REMEMBERING `SMILEY' SOUTH BAY QUICKLY RECOGNIZED SAMPRAS' TREMENDOUS TALENT.Byline: Karen Crouse Staff Writer High on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Greek god of tennis appeared as if dropped from the heavens. He scudded across the court like a cloud, carrying in his hands a thunderbolt disguised as a tennis racket. It was on the courts of Las Canchas in Torrance that strangers first gathered to behold this wisp (1) (Wireless ISP) An ISP that provides fixed or mobile wireless services to its customers. WISPs provide last mile access to rural areas and small villages as well as industrial parks at the edge of town. See ISP, fixed wireless and 802.11. See also WISPr. of a wonder. It was there two oracles took his father aside one day and augured his greatness. Eleven years later, he would become the youngest U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. later, he towers over tennis, the winner of 62 titles, including 12 Grand Slams. This weekend, he will lead the U.S. against the Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. in the second round of the Davis Cup Davis Cup: see tennis. Davis Cup Trophy awarded to the winning team of an international tennis tournament for men. It was donated in 1900 by Dwight F. at the Forum, not far from where he grew up. And yet, long before the world had heard of Pete Sampras Peter “Pete” Sampras (born 12 August 1971), is a former World No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During his 15-year career he won a record 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles in 52 appearances. Sampras finished as No. , his tennis raised plenty of eyebrows around Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and one inexorable question: Would his body stretch enough to fit his genius? SAMPRAS WAS 8 when two lawyers saw him returning balls fed to him by his father, Soterios (Sam), on a court at Las Canchas. They recommended the family proceed as fast as its Ford Pinto The Ford Pinto was a subcompact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market, first introduced on September 11 in 1971, and built through the 1980 model year. Like many Ford cars, it had a similar car sold under the Lincoln-Mercury brand. would take it to the nearby Peninsula Racquet Club for professional instruction. The two men had noticed immediately what was obvious even to Sam, an aerospace engineer unapologetically unconversant in tennis: His youngest son possessed uncanny coordination and quickness for someone so young. In every other way Sampras was a normal kid. His older sister Stella and older brother Gus dragged their mother and father to the courts before dinner, and Pete, the third of the couple's four children, tagged along after them, retrieving balls and thrilling for any deflected attention. By the time Sampras turned 10, he was routinely practicing with some of the game's top young players. The Samprases had joined the Jack Kramer John Albert Kramer (born August 1, 1921, in Las Vegas, Nevada) was a champion U.S. tennis player of the 1940s. A World No. 1 player for a number of years, he is a possible candidate for the title of the greatest tennis player of all time. Club in Rolling Hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. Estates, which in the late 1970s and early 1980s was ground zero for the U.S. junior tennis explosion. The club boasted more talented kids than television's ``Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse Famous character of Walt Disney's animated cartoons. He was introduced in Steamboat Willie (1928), the first animated cartoon with sound. Mickey was created by Disney, who also provided his high-pitched voice, and was usually drawn by the studio's head animator, Club'' would some 15 years later. There was Eliot Telscher, Derrick Rostagno Derrick Rostagno (born October 25 1965, in Hollywood, California) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Rostagno turned professional in 1986. He won one top-level singles title (at New Haven in 1990) and one tour doubles title (at Tampa in 1993). , Lindsay Davenport, Trey Lewis and Jim Pugh, to name but a few. Kids at the club called Sampras ``Smiley'' because he was the carefree exception in a cauldron of cutthroat competition. ``No one ever talked about him being a great tennis player someday,'' recalled Trey Lewis-Mason. The reason Sampras didn't immediately register on a lot of the adults' radar was he wasn't much taller than the net. Too, he was as thin as the lines on the court. No matter how hard he tried, Sampras' well-developed skills couldn't camouflage his underdeveloped physique. ``You could just kind of tell the guy was special,'' said Eric Amend, an occasional hitting partner of Sampras' at the Jack Kramer Club. ``You just didn't know if he was going to grow.'' Amend was 16 and the national champion in his age group when he first hit with Sampras, who was 10 and so devoid of strength he gripped his racket with