name	Tina Majorino
birth date	February 07, 1985
birth place	Westlake, California, U.S.
birth name	Tina Marie Majorino
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	1992–1999, 2004–present }}

Tina Marie Majorino (; born February 7, 1985) is an American film and television actress. She started her career as a child actor, starring in films such as ''Andre''; ''When a Man Loves a Woman''; ''Corrina, Corrina''; and ''Waterworld''. Despite her early success, Majorino left show business in 1999.

She returned several years later in what would become one of her best known roles, the character Deb in the 2004 film ''Napoleon Dynamite.'' Since her return to acting, Majorino has also starred in television series such as ''Veronica Mars'' and ''Big Love''.

Personal life

Majorino, of Italian descent (from her paternal grandfather), was born in Westlake, California, the daughter of Sarah (née Black) and real estate agent Robert "Bob" Majorino. She has an older brother, Kevin, with whom she has formed a rock band, The AM Project.

Career

Majorino began her acting career in a 1992 sitcom called ''Camp Wilder''. Her first film role was in 1994's ''When a Man Loves a Woman''. She subsequently starred in leading roles in the family films ''Corrina, Corrina'' and ''Andre'', both of which were released in August 1994. Her next film was the 1995 action film ''Waterworld'', playing a child named Enola.

She played the title role in the 1999 television film, ''Alice in Wonderland''. After ''Alice'', Majorino took time off from the business. She has since cited burnout as the reason for her hiatus from acting. Majorino did not appear in another film until 2004's cult film ''Napoleon Dynamite''. From 2004 onward, she played a recurring role on UPN's series, ''Veronica Mars'', as the computer-savvy Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie. Show creator Rob Thomas created the role with her in mind. Majorino had met Thomas while interviewing him for a report on one of his books. Majorino became a series regular in the show's third and final season. During her time on ''Veronica Mars'', she also started appearing in a recurring role on the cable television series ''Big Love'' with ''Waterworld'' costar Jeanne Tripplehorn and fellow ''Veronica Mars'' cast members Amanda Seyfried and Kyle Gallner.

In 2005, she appeared in the music video for the song "Blind" by rock group Lifehouse.

In 2009, she started filming ''The Deep End'', a new television show for ABC. The show was canceled after only six episodes were aired.

In 2011, she also starred in the music video for "Fuckin' Perfect" by Pink.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1992–1993	''Camp Wilder''	Sophie Wilder	19 episodes
1994		Jess Green
1994		Molly Singer
1994		Toni Whitney
1995	''Waterworld''	Enola
1996	''New York Crossing''		TV movie
1997	''True Women''	Young Euphemia Ashby	TV movie
1997	''Santa Fe''	Crystal Thomas
1997	''Before Women Had Wings''	Avocet Abigail 'Bird' Jackson	TV movie
1997	''Merry Christmas, George Bailey''	Janie Bailey	TV movie
1999		Alice	TV movie
2004	''Napoleon Dynamite''	Deb
2004	''Without a Trace''	Serene Barnes / Andrews	Episode: "Lost and Found"
2004–2007	''Veronica Mars''	Cindy 'Mac' Mackenzie	34 episodes
2005	''Testing Bob''	Allison Barrett
2006		Sal
2006	''A Sharp''	The Daughter	Short film
2006–2011	''Big Love''	Heather Tuttle	26 episodes
2007		Michelle
2010	''In Security''		TV movie
2010	''''	Addy Fisher	7 episodes
2011	''Should've Been Romeo''	Alice
2011		Reese Harlan	Episode: "One Life to Lose"
2011		Special Agent Genny Shaw	Episode: "The Hole in the Heart"
2012		Deb	Voice role''upcoming series''

References

External links

Interview in Stumped? Magazine

Category:1985 births Category:Actors from California Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area

de:Tina Majorino es:Tina Majorino fr:Tina Majorino it:Tina Majorino hu:Tina Majorino nl:Tina Majorino ja:ティナ・マジョリーノ pl:Tina Majorino pt:Tina Majorino fi:Tina Majorino sv:Tina Majorino

