Tennis Titan

I love the game of tennis and have played it since I was 8 years old. That's when rackets were made of wood and susceptible to warping. Of course, we'd still play in the rain at times and then dutifully place our wet racket into a wood frame that would help to keep the frame from warping. Now tennis rackets are made of every kind of light weight and space age material and don't have to worry about the shape of the head changing.

Tennis is a sport where champions reaching the top, do not generally stay there long. There's always someone younger waiting...hitting the ball harder, more consistently, and with ice in his veins. Pete Sampras was once one of those young up and coming players who was intent on rising to the top. He did, and in the process he won 14 Grand Slam titles during his 15 year ATP career. Overall, Sampras won 64 career titles! That's an incredible record of accomplishment. He was ranked number 1 in the world, 6 consecutive years. Recently, Pete was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Last night I had the opportunity to watch Pete dismantle Jim Courier in straight sets at VanAndel Arena. During the second set, Courier, another Hall of Famer himself, took a break to care for an injury. This left Sampras on the court by himself. Instead of taking a break himself and maybe seeking some rest and refreshment away from the crowd, he instead invited the kids who were serving as ballchasers, to hit with him...one at a time. What a thrill for the each of these teen players! For the next 15 minutes or so the teens rotated in and out while hitting with a pro who is considered to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

Way to go Pete! That's class!