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50 free Pete Sampras trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Pete Sampras found a racket in the basement at three, switched to a one-handed backhand at a paediatrician's urging so he could win Wimbledon, and then won it seven times. He was the youngest US Open champion at 19, the year-end No. 1 for six straight seasons, and the only man in the Open Era to win the last major he ever played, beating Andre Agassi in the 2002 US Open final and never returning to the tour. These 50 questions cover the whole career: Palos Verdes and the Jack Kramer Club, Rod Laver at 11, Robert Lansdorp's forehand, Dr Peter Fischer, the 1990 run through Lendl, McEnroe and Agassi, the 1991 "relieved" remark, the 1993 rise to No. 1, the 1,000-ace season, Tim Gullikson's illness and the tears against Courier, the Corretja tiebreak, Krajicek in 1996, Renshaw's and Emerson's records, Federer in 2001, George Bastl, the 17th seed who won the US Open, the Wilson Pro Staff strung at 75 lbs, Bridgette Wilson, Pistol Pete and the stolen trophies. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so a miss still teaches you something. Play it solo or print it for a tennis night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many major singles titles did Sampras win?
14
The record stood until Roger Federer passed it at Wimbledon in 2009.
Q 02How many Wimbledon singles titles did Sampras win?
7
He won them in an eight-year span from 1993 to 2000, missing only 1996.
Q 03For how many weeks was Sampras ranked world No. 1?
286
It was the record until Federer surpassed it in 2012.
Q 04For how many consecutive years did Sampras finish as year-end No. 1?
6
Agassi ended the run in 1999; Jimmy Connors had managed five in a row in the 1970s.
Q 05Which major did Sampras never win?
The French Open
His best run there was a 1996 semi-final; he lost in the early rounds six straight times at the end.
Q 06In which city was Sampras born?
Washington, D.C.
The family moved to Palos Verdes, California, in 1978 for the year-round tennis weather.
Q 07At what age did Sampras discover a tennis racket in his basement?
3
He spent hours hitting balls against the wall with it.
Q 08Which legend was the young Sampras's great idol, whom he met and played at 11?
Rod Laver
Laver was the last man to win four straight majors, a feat Sampras chased in 1994.
Q 09Which coach converted Sampras's two-handed backhand to one hand with Wimbledon in mind?
Dr. Peter Fischer
Fischer, a paediatrician and tennis enthusiast, coached him until 1989.
Q 10Which coach taught Sampras the flat, driven forehand he kept for his whole career?
Robert Lansdorp
The emphasis was on driving through the ball rather than heavy topspin.
Q 11Sampras turned professional in 1988 at what age?
16
He started that year ranked No. 893 and finished it at No. 97.
Q 12At what age did Sampras become the youngest US Open men's champion in 1990?
19
He was 19 years and 28 days old when he beat Agassi in straight sets.
Q 13Whose streak of eight straight US Open finals did Sampras end in the 1990 quarter-finals?
Ivan Lendl's
He beat Lendl in five, then McEnroe in four, then Agassi in the final.
Q 14Sampras's first professional title came in 1990 at an indoor event in which city?
Q 21Which coach collapsed at the 1995 Australian Open and was later diagnosed with brain cancer?
Tim Gullikson
Sampras wept on court against Courier after a fan shouted at him to win it for Gullikson.
Q 22Who took over as Sampras's full-time coach in 1995 after his coach fell ill?
Paul Annacone
Annacone returned again in 2002 to guide him through his final US Open.
Q 23Sampras's 1995 Davis Cup final heroics came against Russia in which city?
Moscow
He collapsed with exhaustion after a five-set opener against Chesnokov and still won all three rubbers.
Philadelphia
He beat Agassi, Mayotte and Gómez at the Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor.
Q 15After losing his 1991 US Open title defence, Sampras drew criticism for saying he felt what?
Relieved
Courier and Connors both made disparaging remarks about the comment.
Q 16Who beat Sampras in the 1992 US Open final, a loss he called a "wake-up call"?
Stefan Edberg
He said he then needed to figure out how to become world No. 1.
Q 17At his only Olympics, in 1992, Sampras lost in the third round to which Russian?
Andrei Cherkasov
The event was on clay, his worst surface, and he blew a two-set lead.
Q 18Whom did Sampras beat in the 1993 Wimbledon final for his first title there?
Jim Courier
Courier was a former No. 1 and fellow American.
Q 19Sampras set a record in 1993 by becoming the first player to hit how many aces in a season?
Over 1,000
He finished that year as the clear No. 1 with Wimbledon and US Open titles.
Q 20Whom did Sampras beat in the 1994 Australian Open final?
Todd Martin
It was the first of his two Australian titles; the second came in 1997 over Moyá.
Q 24Who ended Sampras's Wimbledon run in 1996, the only year he lost there between 1993 and 2000?
Richard Krajicek
The 17th seed beat him in straight sets and went on to win the title.
Q 25Sampras famously vomited on court during a 1996 US Open quarter-final against whom?
Àlex Corretja
Dehydrated, he saved a match point with a lunge volley and won the tiebreak.
Q 26Sampras's only five-set Grand Slam final was the 1998 Wimbledon final against whom?
Goran Ivanišević
Ivanišević finally won Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2001.
Q 27Which Chilean challenged Sampras's No. 1 ranking in 1998?
Marcelo Ríos
Sampras still finished the year on top for the sixth straight time.
Q 28Which Australian did Sampras say he would not go for a beer with, amid a bitter feud?
Patrick Rafter
Rafter called him a "cry baby"; Sampras said seeing Rafter hold the US Open trophy annoyed him.
Q 29Whose record of 12 major titles did Sampras equal at Wimbledon in 1999?
Roy Emerson's
Emerson later called Sampras the greatest of all time for passing him.
Q 30Sampras's 2000 Wimbledon win equalled whose all-time record of seven gentlemen's singles titles?
William Renshaw's
He battled shin tendinitis and a bad back and came from a set down against Rafter.