Sampras Wants to Be Known as the Best, but He Needs to Rest

Pete Sampras didn’t belong with the other elite athletes at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Michael Jordan has adapted quickly to retirement; it will be news when he is not on a golf course.

Roger Clemens does not have to report to spring training until next month. Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were forced to come. If they had their choice, they would have been preparing for the Super Bowl.

(Contrary to reports you might have seen elsewhere, Charles Barkley did not skip the first day of Houston Rockets practice to go golfing. I saw Barkley on the PGA West course, and what he did with a club could not be called golf.)

But Sampras was swinging golf clubs instead of a tennis racket while all of his contemporaries were down at the Australian Open. This wasn’t some bank-sponsored event in Indianapolis. It’s a Grand Slam tournament.

“It kind of hurts not to be playing, because it is a Grand Slam,” Sampras said. “But I needed time off. I put so much into the end of the last season [playing seven tournaments in October and November]. And there really is no off-season in tennis.”

Sampras said this might not be the last time he skips an event like the Australian Open. He knows it’s the least regarded of the four Grand Slams. He seems up for the challenge of winning on the clay courts of the French Open, the one major title that has eluded him. And he wins titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open most of the times he shows up.

Sampras, 27, is starting to reach the stage in his career where he feels it’s important to pace himself. Because the sport thrusts players into the spotlight in their teenage years, they often struggle to last 15 years. Boris Becker was considered a relic before he reached 30.

Sampras would rather miss out on a title here or there and stay near the top until he’s 35 or so. Not coincidentally, that’s Jordan’s age. Don’t think Sampras isn’t aware.

“You look at guys that were great for many many years, the longevity,” Sampras said. “That’s the thing that Jordan has and Gretzky has and that’s one thing I think I’ve done over the course of my career. It’s one thing to have a couple of good years here and there. But to do it over the course of a career, you can only respect that.”

Sampras pushed himself so hard at the end of 1998 because he wanted to retain the year-end No. 1 ranking for the sixth consecutive year. His next Grand Slam victory will be his 12th, tying the record set by Roy Emerson.

Not only is Sampras the best tennis player of his generation, he makes a strong case for the best of all time. He’s physically superior to most opponents and his mental toughness gives him the edge over those with more power.

When it comes to achievement in his sport, Sampras really does belong in the same paragraph, the same room, or even the same golf course with the likes of Jordan, Rice, Clemens and even a member of Sampras’ foursome Saturday, Arnold Palmer.

“It’s great to be in that company,” Sampras said. “There’s a lot of mutual respect we have for one another. I feel like, fortunately, I’ve done well in my sport to feel like I’m on the same type of playing level with those guys.”

Yet Sampras never receives the same exalted status. Granted, he did not elevate the popularity of his sport the way Palmer did or break barriers like Jackie Robinson.

But Jordan wasn’t a groundbreaker either. He just did his thing better than anyone had before, and came about in an age and a league that were perfectly suited to promote his accomplishments.

Go back a couple of decades and Sampras would probably be the one with all the endorsements. Ironically, it was the promotion of tennis players that led to the creation of Air Time Jordan.

Jordan’s agent, David Falk, got his start working for agent Donald Dell at ProServ, whose clients were primarily tennis players. Falk’s vision was to market team-sports players to the same degree as players in individual sports. Combined with the public-relations machine of the NBA, it worked. Tennis, the hot sport of the 1970s, was left in the dust.

“It’s too bad,” Sampras said. “Obviously, the NBA and the NFL are the two biggest sports in the country. Tennis has got a ways to go to get up there. I’m not in it for the recognition or the glory--but it is nice.

“Tennis--I don’t know if it’s the marketing, or it’s too many tournaments. It kind of gets lost in the shuffle.”

Jordan had almost a cult-like following throughout the week here, with people stumbling over themselves to bask in all things Air. One fan even scurried onto the fairway to snatch a cigar butt that Jordan had tossed aside.

The only person who could possibly take attention from Jordan was the colorful Barkley, who carried on an almost nonstop banter with the fans.

Barkley provided more than just comedic relief. He occasionally acted as a marshal, reminding people to be quiet during swings. He also gave PGA pro Peter Jacobsen some swing tips, which was even more difficult to imagine than Barkley telling people to keep their mouths shut. Barkley’s golf swing looks like a broken sprinkler.

But he got laughs. And attention.

Sampras doesn’t have that in him. He’s good for a wisecrack here and there, and that’s about it.

To his credit, he doesn’t try to put on an act, pretending he’s somebody he isn’t. That also means he won’t have as many Web sites devoted to him as Dennis Rodman does. So be it. People like Gretzky and Palmer respect him, and really, they’re the only ones who can relate.