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 Tattoos and tennis Sampras wants a 'Rodman' to help revive sport
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 04:15 PM
WIMBELDON, England (AP) -- Pete Sampras wants a Dennis Rodman for tennis, but don't look for the Wimbledon champion to sport dyed hair and a tattoo anytime soon. After his fourth-round victory in straight sets over qualifier Sebastien Grosjean, Sampras spoke with unusual candor about what ails men's tennis, particularly in the United States. "Really, when the game was successful you had four guys in the top five," said Sampras, going for his fifth Wimbledon title in six years. "They played each other in the semifinals and finals of all the Slams, they had different personalities -- and they all hated each other. "So that's great theater. And now -- it's sad but true -- that's probably what the game needs. It needs a little controversy. It needs a little Dennis Rodman type of guy. "It needs a little more hatred, or whatever you want to call it," Sampras went on. "That's kind of where we're at, you need a rivalry, you need something so that people not following the game might follow the game." A look at Wimbledon's men's quarterfinals makes the point, with three of the eight remaining players virtually unknown outside their own countries -- Davide Sanguinetti of Italy, Wayne Ferreira of South Africa and Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands. Sampras, saying there's "only so much I can do," applauded the return to form of Andre Agassi. "When Andre and I had our rivalry a couple of years ago, tennis in the States was great," he said. "And now it seem to have fizzled." Revealing a little-known aspect of his life, Sampras admitted recently he sleeps blindfolded. Was there another little-known side of his life to divulge? "Just because I play good tennis everyone thinks there's got to be something a little bit quirky, but there really isn't," he said. "I'm a normal guy that just happens to play good tennis."
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Wimbledon is not the only thing Pete Sampras wants to win 