USTA: Questions, please.
Q.
What's the scoop, Pete?
PETE
SAMPRAS: I'm sorry?
Q.
Tell us what happened.
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah, well, I was hitting on Sunday
with Kuerten, and, you know, went for a shot.
I felt my back -- I felt my back go a little
bit. I walked off the court and saw the
doctor immediately. You know, I got some
treatment on it. It was basically for the
past 48 hours struggling with just getting
around my hotel room. And last night, I did a
few tests, CAT scan and an MRI, and it showed
I have a herniated disc, which will obviously
have to pull out of this event and be out for
quite some time. That's pretty much how these
last three days have gone.
Q.
How much pain are you in? Are you in
discomfort sitting there?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, no. I'm fine sitting. Anytime
I bend, bend over, I'm very limited. It's
really very sore, and that's it.
Q.
How hard is it for you to pull out of this
event, to have something wrong with you like
that?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, it's very hard to pull out of
the event. I was looking forward to having
the opportunity to play here. I love playing
the US Open. The way that I've been playing
the last two months, I liked my chances here.
But it's happened, and it's kind of a fluke
thing. I've never had this situation before
where I've played aand pulled my back like
this. But I believe, you know, everything
happens for a reason. These last couple days,
I've been trying to figure out, you know,
that reason. I'm sure it will be very clear
to me in six months' time or a year's time,
you know, why this has happened. But right
now, I'm obviously very overwhelmed, and I
really wanted to have the chance to play
here. I'm not saying I was going to win here
or whatever, but, you know, to break the
all-time record was a dream that I had, to do
it here in New York. But, you know, it just
goes to show how important your health is.
Without my health, I can't play.
Q.
Do you have any uncertainty that you will
still get the chance to break the all-time
record?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, I'm going to have many US
Opens ahead of me, and many Grand Slam
opportunities ahead of me. As hard as this is
right now, I'm sure a month from now, or six
months from now, I'll have another chance.
But as competitive as I am, I was hoping to
do it here. It's obviously not going to
happen. But, you know, I'll get through it. I
know I will. I'll get through this, and look
forward to next year. Hopefully one day I can
do it, but it's not like I'm sitting here,
you know, 32, 33, I feel like I've got a few
good years in me, providing I stay healthy.
This is definitely a setback.
Q.
Are you under the impression you're going to
require surgery?
PETE
SAMPRAS: No.
Q.
What type of treatment, have they explained
to you at all?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, rest is the main thing, and
giving little stress to my back as possible.
Not doing anything. I see myself for the next
couple weeks just getting treatment twice a
day and not doing anything. I can't do
anything.
Q.
How do you feel about Kuerten and do you
blame him?
PETE
SAMPRAS: No.
Q.
You said you'd be out quite some time. Is
there a time frame on that?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, the doctor can probably answer
that better. You know, I'm definitely --
we're looking at a good month where I'm not
really going to play. I don't know what the
rest of the year really -- what I have in
store for the rest of the year. You know, I'm
sure he can give you more of a definite
answer.
Q.
You said you were trying to find some reason
for this problem. What do you think that
could be?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, I was talking about a reason
more in my life versus anything else. I mean,
like I said, there's a reason, you know, that
I believe this has happened. Like I said, I
don't know what that reason is today, but in
four months' time or six months' time or a
year from now, I'm going to, you know, figure
it out, it's going to make sense to me. It's
a setback. I mean, it's definitely tough. The
last three days have been hell, just feeling
like I could -- the worrying about not
playing and the stress, then finally getting
some tests done on it was really the last
straw that said, "That's it, it's
over."
Q.
Once you got that diagnosis that it was a
herniated disc, there was no question you
were not going to play?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Once I heard that, I was out.
Q.
On Sunday night, Monday morning, did you
still think there was a small chance?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah, Sunday night and Monday, I
felt that I had some back spasms, it was
something I could get a Wednesday start and
kind of work it through, you know, just do
whatever I can to play. Dr. Hainline made a
good call in doing an MRI just to make sure
we cover everything, and we did that.
Obviously, you know, the news wasn't what I
was hoping for. It was a little bit more
serious than I thought. But, you know, once
you do something to your back and a disc,
it's dangerous, and I don't want this to be
an ongoing problem over my career. It's best
to take care of this now. Like I said, I'm
going to have many US Opens ahead of me, and
it's hard to say, but I'm looking forward to
coming back.
