A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis |
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A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis
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In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people “inside his head” finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for the game. But while this determination led to tennis domination, success didn’t come without a price.
Here for the first time Pete speaks freely about the personal trials he faced—including the death of a longtime coach and confidant—and the struggles he gutted his way through while being seemingly on top of the world. Among the book’s most riveting scenes are the devastating early loss that led Pete to make a monastic commitment to the game; fierce on-court battles with Andre Agassi; and the triumphant last match of Pete’s career at the finals of the 2002 U.S. Open.
"A thoroughly compelling read that really probes the hard drive of a champion...All the emotion and insight that Sampras seemes reluctant to express during his playing days come spilling forth." —Jon Wertheim, senior writer, Sports Illustrated
Overall good book. I was expecting more details of the matches. I guess because I read the Agassi Open book and it was so revealing in many ways. But Sampras is more reserved. He still has some good inputs on most of his opponents, just not as detailed. I do recommend it though.
This book is a lot like Sampras’s game. Nothing too exciting. Goes into some of his key matches as a pro. I really wish it would have been more in depth than Agassi’s “Open” book but I still can’t complain. Pete offered some good insight on his thought process during matches and that was pretty interesting.
Having just finished Agassi’s “Open” I immediately picked up “Champion’s Mind” (highly recommend it) hoping to relive the action through another pair of eyes. Unfortunately, for a game that puts so much stress both physically and mentally on the player, this autobiography reads more like a mechanical recollection of the matches, with a few offhand remarks about the opponent or key points in the game. Sampras was, and still remains an extremely private person, and unfortunately this book does little to help us understand the game, or the player. Game, set, match goes to Agassi’s “Open” – now there’s a book any tennis fan should not miss.
I thought it was a honest narration of a great champion’s quest for excellence. He does not show his greatness by pulling others down as Agassi has done in his book.
I enjoyed taking the time to get to ‘know’ Pete a little bit. I always loved his game, his class and his committment to excellence. It was nice to get a behind the scenes feel of the mindset that Sampras had through certain matches, off time – and through his entire career.
Peter Bodo has always been a greatly overrated writer in my book. The editing is a bit sloppy – but otherwise – this is a pretty easy read, and nice to get a feel for a guy who, in my opinion, is the hands-down best player I’ve ever seen.