name	Pete Sampras
country
residence	Los Angeles, California
nickname	Pistol Pete, King of swing
birth date	August 12, 1971
birth place	Potomac, Maryland
height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
weight
spouse	Bridgette Wilson (2000–present)
turnedpro	1988
retired	2002
plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
racket	Wilson Pro Staff Original
careerprizemoney	US$ 43,280,489
tennishofyear	2007
tennishofid	pete-sampras
singlesrecord	762–222 (77.44%)
singlestitles	64
highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (April 12, 1993)
australianopenresult	W (1994, 1997)
frenchopenresult	SF (1996)
wimbledonresult	W (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
usopenresult	W (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002)
othertournaments	Yes
masterscupresult	W (1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999)
olympicsresult	3R (1992)
doublesrecord	64–70
doublestitles	2
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	2R (1989)
Frenchopendoublesresult	2R (1989)
Wimbledondoublesresult	3R (1989)
Usopendoublesresult	1R (1988, 1989, 1990)
highestdoublesranking	No. 27 (February 12, 1990)
updated	July 5, 2008 }}

Petros "Pete" Sampras () (born August 12, 1971) is a retired American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Sampras debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating rival Andre Agassi in the final. He was the year-end World No. 1 for six consecutive years (1993–1998), a record for the open era. His seven Wimbledon singles championships is a record shared with William Renshaw. He spent 286 weeks at number 1, the most of any player. His five US Open singles titles is an open-era record shared with former World No. 1 players Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. He won five ATP World Tour Finals, a record shared with Ivan Lendl and Federer. Sampras is the last American male to win Wimbledon (2000) and ATP World Tour Finals (1999).

Tennis career

Early life and career

Pete Sampras was born in Potomac, Maryland, and is the third child of Sammy and Georgia Sampras. His mother immigrated from Sparta, Greece, and his father was born in the United States to a Greek immigrant father and a Jewish mother. Greek culture played a big role in his upbringing. Pete attended regular services of the Greek Orthodox Church on Sundays. From an early age, Sampras showed signs of outstanding athletic ability. At age 3 Sampras discovered a tennis racket in the basement of his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall. In 1978, the Sampras family moved to Palos Verdes, California, and the warmer climate there allowed seven-year-old Pete to play more tennis. From early on, his great idol was Rod Laver, and at 11 Sampras met and played with him. The Sampras family joined the Jack Kramer Club, and it was here that Sampras's talent became apparent. He was spotted by Peter Fischer, a pediatrician and tennis enthusiast, who coached Sampras until 1989. Fischer was responsible for converting Sampras's double-handed backhand to single-handed with the goal of being better prepared to win Wimbledon.

1988–1990

Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked World No. 97 after starting the year at World No. 893. His first professional match was a loss to Sammy Giammalva, Jr. at the February Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia. But just one week later at the Lipton International Players Championships in Miami, Sampras defeated two top-40 players before losing to World No. 18 Emilio Sánchez. He did not defeat another top-40 player for almost six months, when he defeated World No. 39 Michiel Schapers at a US Open warm-up tournament in Rye Brook, New York. In his first Grand Slam singles match, Sampras lost to World No. 69 Jaime Yzaga of Peru in the first round of the US Open 6–7(2), 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–5, 6–2. Sampras did not advance past the quarterfinals in his next three tournaments, although he did record wins over World No. 79 Jim Courier, in their first career match-up, and World No. 8 Tim Mayotte.

The following year, Sampras slightly improved his ranking to a year-ending World No. 81. He lost in the first round of the 1989 Australian Open to Christian Saceanu and the first round of Wimbledon to Todd Woodbridge 7–5, 7–6(5), 5–7, 6–3. He won a Grand Slam singles match for the first time at the French Open before losing in the second round to eventual champion, 17-year-old Michael Chang, 6–1, 6–1, 6–1 in their first career match-up. At the US Open, Sampras defeated defending champion and fifth-seeded Mats Wilander in the second round 5–7, 6–3, 1–6, 6–1, 6–4 before losing to World No. 13 Jay Berger in the fourth round. To end the year, Sampras lost in the first round of four consecutive tournaments.