Q.
Can Dr. Hainline give us his assessment?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I'm sorry?
Q.
Could you tell us your assessment?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: Well, I think Pete has
summarized it pretty well. I think the
salient features are that he's never had a
back problem before, and this was his first
episode of a back problem. We were fortunate
in being able to diagnose the herniated disc
very early, before it became anything
serious. In fact, when we look at the MRI,
his discs look very healthy. There's a very,
very focal tear right in the center. It's not
pressing on any nerves. It's so focal, it's
relatively small, that we would expect him to
recover fully from this. It's just being
prudent to allow him to rest because when
something is early and small like this,
there's a risk that the tear can enlarge, and
then you're set up for back problems that
become more chronic.
Q.
Can you describe where in the back it is?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: It's at what we call the L-5,
S-1 level. It's between the fifth lumbar
vertebrae and the sacrum.
Q.
Is this the kind of injury that results in
cumulative stress, or it goes from one month
to the next?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I don't think we would call
it cumulative stress. It's something that
happened, and we can try to analyze it
biomechanically and from our points of view
and not get a wholly satisfactory answer.
Q.
Is this the kind of injury that also radiates
down the leg? Do you feel the pain down the
leg? Is it close to a rupture?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: If the disc ruptures and it
starts going off to the side, it will then
press on a nerve, and then you have what's
called sciatica, or pain radiating down the
leg. This is very small. It's right in the
center. It's not pressing on a nerve. It's
just pressing on a pain-sensitive ligament.
We expect it would stay like that. As Pete
had said, it's really about a month of rest
and then the proper rehabilitation, then it
should heal completely.
Q.
What kind of rehabilitation would he require?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: It's first rest, and then
working with a good spine therapist. It's
learning the proper exercises to strengthen
the back in a certain way. Ultimately, to do
what we call stabilization, to learn how to
stabilize the spine to help prevent something
like this happening in the future.
Q.
The initial indication we had Sunday was that
this was a mild back strain, that it
shouldn't be a problem. Do you have cause to
believe that something happened between then
and last night's test to further aggravate
it, or was it just more serious than you
originally thought?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I think that common things
are common. In the tennis tournament, we
might see 20 back strains. Pete had initial
back pain. It was relatively well-localized.
There wasn't anything else. There wasn't a
compelling reason to think it was a disc
herniation, although we talked about that
possibility. It's that he really didn't
recover over a period of 24 hours, was having
trouble bending, that we went the next step.
Q.
Was this a move you made on the court
extremely unusual? Did you hear a pop? Was it
a forehand, backhand?
PETE
SAMPRAS: It was on a return of serve. I
didn't hear anything, but I felt something
go. I felt my back just got, you know, it was
stabbed by a knife. I immediately stopped. I
was plenty warmed up. I hit for a half hour.
I just started playing some points. You know,
I went for this backhand return, and I felt
it. It scared me. There's no question it
scared me. I just walked off the court.
That's where I'm at.
Q.
Over your career you've had many physical
setbacks. Emotionally, how does this compare
with the others?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, this is, up to this point,
will be the most difficult for a number of
reasons: because of the buildup playing here,
the way I've been playing the past couple
months. I felt good coming in here. You know,
I've had some nagging injuries, muscles that
I can play through, through adrenaline or
whatever. But this one was past the point of
being able to play. I'm sure these next, you
know, two weeks will be tough emotionally
because I want to be here. I've been part of
the US Open for every year of my career. I'm
going to miss it. There's no question I'm
going to miss playing here. But I'll be fine.
I've got my family to support me when I go
back home. I'm looking forward to seeing
them, just getting through.
Q.
Do you see yourself spending the next weeks,
months at home? Do you have any plan yet as
to what you're going to be doing?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah. I'm just going to go home and
take care of my back.
Q.
Home to California?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah. I'll just do whatever the
doctors want me to do to get this thing
better because it doesn't feel good. You
know, I'm very limited in what I can do. Just
moving around my hotel room, I've just been
struggling with that. Just get treatment
twice a day, you know, taking care of it.
That's not fun, you know. It's not how I want
to spend my time off. This is the position
I'm in.
Q.
