Pistol Pete back in London

Sampras is in England after a six-year-long hiatus

LONDON: “Did you guys miss me?” asked Pete Sampras when he faced the media at the Royal Albert Hall on his first visit to London in six years this week.

The 14-time grand slam champion is appearing in the final seniors tour event of the year, having recently rekindled his passion for the sport he dominated in the 1990s.

“Last time I was here was a major low point,” said Sampras, who briefly contemplated a return to Wimbledon in 2003 to try to wipe out the memory of the five-set defeat to Bastl. “Once Wimbledon came and went the year after I won the (2002) US Open I knew it was time for me to move on.”

As is common with many retiring athletes, Sampras found that moving on was not so easy. “I put on some weight. I wasn’t feeling too good about myself. Playing golf, playing poker. To be 31, 32 and retired is great but at the same time I’ve always been a worker, since I was a teenager. So to say ‘’Cold turkey I’m done’’, at first it was great but after a few years it felt like I needed something more to do.”

More recently, Sampras has joined the seniors tour, something that during his playing days he always maintained he would never do. In the end, his love of the game proved too strong.

“The last  couple of years I’ve missed it  more than when I first retired,” he said. “But it’s a brutal sport this one and it took a lot out of me. I needed a few years to decompress and take a deep breath to get to a point where I’d like to play again."