Sampras finished 1990 at World No. 5, having started the year ranked World No. 61 just prior to the start of the Australian Open. He lost to Wilander in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Sydney. At the Australian Open, Sampras upset twelfth-ranked Mayotte in the first round 7–6(6), 6–7(5), 4–6, 7–5, 12–10 before losing to thirteenth-ranked Yannick Noah in the fourth round in four sets. His first professional singles title came in February at the Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor in Philadelphia, where he defeated sixth-ranked Andre Agassi, eighth-ranked Mayotte, and eighteenth-ranked Andrés Gómez in the final. This title elevated his ranking into the top-20 for the first time. Sampras did not play the French Open and again lost in the first round of Wimbledon, this time to Christo van Rensburg 7–6(4), 7–5, 7–6(3). Sampras played seven consecutive weeks during the North American summer hard court season. He defeated John McEnroe in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open but then lost to Chang in the semifinals. He also reached the semifinals of the tournament in Los Angeles where he lost to World No. 2 Stefan Edberg. He did not advance past the quarterfinals in his next three tournaments, losing to Chang, Richey Reneberg, and Goran Ivanišević. In September, he captured his first Grand Slam title at the US Open. Along the way, he defeated sixth-ranked Thomas Muster in the fourth round and third-ranked Ivan Lendl in a five-set quarterfinal, breaking Lendl's streak of eight consecutive US Open finals. He then defeated 20th-ranked McEnroe in a four-set semifinal to set up a final with fourth-ranked Agassi. Sampras beat Agassi in straight sets to become the US Open's youngest-ever male singles champion at the age of 19 years and 28 days. He played five more tournaments and won the Grand Slam Cup to complete his year.

1991–1992

Sampras in 1991 captured the first of his five career titles at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. Upon entering the US Open as the defending champion that year, he caused controversy when, after losing in the quarterfinals to Jim Courier, Sampras said that he was not disappointed and felt relieved that the pressure to defend his title was no longer on him. This led to widespread criticism, which included disparaging remarks from Courier and Jimmy Connors.

In 1992, Sampras reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first of three consecutive years, made it to the Wimbledon semifinals, and was the runner-up at the US Open to Stefan Edberg. Sampras later stated that his loss in the US Open final that year was a "wake-up call" and that he needed to figure out how to become the World No. 1. He also played doubles with John McEnroe on the US team that won the Davis Cup, duplicating the feat in 1995.

1993–1996

Sampras reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in early 1993, and matched the previous year's quarterfinal performance at the French Open. In April 1993, Sampras attained the World No. 1 ranking for the first time. His rise to the top of the rankings spot was controversial because he had not recently won any Grand Slam titles, but he justified his ranking three months later by claiming his first Wimbledon title, beating former World No. 1 Jim Courier in the final. This was followed by his second US Open title. He finished the year as the clear No. 1 and set a new ATP Tour record that year by becoming the first player to serve more than 1,000 aces in a season.

Except for a loss in the 1996 quarterfinals to eventual winner Richard Krajicek, Sampras would continue to win at Wimbledon for the rest of the decade, becoming the most successful male player in Wimbledon history.

Sampras won the first of his two Australian Open titles in 1994, defeating American Todd Martin in the final. In 1995 Sampras experienced one of the most emotional matches of his career when he played Courier in the quarterfinals. Sampras's longtime coach and close friend, Tim Gullikson, had mysteriously collapsed during the tournament and was forced to return to the United States. Gullikson was later diagnosed with brain cancer to which he succumbed the following year. Saddened by Gullikson's illness, Sampras began visibly weeping during the match, but managed to win. He lost the final to Agassi. Paul Annacone took over as Sampras's full time coach after Gullikson's illness made it impossible for him to continue coaching.

Sampras's best surface was undoubtedly the fast-playing grass courts. He was also known for his all-round game and strong competitive instinct. He won back-to-back US Open titles in 1995 and 1996, despite in the 1996 quarterfinals against Àlex Corretja, vomiting on the court at 1–1 in the tiebreak due to dehydration. Sampras's only real weakness was on clay courts, where the slow surface tempered his natural attacking serve-and-volley game. His best performance at the French Open came in 1996, when he lost a semifinal match to the eventual winner, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Despite his limited success at Roland Garros, Sampras did win some significant matches on clay. He won a 1992 clay court tournament in Kitzbühel, defeating Alberto Mancini in the final. He won the prestigious Italian Open in 1994, defeating Boris Becker in the final, and two singles matches in the 1995 Davis Cup final against Russians Andrei Chesnokov and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Moscow. Sampras also won a 1998 clay court tournament in Atlanta, defeating Jason Stoltenberg in the final.

