest money winner in tennis history, with a total of $43,280,489 of prize money won.