Sampras Would Like Olympic Tennis Format Changed

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Sampras Would Like Olympic Tennis Format Changed

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: AP

(July 17, 2012)--In an exclusive interview with the The Tennis Space, Pete Sampras shared his views on the current Olympic format. Sampras, who played in the 1992 Barcelona Games, losing in the third round to Andrei Cherkasov of Russia in five sets, would like to see a team format.

"I remember playing my first round, I was on court 3, Jim Courier was playing at the same time on Stadium Court and you are just playing another match – it’s supposed to be country and team – I just feel like, change the format in some way to make it a little more unique. Maybe in the Olympics it should be a bit different," he said.

Sampras does think that things have changed over the years, and he views tennis as a more prestigious event at the Olympics. “For me the Olympics was always track and field or boxing. Swimming or gymnastics. In the last few Olympics, tennis has gotten more prestigious," he said. "[It's] more important to the players, everyone’s playing, whereas in my time it was sort of on the fence as to whether you were going to play or not. I did, and it was fun, I got to see a little gymnastics for an hour. It was a good experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"I think this year with the Olympics at Wimbledon," Sampras told The Tennis Space. "It’s going to be very cool, very unique, and something I would have done if I’d had the opportunity.”