Pete &
Bridgette Interview on Connie Chung
September 13, 2002
Transcript
of Interview
ANNOUNCER:
And now Sampras with his new partner off the court.
CONNIE CHUNG
TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL
BREAK)
CHUNG: With
all the talk lately about the Williams sisters, Anna Kournikova
and women's tennis, you might have overlooked just one stunning
performance at this year's U.S. Open. You're about to meet him.
But first,
CNN's Josie Karp recaps just why it was so stunning.
(BEGIN
VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE KARP,
CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pete Sampras wasn't supposed
to win the U.S. Open this year and he wasn't supposed to win
it 12 years ago. Upsets now bookend a career built on consistency,
a career spent raising expectations so high and leaving them
so often that Sampras can be called the best player the game
has ever seen.
PETE SAMPRAS,
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: When I was dominating, No.
1 in the world, and winning slams easily, it was -- I expected
it.
KARP: From
Queens to Melbourne to Wimbledon, Sampras followed the trail
of vapor left by his powerful serve to six straight years as
the world's No. 1 player.
(BEGIN
VIDEO CLIP, 2001)
SAMPRAS:
To serve 125 up the middle, I'll be able to do that for the
rest of my career. And that's a big weapon to have. And that
will always give me the belief that I can still play this game.
(END
VIDEO CLIP)
KARP: The
only blemish on his record is his failure to win on the clay
courts at the French Open. Everywhere else, he dominated, especially
on the grass at Wimbledon, where Sampras has won seven times.
SAMPRAS:
It wasn't until I beat Becker here on the third time that people
started to appreciate that I didn't really say or do too much
and I just let my racket do the talking.
KARP: The
Southern Californian rarely lost his West Coast cool. But when
he did show emotion, the displays were striking: sobbing during
a 1995 win in Australia; vomiting during a 1996 U.S. Open match;
searching for his parents in the stands after winning Wimbledon
in 2000 for his record-setting 13th grand slam title.
When Sampras
arrived at this year's U.S. Open, he'd played in 33 tournaments
since that dramatic moment and hadn't won a single time. He
heard whispers that he should quit before ruining his legacy.
SAMPRAS:
One thing I promised myself, even though I was struggling this
year and hearing this and that, I deserved to stop on my own
terms.
KARP: Fittingly,
Sampras capped his comeback by beating Andre Agassi in their
34th meeting.
SAMPRAS:
At the end, he's my rival. Borg had McEnroe. I've had Andre
over the years. And he's the best.
KARP: After
beating Agassi this time, he was able to share a victory with
his wife for the first time.
SAMPRAS:
She's a big reason why I've been able to kind of get through
this tough period. It just showed me that I met the right woman.
KARP: At
just the right time.
Josie Karp,
CNN, New York.
(END
VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: And
joining me now from Los Angeles: Pete Sampras and his off- court
partner, his wife, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras.
Thank you
for being with us. I'm very thrilled to have you. Congratulations,
Pete. It's great.
PETE SAMPRAS,
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: No problem.
CHUNG: All
right, we'll get to tennis.
SAMPRAS:
Thank you very much.
CHUNG: All
right. And, congratulations, Bridgette.
We'll get
to everything in a minute, but tell me how the two of you met.
Go ahead,
Bridgette.
BRIDGETTE
WILSON-SAMPRAS, ACTRESS: Go ahead, honey.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMPRAS:
Go ahead. You take that one. I'll answer the tennis questions.
(LAUGHTER)
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
That's no fair.
CHUNG: Come
on.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Well, should I tell the real story?
CHUNG: Yes,
sure.
(LAUGHTER)
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Pete saw me in a movie. And a friend of his knew a friend of
mine, who set us up. And here we are.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: And
where did you go? Do you remember your first outing? Where did
you go?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
I actually went up to his house.
SAMPRAS:
On the first date, she came to my house.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: Uh-oh.
Really? That was very good.
Pete, I
know that you were -- your friend, what, was he doing P.R. for
the Knicks or the Lakers?
SAMPRAS:
For the Lakers.
CHUNG: For
the Lakers, yes.
SAMPRAS:
John Black.
CHUNG: And
he set you up, right?
(CROSSTALK)
SAMPRAS:
Yes. He helped and I delivered. (LAUGHTER)
SAMPRAS:
And nine months later, we were engaged. And a year later, we
were married. And now we have our first child coming at the
end of the year. And it all happened pretty quickly. So we're
very happy and we're looking forward to the future.
CHUNG: That's
wonderful. When is the baby due?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
In December.
CHUNG: Great.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
It's soon.
CHUNG: And
do you know if it's a boy or a girl? And you don't have to tell
us. I'm just curious if you know.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Not yet.
CHUNG: OK.
Now, Pete,
you know...
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Not to say we won't find out.
CHUNG: Right.
Bridgette,
I want to know one thing that none of us know about Pete Sampras.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Uh-oh.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMPRAS:
I hope it's not too personal.
CHUNG: No,
you don't have to tell me anything personal, just one little
thing that we don't know.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Wow.
CHUNG: Too
hard. You want to think about it?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
That's a tough question.