1997

Sampras won his second and final Australian Open title in January, defeating Carlos Moyà in the final; in July he won Wimbledon for the fourth time, defeating Cédric Pioline in the final. Sampras also won singles titles in San Jose, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Munich, and Paris and the ATP Tour World Championships in Hanover, Germany. He became the only player to win both the Grand Slam Cup and the ATP Tour World Championships in the same year.

He had a 10–1 win–loss record against top 10 opponents and was undefeated in eight singles finals. He held the World No. 1 ranking for the entire year and joined Jimmy Connors (1974–1978) as the only male players to hold the year-end World No. 1 ranking for five consecutive years. His prize money earnings of US$6,498,211 for the year was a career high.

1998

In 1998, Sampras's number-one ranking was challenged by Chilean player Marcelo Ríos. (In 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, Sampras had dominated the ATP tour.) Sampras failed to defend his Australian Open title, losing in the quarterfinals to Karol Kučera, and won Wimbledon only after a hard fought five-set victory over Goran Ivanišević. Sampras lost a five-set US Open semifinal to the eventual winner Patrick Rafter after leading the match two sets to one. He lost another semifinal at the Tennis Masters Cup to eventual champion Àlex Corretja. Nevertheless, Sampras finished the year as the top ranked player for the sixth year in a row.

1999

1999 also started out disappointingly, as Sampras withdrew from the Australian Open and failed to win a title during the early part of the season. However, he then went on a 24-match winning streak, including the Stella Artois Championships, Wimbledon (equaling Roy Emerson's record of 12 Grand Slam singles titles), Los Angeles, and Cincinnati. His victory over Agassi in the Wimbledon final is often cited as one of Sampras's greatest performances (despite this, he lost his No.1 ranking to Agassi the following day, when ATP Tour rankings were updated). That run ended when he was forced to retire from the RCA Championships and the US Open because of a herniated disc in his back. Sampras's ranking was hurt through a combination of withdrawing from the Australian and US Opens, tournaments in which he had strong performances during the previous year, and the resurgence of longtime rival Andre Agassi, putting an end to Sampras' six consecutive years of finishing as the World No. 1. Agassi took over the top ranking and held it for the rest of the season, but Sampras recovered and managed to beat him in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup for the fifth and final time, enabling Sampras to place 3rd in the rankings.

2000s

Sampras reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in early 2000 (falling to the eventual champion Agassi in a five-set match) and won the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida for the third time in March. He then won a record-breaking 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, battling through tendonitis in his right shin and a painful back injury in the process. This victory was his eighth consecutive win in a Grand Slam final (starting at 1995 Wimbledon), which remains a record. After this victory, Sampras did not win another title for more than two years. He lost in the finals of the 2000 and 2001 US Open to Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt, respectively, leading many to speculate that Sampras would never capture another major title. At the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, Sampras lost to Roger Federer, who was 19 at the time, 6–7(7), 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(2), 5–7 in the fourth round, ending Sampras's 31-match winning streak at Wimbledon. The match also marked the first and only time that the two men ever played each other on the ATP tour.

2002

In 2002, Sampras suffered his second consecutive early exit from Wimbledon, losing in the second round to 145th ranked George Bastl of Switzerland, whose best surface was red clay. Sampras had a relatively poor summer leading up to the US Open. Greg Rusedski, whom Sampras had defeated in a long five-set third round match at the US Open, said that Sampras was "a step and a half slower" and predicted that Sampras would lose his next match. Sampras, however, then defeated two young and upcoming stars of the game, Tommy Haas in the fourth round and Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. He then defeated Sjeng Schalken in the semifinals to reach his third straight US Open final, and eighth US Open final overall, tying Ivan Lendl's all-time record. This time, he faced Agassi, whom he had met in his very first Grand Slam final 12 years earlier. After a four-set battle between the two veterans, Sampras claimed a then record 14th Grand Slam singles title and matched Jimmy Connors's record of five US Open singles championships.

He played no tour events in the following 12 months, but did not officially announce his retirement until August 2003, just prior to the US Open. He chose not to defend his title there, but his retirement announcement was timed so that he could say farewell at a special ceremony organized for him at the open. At the time of his retirement, many regarded Sampras as the greatest player of all time.

Sampras won 64 top-level singles titles (including 14 Grand Slam titles, 11 Super 9 / ATP Masters Series titles, and five Tennis Masters Cup titles) and two doubles titles. He was ranked the World No. 1 for a record 286 weeks and was year-end No. 1 for a record six consecutive years from 1993 through 1998.

