Customer Reviews

A Champion's Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book gives a clear picture of Sampras' personality which is pretty similiar to his game-straight forward, aggressive when necessary, and well rounded. Sampras tells of his parents' sacrifice so that he could become a champion, and his admiration of their values is evident throughout the book. He also tells of small sibling rivalries; helping his sister deal with Robert Landsorph, who seems to lose all of his students from Austin to Davenport to other coaches because of his belligerent demeanor; and the desinegration of his relationship with Pete Fisher after Fisher's arrest for child molestation. Tennis attracts a strange crowd, and the Sampras family may have found the strangest in Fisher who has taken more credit for Sampras' game than Pete gives him here. Who is to say which of the two is correct? In regard to his rivals, Sampras speaks in detail and honestly. His page or so that he gives to Connors is probably longer than any conversation between the two. Sampras also does a good job of showing the Jekyll and Hyde personality of McEnroe. He gives Lendl his due as an underated champion whose accomplishments are perhaps greater than Connors' or McEnroe's, a kind person, and someone who took time to help a future champion, Sampras at the age 17(Yes, the time with Lendl may have caused the bias). He also thoroughly analyzes the games, friendships, and rivalies with Agassi, Courier, Chang, and Martin. Finally, he nods to Federer as a worthy player to break his records, classy again. As far as romantic relationships, an important point to make is that unlike McEnroe, Sampras does not tell anything of his first girlfriend Delana Mulcahy who is substantially older than he and left Sampras for someone even younger or of his relationship with Kimberly Williams. For his not telling the dirt, he has certainly more class than McEnroe whose children will someday read what dad said about all the cokeheads he dated and the disturbing marriage to mom, Tatum O'Neal. Sampras does state that tennis took a priority and cost him until he met Bridgette Wilson. On a different note, one complaint-somebody needed to do a better job on the proofing. There are a number of cliches, and there seems to be no understanding about the difference between I and me, an English teacher's complaint. Regardless, Sampras' book reveals a champion and person of great character.

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 cracked open the book on a transatlantic red-eye flight thinking that I would read a couple of chapters to put me to sleep. Boy, was I wrong! I finally slept but only after finishing the book.
I am a tennis nut but I thought the content would be appreciated even by people that aren't tennis nuts. He covers his career and key matches but there is a lot of coverage given to people, his relationships and what made him a champion. It is difficult to walk the fine line of sounding confident without coming across as arrogant but Pete Sampras does a good job of that throughout the book like he did/does in real life - he talks about the Gift and how he went about harnessing it. He has very candid commentary about a number of other fellow pros like McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, Federer, etc. He talks about his relationships and competition with his generation of American players (Agassi, Courier and Chang) in a lot of detail as well as his relationship with his coaches through the years. All in all, if you are a tennis fan (or follow sports in general), this is a must read!

If you read this book AFTER Agassi's Open, you will be disappointed because the tones of the two are totally different. Sampras' books is as Sampras is. I could see why some reviewers said it's boring. Through the book you could see Sampras as the person of who he is: highly disciplined, focused, quiet, and introvert. And that is how the book comes about. Towards the end Sampras seems to come out of his shell some. Reading his autobiography and you will see, understand and appreciate what it takes to remain No. 1 for such a long time. I don't mind the stats at the beginning of each chapter. That just more represents Sampras of who he is, the athlete who's very focused and disciplined in the sports of his choosing. All the data might be boring to some readers, but you get several tips out of the book as a tennis player because here and there he would share his mentality/tactics/strategies of how he played especially against different kinds of players. He even provided his opinions/analysis of each top player in his time. All those represent the book title, A Champion's Mind.

I had just finished reading Agassi's book, which was amazing. Agassi put you in the game, in his head. You felt as if you were really walking in his shoes. My husband kept remarking of how long it took me to read Agassi's book, wondering why. Was there something wrong with it. No! I told him there was such depth, such detail that every word spoke volumes. There was such care in not only what was said but how it was said. Truly not only a great autobiography, not only a great tennis book but truly a great book.

Pete's book, by contrast, reads like some of my old professors, just droning on and on. Despite the breadth of knowledge they possess, it is passed with such a lack of passion that it's shocking. There is no emotion, there is no humanity. At least Agassi had hatred, strong, HONEST hatred. In Pete's book, seemingly important events are summed up in short, choppy sentences. Cliches abound in descriptions. And, frankly, without the emotion, without the description of what was in his head, the book reads very arrogant, as it often mentions just how great he was, how great everyone thought he was, how he was gifted, how he's the tennis Tiger Woods. Now, yes, he's a champion. But, hey, without the humanity behind it, without the blood and guts of the struggles, it made me feel no connectivity nor appreciation for his success.

