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In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Donāt miss outāpurchases support your local bookstore!
Shop nowA Champion's Mind
Lessons from a Life in Tennis
Narrator
Mark Deakins
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Length
8 hours 55 minutes
Language
English
Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.
Until now.
In A Championās Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people āinside his headā finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for the game. But while this single-minded determination led to tennis domination, success didnāt come without a price. The constant pressure of competing on the worldās biggest stageāin the unblinking eye of a media machine hungry for more than mere athletic greatnessātook its toll.
Here for the first time Pete speaks freely about what it was like to possess what he calls āthe Gift.ā He writes about the personal trials he facedāincluding the death of a longtime coach and confidantāand the struggles he gutted his way through while being seemingly on top of the world. Among the bookās most riveting scenes are an early devastating loss to Stefan Edberg that led Pete to make a monastic commitment to delivering on his natural talent; a grueling, four-hour-plus match against Alex Corretja during which Pete became seriously ill; fierce on-court battles with rival and friend Andre Agassi; and the triumphant last match of Peteās career at the finals of the 2002 U.S. Open.
In A Championās Mind, one of the most revered, successful, and intensely private players in the history of tennis offers an intimate look at the life of an elite athlete.
Pete Sampras holds the distinction of being the youngest male player (at age 19) to win the US Open. During his career he won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slams, 11 ATP Masters Series titles, and 5 Tennis Masters Cup titles), as well as 2 doubles titles. He currently makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife, Bridgette, and their sons, Christian and Ryan.
Peter Bodo is one of the most well-known journalists writing on professional tennis, as well as an avid outdoorsman who has written extensively about fly-fishing, deer hunting, and conservation and environmental issues. Born in Austria to Hungarian parents, he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1953, when Bodo was four. He grew up in New York and suburban New Jersey and began to write about tennis during the "tennis boom" of the 1970s. Since then, he's covered every major tennis tournament, and has gone on assignment to locales such as Beijing, Monte Carlo, Ecuador, Moscow, Hawaii, and Australia. He was the winner of the WTA writer of the year award in 1979 and in 1981. His pioneering weblog at Tennis.com, Peter Bodo's TennisWorld, is widely read by an international audience. While tennis has been the dominant theme in Bodo's professional life, he's covered events as diverse as the Ali vs. Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight title fight, a NCAA Final Four tournament, Major League Baseball, world-class soccer matches, the Indianapolis 500, NFL playoffs, and pro bass-fishing events. Bodo also was a principal "Outdoors" columnist for the New York Times, and a columnist for the Atlantic Salmon Journal. He's written a number of books about his experiences as an angler and hunter, including a picaresque novel with a fly-fishing theme, The Trout Whisperers. Bodo divides his time between New York City, where he lives with his wife, Lisa, and son, Luke, and their farm in the Catskill town of Andes, New York.
Mark Deakinsā television appearances includeĀ Buffy the Vampire SlayerĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Voyager.Ā His film credits includeĀ The Devilās AdvocateĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Insurrection.Ā He is the writer, director, and producer of the short filmĀ The Smith Interviews.
Pete Sampras holds the distinction of being the youngest male player (at age 19) to win the US Open. During his career he won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slams, 11 ATP Masters Series titles, and 5 Tennis Masters Cup titles), as well as 2 doubles titles. He currently makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife, Bridgette, and their sons, Christian and Ryan.
Peter Bodo is one of the most well-known journalists writing on professional tennis, as well as an avid outdoorsman who has written extensively about fly-fishing, deer hunting, and conservation and environmental issues. Born in Austria to Hungarian parents, he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1953, when Bodo was four. He grew up in New York and suburban New Jersey and began to write about tennis during the "tennis boom" of the 1970s. Since then, he's covered every major tennis tournament, and has gone on assignment to locales such as Beijing, Monte Carlo, Ecuador, Moscow, Hawaii, and Australia. He was the winner of the WTA writer of the year award in 1979 and in 1981. His pioneering weblog at Tennis.com, Peter Bodo's TennisWorld, is widely read by an international audience. While tennis has been the dominant theme in Bodo's professional life, he's covered events as diverse as the Ali vs. Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight title fight, a NCAA Final Four tournament, Major League Baseball, world-class soccer matches, the Indianapolis 500, NFL playoffs, and pro bass-fishing events. Bodo also was a principal "Outdoors" columnist for the New York Times, and a columnist for the Atlantic Salmon Journal. He's written a number of books about his experiences as an angler and hunter, including a picaresque novel with a fly-fishing theme, The Trout Whisperers. Bodo divides his time between New York City, where he lives with his wife, Lisa, and son, Luke, and their farm in the Catskill town of Andes, New York.