Rivalry with Andre Agassi

Sampras won 20 of the 34 matches he played against Agassi.

The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored because he was ranked World No. 4 compared to the World No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. However, Agassi lost the final to Sampras in straight sets.

Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was higher ranked, Agassi prevailed in straight sets. Their next Grand Slam meeting was at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world number one. Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.

With both Sampras and Agassi participating, the U.S. won the Davis Cup in 1995. Notable Sampras-Agassi matches of 1995 included the finals of the Australian Open, the Newsweek Champions Cup, the Lipton International Players Championships, the Canadian Open, and the US Open, with Sampras winning the Newsweek Champions Cup and the US Open.

The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the last year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the World No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced Sampras to withdraw from that year's US Open. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round robin match but winning the final.

They played each other only once in 2000. The top-ranked Agassi defeated World No. 3 Sampras in the semifinals of the Australian Open 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(0), 7–6(5), 6–1.

In arguably their most memorable match, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals 6–7(7), 7–6(2), 7–6(2), 7–6(5). There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays.

The final of the 2002 US Open was their first meeting in a US Open final since 1995. The match also was notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated World No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future World No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals while Agassi had defeated World No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals. Sampras defeated Agassi 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4. This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career.

On August 2010 Sampras played an exhibition game with Andre Agassi at the indoor arena: Coliseo Cubierto El Campin in Bogotá, Colombia.

Rivalry with Patrick Rafter

Sampras won 12 of the 16 matches he played against Rafter, including eight of their first nine. Their rivalry began to truly develop after Rafter shocked the tennis world by winning the 1997 US Open, a tournament that many expected Sampras to win, having won in 1995 and 1996; the win catapulted Rafter to the year-end number two ranking behind Sampras. Many, including seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe believed Rafter to be a "one-slam wonder", since it was only his second career ATP title.

In 1998, after Rafter defeated Sampras in the Cincinnati Masters final, Sampras, at the time winner of 11 Grand Slams, when asked about the difference between himself and Rafter, famously stated "Ten grand slams", that a controversial line-call cost him the match, and that a player had to come back and win another Grand Slam title in order to be considered great. The two met in the semifinals of the 1998 US Open, with Rafter winning in five sets. Sampras cited a leg injury as the reason Rafter won, an attitude that upset the generally mild-mannered Aussie: "He really does say some funny things at the wrong time", said Rafter, "We are out there busting our guts and he doesn't show a lot of respect at the end of the day. He tries to play down the reason why he lost, giving no respect to the other player, and that is what really upsets me about him and the reason I try to piss him off as much as I can."

Following his successful defense of his 1997 U.S. Open title by defeating Mark Philippoussis in the 1998 final, when asked about Sampras' earlier comments about having to win another Grand Slam in order to be considered great, Rafter replied: "Maybe you can ask him that question, if he thinks that now. For me, I won another Slam, and it hasn't sunk in yet. It's very, very exciting for me, especially to repeat it". Although Sampras throughout his career modeled himself after "those classy Aussies" including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, and Roy Emerson, he admitted about Rafter: "When I see him holding the US Open trophy, it pisses me off."

After losing for a third consecutive time against Rafter, Sampras won their final four meetings, including a four-set victory in the 2000 Wimbledon final after being down a set and trailing in the second-set tiebreaker. The victory gave Sampras his 13th Grand Slam title, breaking the record of 12 by Roy Emerson and at that time giving Sampras the most Grand Slam titles in history, until his record was eclipsed by Roger Federer following the 2009 Wimbledon final.

Equipment

Sampras used one racket type, the Wilson Pro Staff Original, for his entire professional career – a racket first introduced in 1983. He played with Babolat natural gut, with all his rackets re-strung before each match (used or not) at 75 lbs tension (more or less depending on conditions). His rackets had weight added to bring them close to 400 g, but the proper frame was a production model manufactured from St. Vincent, an island factory in the Caribbean. The handles were custom-built.

Post-retirement, Sampras has used the slightly modified Pro Staff Tour 90 and in 2008 had a new version of the original Pro Staff produced, with in-between head size of 88 square inches and heavier weight at 349 grams unstrung.

Since mid-2010, however, Sampras has been spotted at multiple exhibitions playing with a Babolat Pure Storm Tour, along with Babolat's popular RPM Blast strings.

