Sampras is one of the most successful male players in the history of the Wimbledon Championships, winning the singles title seven times. This was once an all-time record shared with William Renshaw until Roger Federer won his 8th title in 2017. Sampras also won five US Open titles, a joint Open-era record shared by Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors, and two Australian Open titles. His 14 Grand Slam titles were a record, surpassed only when Federer won his 15th Grand Slam title in Wimbledon 2009 and when Rafael Nadal won his own 15th title at the 2017 French Open. Sampras also won 64 singles titles. He first reached world No. 1 in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks, including a record six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.\n', '

Sampras was born in Washington, D.C., the third child of Soterios "Sammy" and Georgia (née Vroustouris) Sampras. His mother emigrated from Sparta, Greece, and his father was born in the United States to a Greek father, Costas "Gus" Sampras and a Polish Jewish mother, Sarah A. Steinberg. He attended regular services of the Greek Orthodox Church on Sundays.\n', 'At the age of 3, he discovered a tennis racket in the basement of his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall.\n', '

In 1978, the Sampras family moved to Palos Verdes, California, and the warmer climate there allowed the seven-year-old Sampras to play tennis throughout more of the year. From early on, his great idol was Rod Laver, and at the age of 11, Sampras met and played tennis with the legend. The Sampras family joined the Jack Kramer Club, and it was here that Sampras\'s talent became apparent. As a teenager, Sampras trained with tennis coach Robert Lansdorp. The forehand he learned from Lansdorp was the same forehand he used throughout his career. The key was an emphasis on driving through the ball and not hitting extreme topspin. He was spotted by Dr.Peter Fischer, a pediatrician and tennis enthusiast, who coached Sampras until 1989. Fischer was responsible for converting Sampras\'s double-handed backhand to single-hand with the goal of being better prepared to win Wimbledon.\n', '

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