There's a tremendous amount of injuries right
now, especially amongst the men. Do you feel
the schedule is just too much or this age of
power tennis is possibly going to be
shortening careers, as opposed to 20 years
ago?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, it's really hard for me to
say, to comment on that right at the moment.
For me, I've only played ten tournaments this
year, so I haven't overplayed. You know,
injuries are part of sports. You play a lot,
you know, for many, many years you're going
to have some different injuries. I can
honestly say that this injury was more of a
fluke than anything. It wasn't from
overplaying. It wasn't from overstress. It
was just a bad move at the wrong time. That's
what happened. I mean, I've had some things
over the years, but, you know, my schedule is
really important to me these next few years,
how much I want to play. But, you know,
injuries is part of sports.
Q.
Sometimes with athletes, back injuries are
attributed to issues of flexibility or
conditioning. Despite the fact that you're
playing so well, are you content with that
side?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah. The way I've been playing and
moving these last two months, some of the
best tennis I've played ever. You know,
conditioning-wise, I'm as fit now as I've
ever been. It's just a bad move, you know. I
did something, and my body wasn't ready for
it, and it went. I knew it when I did it,
that this was a little bit more serious than
I thought. Like I said, it just wasn't
chronic stiffness. I felt it on one
particular move. When that happens, you get a
little worried. I was planning on playing. I
woke up Monday morning -- Monday I was,
"Okay, let's get rid of this stiffness
and I'll be fine." All credit to Dr.
Hainline here. He recommended an MRI just to
cover everything. It was the right call,
because he saw something, which obviously was
not good news for me.
Q.
Doctor, given this injury and that you have a
superior athlete who is going to get the best
possible rehabilitation therapy, what would
be the most optimistic forecast for Pete to
be back on the court playing competitive
tennis?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I think one can be very
optimistic. Again, this injury was caught
quite early. It's very focal. He should be
able to heal. He should be back playing full
force, if all goes well, in one to two
months. Again, because it was caught early,
it wasn't a complete rupture of the disc, so
the long-term consequences on the back are
actually reasonably good, that the rest of
the disc looked fine. This disc itself looks
fine, except for one small area. To be able
to return as he had been, without any
limitations from his back, I think one can
express that with confidence.
Q.
When you say rest, is bed rest the most
optimum thing or not bed rest? Actually being
in bed, not moving around?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: No. Actually, rest really
would mean not to be working out at a
competitive level, and even for the first
couple of weeks, just walking, not doing any
lifting or excessive bending. But not staying
around in bed. You really want to keep the
back muscles working, as well.
Q.
Could you repeat the medical phrase you used
in reference to Pete's injury and spell it?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: Well, there's a small disc,
d-i-s-c (laughter), herniation at L-5, S-1.
Usually we write that as a L-5, S-1.
Q. Doctor, if this injury were
to reoccur, would you recommend that that
would be it from a professional standpoint in
terms of the kind of athletic performance
required at this level?
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I think any time there's an
injury, you assess the nature of the injury,
and you put that in context of the person
you're working with. If it were to reoccur at
a microscopic or minor level such that it is
right now, there would be no reason not to
continue to work with this. Maybe to rethink
the rehabilitation program. If it were to be
something else, then you might think that
way. But really, and in all honesty, that's
not even our forecast because this is so
early. Again, just emphasizing the spine
really looks good on the imaging studies. I
think some of what we're doing is because
Pete's in pain, and you can't play tennis in
pain and expect to do well. Some of it is
being very reasonable and preventive because
there is still such a good chance that he
should be able to compete at a high level,
and this should not prevent him from doing
so.
Q.
You won four titles here, but you also have
had incidents of injury and illness against
Corretja, Yzaga, Rafter last year, and then
now. Do you feel a little bit unlucky?PETE
SAMPRAS: No, I don't feel unlucky. I don't
feel like that at all. I feel I'm very
disappointed. I was looking forward to an
opportunity to play the tennis I've been
playing these past couple months. But I've
been fortunate with some of the matches I've
won here over the years. Sure, it is unlucky,
but it's nothing to do with being in New York
City or playing the US Open. I couldn't think
of a worse time for this to happen, on the
Sunday before a major tournament. But it's
happened. Listen, I'm going to be very bummed
out this next week, next couple weeks. Each
day I'll get up in the morning, and it will
get a little bit easier. I'll look forward to
this tournament finally being over and moving
on and learning from this, you know, figuring
out how I can prevent it or just kind of
going from there. But I plan on being back.