"I need a little more pop...I need it if I'm going to play some tennis," he said after playing Gael Monfils in an exhibition at the SAP Open.

Post-retirement activity

On April 6, 2006, three and a half years after his retirement, Sampras resurfaced and played his first exhibition match in River Oaks, Houston, Texas against 23 year old Robby Ginepri. Ginepri won the match 6–3, 7–6(10). Sampras later announced that he would be playing in World Team Tennis events.

2007 saw Sampras announcing that he would play in a few events on the Outback Champions Series, a group of tournaments for former ATP players who have met certain criteria during their careers. Sampras won his first two events on tour, defeating Todd Martin in both finals (one of which included Sampras's first trip to his ancestral homeland, Greece). Many observers noted that despite his lengthy layoff from competitive tournaments, Sampras still possessed many of the previous skills he had displayed while on the ATP tour, with tennis legend John McEnroe going as far as to say that Sampras would be worthy of a top five seeding at Wimbledon were he to enter the tournament.

On November 20, 2007, Sampras lost the first of three exhibition matches in Asia against Roger Federer losing 6–4, 6–3 in Seoul, Korea. Two days later in Kuala Lumpur, Sampras again lost to Federer, 7–6(6), 7–6(5). However, Sampras was able to win the last match of the series, winning 7–6(8), 6–4.

On February 18, 2008, in an exhibition match during the SAP Open, Sampras defeated another active player, former World No. 2 Tommy Haas. Sampras dispatched the German, 6–4, 6–2 in 43 minutes.

On March 10, 2008, Sampras played another exhibition match against World No. 1 Roger Federer at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Sampras once again lost the match 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(6).

In 2009, Sampras won two Outback Champions Series titles. He defeated McEnroe in the final of the Champions Cup Boston in February and Patrick Rafter in the final of The Del Mar Development Champions Cup in March.

Sampras was present at the 2009 Wimbledon final between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer to witness Federer eclipse his mark of 14 major titles and become the most successful man in Grand Slam history. Sampras's record of 14 majors had lasted for seven years.

The following year, along with Federer, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal, he played an exhibition doubles match at Indian Wells to raise money for the people of Haiti that had been affected by the earthquake.

In November 2010, Sampras reported that many of his trophies and other memorabilia had been stolen from a West Los Angeles public storage facility. The loss included only one of his 14 Grand Slam title trophies, from his first Australian Open victory, but also included two Davis Cups, an Olympic ring and six trophies for finishing top in the year-end rankings. Most of the stolen items have since been recovered and returned.

Playing style

Sampras was an all-court player who would often serve and volley. Possessing an all-around skill, in the early years of his career, when not serving, his strategy was to be offensive from the baseline, put opponents in a defensive position, and finish points at the net. In his later years, he became even more offensive and would either employ a chip-and-charge strategy; just chip back the return and run up to the net, waiting for a volley or try to hit an offensive shot on the return and follow his return to the net.

He was known for producing aces on critical points, even with his second serves. He had an accurate and powerful first serve, one of the best of all time. His second serve was nearly as powerful as his first, possibly his most dangerous weapon. He had great disguise on both his first and second serves.

Sampras was able to hit winners from both his forehand and backhand wings from all over the court. He was also especially known for having arguably the best "running forehand" of all time. He was able to catch attacks wide to his forehand using his speed and hitting a forehand shot on the run. When successfully executed, he won many points outright or put opponents immediately on the defensive, due to the extreme pace and flat nature of the shot. He also popularized the jump smash, or "slam dunk", where he jumps and then hits the smash in mid-air.

Many players tried (especially late in his career) to serve a high "kicker" out to the Sampras backhand in an attempt to draw a weak return. A similar tactic was employed by many players in rallying Sampras; they would play shot after shot to the Sampras backhand, hoping to wear him down. Still, most of the time, he will handle them with either topspin or slice backhand deep to his opponent's court to change defense to attack.

Personal and family life

Sampras's older sister Stella is the women's tennis head coach at UCLA, and his younger sister, Marion, is a teacher in Los Angeles. His older brother, Gus, has been tournament director at the Scottsdale ATP event, but from 2007 he became president of the firm managing Pete's business activities.

On September 30, 2000, Sampras married American actress and former Miss Teen USA, Bridgette Wilson. On November 21, 2002, their son Christian Charles was born. On July 29, 2005, the couple welcomed their second son, Ryan Nikolaos.

