Pete Sampras.

Pete Sampras. Pete Sampras, born in 1971, American professional tennis player, who holds the record for most career grand slam singles titles with 14. Born Peter Sampras in Washington, D.C., he was raised in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. In 1988 he left high school to become a professional tennis player. In 1990 he won the United States Open and the inaugural Grand Slam Cup tournament. Sampras, modeling his style of play on that of Australian tennis player Rod Laver, developed an extremely fast serve and powerful ground strokes. He also became known for his proficient volleying. In 1993 Sampras won Wimbledon and then his second U.S. Open. That year he also became the first professional player to record more than 1,000 aces (serves beyond the reach of the opponent) in a single year. During the mid- and late 1990s Sampras dominated the grand slam tournaments, which in tennis are Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open. He twice won the Australian Open (1994, 1997) and the U.S. Open (1995, 1996) and captured six more Wimbledon titles (1994, 1995, 1997-2000). With his seventh Wimbledon singles championship, Sampras tied a record set more than 100 years earlier. Sampras won at least one grand slam title every year from 1993 to 2000. In 2002 he won his fifth U.S. Open title, his 14th overall singles title in a grand slam event. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.