CHUNG: OK,
why don't you think about it? And at the end of the
interview, you can...
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Yes, give me a moment. We'll come back to that one.
CHUNG: All
right, OK, very good.
Now, Pete,
you know, we are going to get into tennis a little bit now,
because you did have a drought period from about -- for about
two years, September 2000. And people were saying that it had
to do with your relationship with Bridgette. And I just think
that's awful. I think that's very nasty and not nice.
However,
I did realize, of course, that Andre Agassi had sort of a drought
as well when he was first married to Brooke Shields. So, to
what do you attribute your sort of problems that you had for
a couple of years there, because I know you don't attribute
it to Bridgette?
SAMPRAS:
No, it's more -- yes, I broke the record a few years ago, my
13th major. And something came out of me after I did that. I
just -- I didn't feel like I had the week-in/week-out dominance
that I once had.
It took
a lot out of me. And I did struggle for a little bit. And I
got to the finals of the last two Opens, so I was still playing
fine. I just didn't have it week in, week out. But this year
has been a big struggle. Wimbledon was a huge low point. When
I got back from that trip, there were moments that I was thinking
about stopping. And it wasn't fun anymore. And it was kind of
a burden on our marriage a little bit.
But, fortunately,
I met the right woman, who supported me through a very tough
time, a great family who helped me out. And everything just
worked out at the U.S. Open. It was a tough tournament. But
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my wife and my family and
all those people that supported me through a very tough time.
And that's why this one is the sweetest one. I really worked
hard for it. And it all worked out well at the end.
CHUNG: And
it's so great. You know, I think all of us were rooting for
you in a big way.
Pete, how
important was it for you to have a win to show Bridgette --
I mean so that she could be right there?
SAMPRAS:
Well, she was -- I was struggling a little bit. And she was
not being blamed, but it was about me being married. And it
just felt good to kind of really show people wrong. And it just
kind of felt good that we did it as a team. And it -- she's
a big reason why I'm here today, having won this last major,
because, like I said, I did have moments of stopping.
But she
supported me and was positive. And those are the moments that
you need someone. And so she was my rock that kept me going.
And it really is -- it's something special, because I internalize
a lot. I don't speak a lot about my marriage. But I will say
that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my wife, because she
knows how miserable I was this year and the day-in/day-out kind
of misery that I was going through.
She was
there for me. And that -- it was why I married her. She's very
selfless and will do whatever she can for me and has put her
career aside for me. And it's really remarkable. And I'm still
pretty amazed by it.
CHUNG: Bridgette,
it's so great, isn't it?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Going to make me cry over here.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: I
know. I know. It is so great when a man loves a woman and feels
just free to tell everyone, to tell the world, and is so happy.
It even makes me want to cry, too.
Bridgette,
you put...
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: You
put a little note in your husband's gym bag the day of the finals.
What did you say to him?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
What did I say?
SAMPRAS:
Well, she -- well, you want to -- just saying that she was proud
of me, and I've worked hard to get here, and to take it to him,
and enjoy it out there and enjoy the atmosphere playing against
someone like Andre. It just -- it was good to read it.
Right before
I walked out, I read it and just -- it was nice to step away
a little bit from what I was doing and just appreciate my wife
and what she was saying. And it's nice having those notes to
read before you go out. And it's just always at the right time
or the
right place.
CHUNG: Yes.
Bridgette...
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
That's the most important thing for me, though, is just that
he allows himself to enjoy it. There are so many moments. There's
so much pressure. There's so many things going on, that to just
to have a little sort of quiet moment that allows our intimate
or special relationship to have its place, and then go out there
and
do it, but have it be just right there keeps it -- it's nice.
CHUNG: That's
so nice.
Pete, I
need to actually ask you -- which everybody is asking you --
about retirement. And you said you needed to wait a couple of
months before you really kind of decide. You have a full schedule
next year. So what do you think?
SAMPRAS:
I'm still weighing that up a little bit. I'm still enjoying
what happened last week. I will tell you, I love to compete
and I love to play. And it's fun again. It's fun playing the
way I did last week.
And I plan
on being back next year and having a full schedule and enjoying
Wimbledon one more time. And I didn't want to end it the way
it ended this year. So I plan on being back. It's what I love
to do, but still thinking about it. But there's a good chance
I'll be back.
CHUNG:
Good. Good.
Bridgette,
just five seconds left. Did you ever think of anything that
we don't know about Pete?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
I knew you were going to ask me.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
I knew you were going to remember.
CHUNG: Forget
it. I'll call you later and you can tell me.
(LAUGHTER)
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Perfect.
SAMPRAS:
I need air-conditioning when I sleep, you know?
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Oh, yes.
CHUNG: Oh,
there you go.
WILSON-SAMPRAS:
Yes, that's true. He sleeps in a meat locker.
SAMPRAS:
Yes, I do.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: All
right, good.
Well, our
studio will be perfect for you, Pete, because it's really cold
here, just the way it is on "David Letterman." And
you know how cold his studio his.
All right,
thank you so much. Pete Sampras and Bridgette, we appreciate
your being with us.
-end-