both hands on his forehand forehand the head, neck, shoulders, withers and forelimbs of the horse. and backhand to generate more oomph. In those days Stella, who is Pete's senior by two years, was his primary playing partner. They hit together often and when they kept score, it tended to be onesided. ``I used to always win,'' said Stella, now the women's coach at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . ``We played hard. Neither one of us wanted to lose.'' Back then, Stella was about the only one who could wipe the grin off Pete's face. Sometimes he would grow so frustrated after she won another point, he'd retrieve the ball and hit it back to her with such spite, it would sail over her head and ricochet A wireless Internet service from Ricochet Networks, Inc., Denver, CO (www.ricochet.net). Originally developed by Los Gatos, CA-based Metricom, Inc., Ricochet was the first high-speed, wireless Internet service for commuters. off the back fence. Such displays of emotion would disappear along with Sampras' two- handed forehand and backhand shortly after Pete Fischer entered his life. No one knew it at the time but ``Smiley'' was about to become ``Stony.'' FISCHER WAS a pediatrician and a pedestrian tennis player who was a familiar figure on the Jack Kramer courts. It was hard not to notice when Fischer was hitting, Amend said, because his form ``was atrocious.'' One day Fischer approached Sam Sampras at the club. He told him he saw tremendous potential in Pete and offered to work with him, free of charge. The father delivered his son to Fischer and receded into the background. ``Dad saw that Fischer had an unbelievable mind,'' Stella said. ``He just kind of let Fischer take Pete and mold him into the player he thought he could be.'' One day early in the partnership of the Petes, Fischer enlisted Lewis- Mason, then in her early 20s and between pro tournaments, to hit with Sampras so he could work on his groundstrokes. They hit together occasionally for the next year or two. ``I hit harder than Pete, but the thing I remember was his strokes were so solid,'' Lewis-Mason said. ``He could do anything with the ball - topspin, slice, volley. When he was 12, he beat me in one or two close sets. I knew it was the last time I'd be capable of being on the same court as him.'' John Letts started hitting with him shortly after that. Letts had just been crowned the boys' 18 national champion. He thought he was pretty hot stuff. Then he took the court with Sampras. ``I distinctly remember the first time I hit with Pete,'' Letts said. ``I'm thinking, `I'll do this little kid a favor and hit balls with him,' and he comes out hitting good topspin shots on both sides and a great slice. He was really pounding the balls back and forth, and his serve wasn't that big, but it had a snap on it you normally don't see. I was amazed.'' At 17, following his junior year at Palos Verdes High, Sampras turned pro. In 1989, as a just-turned 18-year-old, he advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open. In February of 1990 Sampras won his first pro title, in Philadelphia. Seven months later, he shocked the world. At the 1990 U.S. Open, Sampras upset Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe and found himself playing Andre Agassi for the championship. Sam and Georgia Sampras didn't travel to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of for their son's first Grand Slam final. Instead, they drove to the Del Amo Mall not far from their Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Pal·os Ver·des A city of southern California on a channel of the Pacific Ocean west of Long Beach. Population: 42,100. home and walked off their nervous energy. At length they passed a bank of televisions tuned to a channel showing an awards ceremony. Georgia walked up to a man who was staring at one of the screens and said, ``Is the U.S. Open men's final over?'' ``Yeah,'' the man replied. ``The Sampras kid killed Agassi.'' The final score: Sampras, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Georgia and Sam let out a sound that was equal parts revelry Revelry Revenge (See VENGEANCE.) Reward (See PRIZE.) Bacchanalia festival in honor of Bacchus, god of wine. [Rom. Religion: NCE, 203] Boar’s Head Tavern scene of Falstaff’s carousals. [Br. Lit. and relief. It was safe for them to return home. Their son was on his way to immortality. DAVIS CUP Second Round Who: United States vs. Czech Republic When: Fri.-Sat. Where: Great Western Forum CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Pete Sampras practices for the Davis Cup quarterfinals, which start Friday at the Forum. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press (2) In his youth tennis days at the Jack Kramer Club, the diminutive Pete Sampras (highlighted) didn't tower over his peers as he does today. Courtesy photo, photo illustration by Daily News Box: DAVIS CUP (see text) |
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