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A Champion's Mind
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....more
Until now....more
Audio CD, Abridged, 0 pages
Published
June 10th 2008
by Random House Audio
(first published 2008)
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I just finish the autobiography of Pete Sampras and have mixed feelings about it. During the time at which he competed with Agassi and there was the rivalry among them I always tended to side with Sampras. I liked better Sampras´s personality, the quintessential gentleman, a class act. With time Sampras retired, Agassi married Steffi Graff, got rid of its irreverent wardrobe, shaved his colorful hair, in other words, he matured, and my respect grew for him not only for the athlete b...more
The greatest competitors in the computer industry were Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
The greatest competitors in the Action movies genre were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
And the greatest competitors in the Tennis World…among the many, were Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
No other rivalry matched the intensity these two had.
When I was young, I remember watching the matches of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi on TV, even though I was brought up ...more
After reading Andre Agassi's autobiography, I felt the need to looking into the autobiography for his long-time rival Pete Sampras. While I enjoyed the book, I was a little disappointed by the fact that the book really is an overview of his professional life.
With all fairness to Sampras, the subtitle (Lessons from a Life in Tennis) should have made it clear that he was going to be focusing mostly on his time on the courts. I just would have liked to know more about him as a person an...more
With all fairness to Sampras, the subtitle (Lessons from a Life in Tennis) should have made it clear that he was going to be focusing mostly on his time on the courts. I just would have liked to know more about him as a person an...more
This book is just what I should have expected but didn't. For a brief time, I thought I might actually learn about Pete the man. The book does give a much more thorough look at Pete's career in tennis and the overall field during the Open Era.
Despite that insider's view of men's professional tennis, there is still this nagging feeling that although I've read a book by and about my favorite tennis player of all time, I know very little more about the man than I did before reading ...more
Despite that insider's view of men's professional tennis, there is still this nagging feeling that although I've read a book by and about my favorite tennis player of all time, I know very little more about the man than I did before reading ...more
A Champion's Mind is the auto-biography of Pete Sampras, who is one of the top tennis players of all-time; Sampras is still (in 2009) the only player to have been ranked #1 in the world for six consecutive years, and the holder of the second-most wins of Grand Slams (the highest ranked world tennis tournaments) after Roger Federer. The book reflects well Sampras' self-description, that is, it is a solid, no-frills account of a super-consistent tennis career. In particular, there aren't many surp...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is the second tennis autobiography I’ve read—the first being John McEnroe’s. This one in particular impacted me because reading it was like a trip down memory lane. The early years of Pete’s tennis career coincided with the years when I first started playing and watching tennis (the majority of his career spanned the years of my life between ages 15 and 27). I was a big fan of Pete’s and admired his immense talent, but he wasn’t my favorite player of the ...more
Only for tennis fans. There's not a whole lot that's interesting for the non-fan. I can basically summarize it as follows: Pete Sampras was really talented, worked really hard, and won a lot.
Now, if you are a tennis fan, the most interesting part will probably come at the end, where Sampras has a glossary of his rivals, where he discusses the strengths and weakness of various players and how he fared against them. This is by far the most interesting part. Within the book itself there...more
Now, if you are a tennis fan, the most interesting part will probably come at the end, where Sampras has a glossary of his rivals, where he discusses the strengths and weakness of various players and how he fared against them. This is by far the most interesting part. Within the book itself there...more
I wish I could give 1/2 stars. This one would get 4 1/2. It was a little slow at the beginning, mainly because I felt like it was focusing on what was happening in matches rather than what was going on in Pete's head. As the book got going, however, it did talk about what was going on personally as well.
I always loved watching Pete play tennis--he was amazing and always seemed very humble. He was also very private though so generally people didn't know a lot about him. After reading the book, ...more
I always loved watching Pete play tennis--he was amazing and always seemed very humble. He was also very private though so generally people didn't know a lot about him. After reading the book, ...more
I have never been a big Pete Sampras fan, and really only read A Champion's Mind because a pro told me that it was interesting in comparison to Open, Andre Agassi's recent autobiography. I was hugely surprised to find the book was a very interesting read and that Sampras is a much nicer guy than I expected (in fact, Pete reminded me a lot of my son, which helped me relate to him right away). It was interesting to read about the 1990s era of tennis (and Andre Agassi) from another perspective, but...more
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As a longtime Sampras fan, I had to read to pay tribute to the champ. Pete was an incredibly focused kid. From a young age, he knew he would be the best tennis player in the world. Lots of kids dream of it, but he knew it. Because of his intense focus on his game, the rest of his life seemed a bit boring. But he was, and remains, a rare gentleman of tennis and a true champion. I would recommend this book to Sampras fans. For others, try reading this before bed. It will help put you to sleep!