Makes me wonder why the book was written. I can watch old matches and get more from them than I got from this book. Even the camera imparts more emotion than this book and, apparently, Pete.

Perhaps the man really is that superficial. Perhaps the man has no depth. I can only wonder. This book is supposed to be him putting himself out there, a book about, apparently, presumably, Pete - the champion's mind.

I feel sorry for him that wherein he had the (presumed) courage to face contenders on the court time and time again, the one person he seems most fearful to face is himself.

This book had a chance to teach you about the man. He has made his impact in history on the courts. But without understanding who he is, and how the two interplay, his accomplishments are as empty as if accomplished by a machine. What a person does is one thing, has only single sided resonance. But in light of their personal struggles, those accomplishments can become of epic proportions.

The book should be retitled.

Kudos to Andre for being OPEN. Thank you Andre. You gave us a gift.

I as well decided to read Andre Agassi's "Open" and Pete's book back to back. For me, this was the only way to do both books justice. They met so many times out on the court, so they might as well meet head to head in my mind as authors. I was truly blown away by Andre's book (I admit that I am just a tad baised - I was always a fan of Andre's far more exciting tennis game). The way he captured the nuances of his young life in tennis really struck home with me.

Pete's book on the other hand, seemed to be just about glorifying himself and how many matches he ended up winning, along with all of the Wimbledon titles and weeks at number 1. Yes, Pete, you deserve recognition for them, but not in the form of a book written by yourself. Several of the chapters were I'm-going-to-fall-asleep-now boring. If you're a tennis fan, I would still read this book, but if you can only choose one, go with Andre's. Game, set, match, AGASSI.

Pete Sampras' "A Champion's Mind" is indeed a 15th grand slam.

It never ceases to amaze me how generally people that move quiet, are soft spoken and calm are, turn to be the best writers, authors and talkers. Sampras' may have got a bit of help from his editor, but still it is impressive how relaxing and smooth this book can be... pretty much as his tennis was.

It is an interesting read that I recommend not only to tennis fans but also to people that are into knowing what is it that spins around the brain of successful people: from their first steps, through their growth, their falls, their peaks and finally their retirement. Pete basically gets naked on subjetcs as his family, coaches, trainers, friends, competitors, basically everything he never talked about during his days on the tour.

Another fun point worth every penny is Sampras' sarcastic sense of humour. Sometimes I felt I was reading something written by Conan O'Brien or David Letterman. Probably it is because as I said earlier you have this serious, non-emotional guy telling you this unexpected line at a very uptight situation. One example is what Sampras thought when he met Bridgette Wilson (whoever read the book will know what I'm taking about).

Objetive and no auto-flattering behavior, Sampras shows respect for himself, his peers and his predecesors as well as the new school of tennis players. One thing I would really like to ask Pete is why he placed Ivan Lendl as one of the GOAT, instead of perhaps the one player people relate him most -Pancho Gonzales-; the others named I agree. From my read, it seemed like Sampras had a bit more of respect for Lendl because of Ivan being so friendly and helpful to him during his first days on the tours. Who knows. After all, a few chapters into the book you realize that Pete is human, has a heart, has feelings and emotions, and may be a little subjective at times. Yet I wouldn't argue with him as I'm not even a Pro Tennis Player.

A Champion's Mind deserves 5 stars and no less, because it delivers what it says and it delivers what people would always expect from Pete Sampras: nothing else but 100% high quality.

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.

First off, for the avid tennis lover this is a 5* book. The only reason I give it a 4* is that it is not a compelling read for people who are not into the game or worse still have not heard of one of its greatest players, Pete Sampras.
Let me say this upfront. In the heydays of Sampras, I was one of them who said "He looks like a dog with his tongue out in the court and plays like a robot". My favorite then was Andre Agassi with his colorful clothes and even more colorful personality. Since then I have spent a lot of time playing and learning the game to understand how truly great Sampras is and was. This book delves deep into what made him click and his game, so powerful. Playing like a robot is a huge compliment in a game where stars don't last long. Champions do. Until Federer came along, Sampras had the record of most Grand Slams and at 14, that number is unreal.
The book chronicles the growth of an introverted kid through different mentors and coaches (including the late Tim G) to being a champion of the game.
Strongly recommended for tennis lovers and practitioners of the game.

I love Pete Bodo (co-author), and I read his columns on tennis.com and espn whenever possible!!! I've thoroughly enjoyed some of Bodo's other books which give insightful views inside the tour and the minds and inner workings of the players. I would have liked a glimpse deeper inside the soul of Pete Sampras, still, the match descriptions make this book another Bodo book worth getting.