There's no question. I'll be back here.
Q.
Do you think you'll watch any of it on TV?
PETE
SAMPRAS: I'm going to try not to.
Q.
Will you go to the clinic?
PETE
SAMPRAS: No. I'm figuring that out now.
Q.
Have you talked to any of the other players
in the draw?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Andre called me this morning, talked
to him for a little while. He feels bad for
me. Very classy thing to do on his part.
Q.
He already knew when he called you?
PETE
SAMPRAS: I knew last night. I'm sorry, what
was your question?
Q.
When he called you this morning, he already
knew?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Do you think he was calling me to
tell me he won last night (laughter)? No, I'm
sure he knew.
Q.
Do you feel any more or less pain, or was it
the same from the time the injury happened
Sunday until you woke up yesterday?
PETE
SAMPRAS: It's been pretty much the same from
Sunday night to right now. I just feel very
limited, can't really bend. You know, I was
hoping by Sunday -- Sunday night I was hoping
by today it would start feeling better, I
could hit some balls and play on Wednesday.
Obviously it's much more serious than I
thought.
Q.
If you had been able to play and you had been
able to win, break the record here, there's
talk that would make you less inclined to go
to Australia and play. Do you think you're
more inclined to go and play the Australian
Open now?
PETE
SAMPRAS: I haven't thought that far ahead,
what I'm going to do next year, what I'm
doing for the rest of this year. But, sure,
not going there this year didn't help my
tennis for the first three or four months.
I'm going to figure it out. I'll figure it
out over the next couple months. If I go down
there, I'd like to go down there, what
tournaments in Europe I want to play. My
first and main concern is to try to take care
of my back. Once I take care of that, I can
kind of move ahead and make a good schedule.
Q.
In Indianapolis, was your back hurting then?
PETE
SAMPRAS: No.
Q.
Did you withdraw in that match?
PETE
SAMPRAS: I hurt my hip.
Q.
You had back problems in Bercy last year and
this year in Barcelona. Any connections?
PETE
SAMPRAS: That was different. That was more
muscular spasm, which you just got to play
through. That's more of a chronic problem
that I've had every now and again. You know,
this situation, doing it on a particular
move, which scared me, and getting some tests
done yesterday which showed a little tear is
enough for me, you know, to take a break and
get this thing better. I've never had disc
problems. I've never had serious back
problems like this one. I've had chronic
stuff. If it was chronic, I'd play tomorrow.
But it seems a little bit more serious than
that.
Q.
The hip problem has disappeared?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Yeah.
Q.
What sort of medication are you on?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Well, last couple days, I've been on
Naprosyn, you know, a thousand milligrams,
1,500 milligrams a day, just trying to knock
it out. Hasn't really helped, you know.
Doesn't feel like it's getting much better.
I'm sure these next couple weeks, I'll treat
this very aggressively.
Q.
Doctor, could you comment on the question
before, is there a problem of the schedule
with being tennis more powerful than possibly
a decade ago?
PETE
SAMPRAS: You don't want to answer that. He's
not a tennis expert, but you can answer it if
you want (laughter).
DR.
BRIAN HAINLINE: I've never played the
schedule. I think two things have happened.
In addition to perhaps there being more play,
the trainers are working so much more
progressively with the players. I don't think
there are data that demonstrate that the
injury rate is different than it was 10 or 20
years ago. There are more players playing at
a top level, highly-competitive level. I
think the whole health care system has
evolved with that. I don't think there is an
answer right now. You know, that question has
been looked at. The data just doesn't support
any hypothesis at present.
Q.
You said you had trouble moving around your
hotel room. What specifically couldn't you
do?
PETE
SAMPRAS: Whatever. I mean, I felt it in
trying to fall asleep. Every time I moved a
different direction, I was feeling it. Moving
around, picking up things, just doing the
day-to-day stuff people do. You know, you
need your back to do whatever you need to do.
I just was struggling these last couple days
just with whatever. I couldn't imagine
picking up a racquet and trying to play.
That's something I know I'm not ready to do
quite yet.
End of FastScripts
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