Pete Sampras

If Davis Cup was a little bit less or once every two years, I would be more inclined to play. But the way it is now, it is too much tennis for me.

Golfers are forever working on mechanics. My tennis swing hasn't changed in 10 years.

I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.

In tennis, you can make a couple of mistakes and still win. Not in golf. I played three rounds in that Tahoe event, and I was drained. Mentally, not physically.

I don't know how I do it, I really don't.

It's not my place to tell you whom to vote for, to take any political stand, to tell you what religion to believe in. I'm an athlete. I can influence certain things, but when I see other athletes and celebrities telling you whom to vote for, I actually get a bit offended.

All I cared about in tennis was winning.

I hate to lose, and I do whatever I can to win, and if it is ugly, it is ugly.

I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids.

I've got a great wife, a great life.

For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.

I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work.

When I committed to playing a little tennis in some exhibitions, it was the best thing for me. It got me in shape. It got me out of the house. It got me doing something I love to do.

I don't look at myself as a historical icon, but the reality of it is, yeah, I am playing for history now.

Tennis is seen all around the world; if I am home or anywhere in the country, United States, people will stare.

People wrote me off, but I believed in myself. I got the confidence back, and it grew and grew. I won my first major and my last at the place that changed my life.

Where I fall down is my short game. I don't practice enough, and when I have to take a half swing from 50 yards out, that's trouble.

There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.

You kind of live and die by the serve.

It is nice to walk out on a court to have it packed.

Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure.

I am going to hold serve the majority of the time. It is nice to have a little time to return serve.

Andre Agassi was my rival in the '90s, and I think as we got older we sort of transcended the game. He was probably the best player I ever played over my career. There's a list of players that were tough, but Andre, certainly, he was the most unique.

After I went through two years of not winning an event, what kept me going was winning one more major. Once I won that last U.S. Open, I spent the next six months trying to figure out what was next. Slowly my passion for the sport just vanished. I had nothing left to prove.

The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.

When you retire you want to get as far away as possible from the game for a couple of years.

I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.

It's not easy to retire at 31. In one respect I was glad I was done. But after a few years of having fun, I got a little restless. When you're 33, 34, and you don't have a focus, you can get kind of lost. As a man, you feel a little bit unfulfilled.

I never wanted to be the great guy or the colorful guy or the interesting guy. I wanted to be the guy who won titles.

People know me. I'm not going to produce any cartwheels out there. I'm not going to belong on Comedy Central. I'll always be a tennis player, not a celebrity.

I could be a jerk and get a lot more publicity, but that's not who I am.