"Just showed me that I met the right woman"- When Pete Sampras credited his wife Bridgette Wilson for his 2002 US Open win
Pete Sampras won the last of his 14 singles Majors at the 2002 US Open by beating Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. It was the American's first Major Singles title since winning Wimbledon in 2000, the year he married his wife Bridgette Wilson.
Asked in his post-match interview about how much Wilson was affected when questions were asked about his marriage affecting his game, the 14-time Grand Slam champion said that his wife shared in his victory, and called her the woman of his dreams
"Absolutely," Pete Sampras said when asked if his wife shared in his victory. "It wasn't fair that -- the timing of breaking the record and getting married. I just felt like I was at a point in my career where it was a tough place to be after winning 13. Got married two months later. I was happy. I was happy being married."
"I met the woman of my dreams and now we're going to have a child. That's what life's all about. But she's, you know, a big reason why I've been able to kind of get through this tough period. She lives with me every day. Trust me, it's not easy. When you're struggling, you're not having fun, it's a burden. Just showed me that I met the right woman," he added.
"Support from my wife and family gave me a lot of peace of mind" - Pete Sampras after winning 2002 US Open
Pete Sampras was later asked what helped him win the US Open after having a tough 2002 season. In reply, he said that the support from his wife and family, along with working under Paul Annacone, helped him and gave him a lot of peace of mind.
"Just a lot of support from my wife, from my family, working with Paul again. That really gave me a lot of peace of mind. Some stability. You know, he knows me better than anyone as a tennis player. And it all worked out. So much of kind of what I was going through this year was mental. It wasn't forehands and backhands and serves," Sampras said.
"It was kind of my head space. Wasn't real positive out there, kind of got down on myself extremely quick out there. We had some heart-to-heart talks about just my mind, where I'm at. All I could do after Wimbledon was start working again, get back to the drawing board. And start doing the running and the practicing, and it paid off this week," he added.