Pete Sampras

Throughout his teenage years, tennis dominated Sampras's life. He didn't have any close friends at school, never played any other sports, and never socialized with his age group, except for his buddies at the Jack Kramer Club where he practiced. In 1987, when he was sixteen, he entered the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Boys' 18 tournament, placing second in singles (losing to Michael Chang in the finals) and first in doubles. After making it to the third round of the Newsweek Champions Cup several weeks later, Sampras accepted the $7,000 prize money, which effectively changed his status from amateur to professional. Quitting school, Sampras joined the tour in 1988, beginning his career ranked No. 311 in the world.

Sampras had a rather unremarkable rookie season. His only win was a doubles title in Rome with Jim Courier as his partner. He entered one grand slam event, the U.S. Open, but was ousted in the first round. The following year, Sampras made his presence known at the 1989 U.S. Open by making it into the fourth round, upsetting defending champion Mats Wilander along the way. Soon after, Sampras and Fischer parted company after a bitter argument regarding Fischer's compensation as well as Fischer's high expectations. According to Sports Illustrated, Fischer was upset because Sampras wasn't training hard enough. "The only acceptable rank for you is Number 1," he told Sampras. When Sampras's father retorted, "What if he wants to be Number 5?" Fischer answered, "Unacceptable." The two did not speak for three years, and thereafter had a distant and more remote friendship. (In 1998 Fischer pled guilty to charges of child molestation and spent several years in prison.) Despite their less-than-amicable parting, Sampras has long praised Fischer as being responsible for pushing him to become a champion rather than just a good tennis player.