Mark Deakinsā television appearances includeĀ Buffy the Vampire SlayerĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Voyager.Ā His film credits includeĀ The Devilās AdvocateĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Insurrection.Ā He is the writer, director, and producer of the short filmĀ The Smith Interviews.
Pete Sampras holds the distinction of being the youngest male player (at age 19) to win the US Open. During his career he won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slams, 11 ATP Masters Series titles, and 5 Tennis Masters Cup titles), as well as 2 doubles titles. He currently makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife, Bridgette, and their sons, Christian and Ryan.
Peter Bodo is one of the most well-known journalists writing on professional tennis, as well as an avid outdoorsman who has written extensively about fly-fishing, deer hunting, and conservation and environmental issues. Born in Austria to Hungarian parents, he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1953, when Bodo was four. He grew up in New York and suburban New Jersey and began to write about tennis during the "tennis boom" of the 1970s. Since then, he's covered every major tennis tournament, and has gone on assignment to locales such as Beijing, Monte Carlo, Ecuador, Moscow, Hawaii, and Australia. He was the winner of the WTA writer of the year award in 1979 and in 1981. His pioneering weblog at Tennis.com, Peter Bodo's TennisWorld, is widely read by an international audience. While tennis has been the dominant theme in Bodo's professional life, he's covered events as diverse as the Ali vs. Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight title fight, a NCAA Final Four tournament, Major League Baseball, world-class soccer matches, the Indianapolis 500, NFL playoffs, and pro bass-fishing events. Bodo also was a principal "Outdoors" columnist for the New York Times, and a columnist for the Atlantic Salmon Journal. He's written a number of books about his experiences as an angler and hunter, including a picaresque novel with a fly-fishing theme, The Trout Whisperers. Bodo divides his time between New York City, where he lives with his wife, Lisa, and son, Luke, and their farm in the Catskill town of Andes, New York.
Mark Deakinsā television appearances includeĀ Buffy the Vampire SlayerĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Voyager.Ā His film credits includeĀ The Devilās AdvocateĀ andĀ Star TrekĀ®: Insurrection.Ā He is the writer, director, and producer of the short filmĀ The Smith Interviews.
Reviews
“Consider this book Sampras’ 15th Grand Slam. A thoroughly compelling read that–apart from retracing a gilded sport career–really probes the ‘hard drive’ of a champion. It’s as if all the emotion and insight that Sampras sometimes seemed reluctant to express during his playing days comes spilling forth.”—Jon Wertheim, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated and SI.com
"As the title says, this is a remarkable look into a champion's mind, and maybe one of the best tennis memoirs ever. Pete captures the pressure a player feels once he's reached the top. He puts us next to him on the court, and we get a clear sense of what made him extraordinary: he was supremely determined, dedicated to learning the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, and committed to never ever yielding a point easily. Pete wrote this book the way he plays tennis: full-out."
—Rod Laver
“Even playing at a high level, it’s hard to know what the experience of winning–and trying to stay on top–is like for another competitor. We all react so differently to pressure, to the glow of the spotlight. It is brutally hard to stay grounded, and yet this wonderfully candid book shows that it was Pete’s rare ability to compartmentalize and draw strength from his family that allowed him to reach the sport’s pinnacle. Whether championships are in your past or just live in your dreams, you’ll learn a lot from Pete’s story.”
—Monica Seles
"Pete Sampras was always able to rise to the occasion, winning so many big matches at the biggest events. This book provides the reader a glimpse into Pete's remarkable career and how he was able attain his vision of being the best player in the world. We can all benefit from the insight he offers."
—Roger Federer Expand reviews