I thought this would be an interesting read about one of the greatest tennis champions and as the reviews stated, the book is a good reflection of Pete Sampras. I enjoyed re-living many of his matches while reading his perspective on the game. There are no controversial or tabloid items revealed. Pete is just a nice guy and all about tennis! You will not like this book unless you are a tennis fan!
Interesting, especially after reading Andre Agassi's biography Open. No question Pete was a champion tennis player. No question there are some valuable lessons about competition and success. But, in my mind Pete does not come close to being the champion that Andre is. About half the size of Andre's book Pete's really is all about tennis.
Anyone who knows me knows that I was somewhat obsessed with Pete when he was playing. I was almost late to my own wedding because it was the same weekend as his last, victorious US Open!
So I was excited when I heard about this book. It's a very insightful look into Pete's life and the tennis world. It is very tennis-centered, and doesn't delve that deeply into his personal life. (Which I guess shouldn't be a huge surprise, given the way Pete conducted himself while in the limelight.)...more
So I was excited when I heard about this book. It's a very insightful look into Pete's life and the tennis world. It is very tennis-centered, and doesn't delve that deeply into his personal life. (Which I guess shouldn't be a huge surprise, given the way Pete conducted himself while in the limelight.)...more
This was not a very interesting book. He pretty much just talks about his tennis matches, one by one. He definitely just barely touches on his personal life. Andre Agassi's autobiography leaves this one in the dust.
Pete comes off as a little arrogant, but what else can you expect from someone as great as he is! All in all, very insightful and lots of good life lessons. But as a tennis player, I may be biased. :)
I was a huge Pete Sampras fan back in the 1990s (which seems like a long time ago). I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about Sampras. If you are tennis fan you will enjoy this one!
Although the book contains a lot of good tennis advice, I found it hard to read because Pete came across as so arrogant. I liked Agassi's and McEnroe's books much better.
Grand-slam champion, father and introspective person, Pete Sampras retells many life stories and several of his secrets to success in the tennis world and in life.
I enjoyed this book although I don't think it would appeal to non-tennis fans. Although he is gracious towards his rivals, he clearly states he was the best among his peers. I think that is a debatable point -- I would vote for Aggassi!
If you a interested in the tennis and the strategy of the game then this is a good book to read. I also gives you an in site of the ATP tour during the 90's.
Introspective look at tennis at the professional and technical level. Focus, hard work and 'the Gift' makes Pete a champion and interesting to read about.
I could've learned as much about him from watching clips on youtube or reading match statistics. Completely devoid of personality.
A nugget from Pete that I should learn: He alwaysd had enough self-confidence that he never felt so emotionally needy that he become close to someone he later regretted. It saved him the trouble of having to rebel against people in his life.
Quite an interesting look into the emotional roller-coaster that is the life of a world-class athlete.
Yes, it's another tennis player book. But it's pretty good, so far...
Pete training year after year. His dedication to be #1 everyyear. To break the grandslam record he tells you what, when, why,how to in this book.
It was little dry. Interesting when he was talking about matches.
This was a really good book about Pete Sampras's career.
Honestly, not the most thrilling read (especially compared to Agassi's book), but I am a Pete fan through-and-through, so I enjoyed a peek inside his introverted mind.
Oh, Pete Sampras. You are just not that interesting, but you do make me think about the psyche that goes into making a champion. Champion athletes must be very level and consistent and focused. You tell us that you don't like to "make too much of things," which means you don't like to think/overthink too much, which again is what athletes have to do to perform. The problem is, this mindset/tendency does not exactly make for a reflective person or a great memoir. But I do admire you fo...more
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