Sampras has β-thalassemia, a genetic trait that sometimes causes mild anemia.

Career statistics

Records and achievements

Records

These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

^ Denotes consecutive streak.

Years 1995–2000 1993–2000 1993–2000 1993–2000 1990–2002 1990–2002 1991–1999

width=200	Championship	|	Record accomplished	Player tied
Grand Slam	|	8 consecutive wins in Grand Slam finals	Stands alone
Grand Slam	|	8 consecutive years with a victory in a slam	Björn Borg Roger Federer
Wimbledon	|	7 wins overall	Stands alone
Wimbledon	|	List of Wimbledon Open Era Singles Finals appearances#Gentlemen>7 finals overall	Boris BeckerRoger Federer^
U.S. Open	|	5 wins overall	Jimmy ConnorsRoger Federer^
U.S. Open	|	List of US Open Singles Finals appearances#Men>8 finals overall	Ivan Lendl^
ATP World Tour Finals	|	5 wins overall	Ivan LendlRoger Federer

Sampras has won 14 Grand Slam titles, second only to Federer's 16.

Sampras is the first male player to win more than 12 Grand Slams, surpassing the old record of 12 Grand Slams by Roy Emerson

Sampras finished the year ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record six years. He is the only player to have been ranked Year End World No. 1 by the ATP for six consecutive years (1993–98).

Sampras was ranked World No. 1 by the ATP for a record 286 weeks.

William Renshaw and Sampras share the record for most Wimbledon men's singles titles won, with seven titles each. Sampras never lost a Wimbledon final.

Sampras is the only male player to win the same Grand Slams (Wimbledon) 7 times in the span of 8 years.

Sampras is the only male player to have won at least three consecutive Wimbledon singles titles twice (1993–95 and 1997–2000).

Sampras is the only male player in the history of tennis to win his first and last Grand Slam 12 non calender years apart and 13 calender years apart(1990 & 2002 US Open).

Sampras is the first player to win combination of 7 Wimbledon and 5 US Open. Nobody has else matched or surpassed this combination of Grand Slam wins.

Only Sampras (1997–2000), Federer (2003–07), and Borg (1976–80) have won at least four consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. During the open era, only Borg (1978–81 French Open and 1976–80 Wimbledon), Sampras (1997–2000 Wimbledon), Federer (2003–07 Wimbledon and 2004–08 US Open), and Rafael Nadal (2005–08 French Open) have won at least one Grand Slam tournament four consecutive times.

Sampras was included in the year-end ATP top ten rankings for 12 years. Only Connors (16), Ivan Lendl (13), and Andre Agassi (16) have stayed in the ATP top ten longer.

Sampras earned US$43,280,489 in prize money (2nd Overall only to Roger Federer).

Sampras captured 64 ATP singles titles, which makes him fifth on the all-time list, behind Connors (109), Lendl (94), McEnroe (77) and Federer (67).

Sampras won 11 ATP Masters Series titles. Only Nadal (19), Agassi (17), and Federer (17) have won more of those titles.

Sampras appeared in at least one Grand Slam final for a record 11 consecutive years (1992–2002) (a record shared with Lendl (1981–91)). Sampras won at least one of those finals for a record eight consecutive years (1993–2000), a record shared with Borg (1974–81) and Federer (2003–10).

Ken Rosewall and Sampras are the only men to have won Grand Slam singles titles as a teenager, in their 20s, and in their 30s.

Sampras won at least one title for 11 consecutive years (1990–2000) and 12 of 13 (except 2001). He won at least four titles per year from 1990 through 1999 and captured at least two per year from 1990 through 2000.

Sampras compiled a 19–9 career Davis Cup record (15–8 in singles) and was a member of the winning teams in 1992 and 1995.

Sampras served a career-high 1,011 aces in 1993 and 974 aces in 1995 to lead the ATP tour.

Sampras won a career-high 10 titles and compiled a personal-best 29-match winning streak in 1994.

Sampras won a career-best 85 matches in 1993 and on April 12 of that year became the 11th player in the history of the ATP rankings to reach World No. 1.

Sampras was the youngest US Open men's singles champion at 19 years, 28 days in 1990.

Sampras won 40 of the 42 singles matches he played on Wimbledon's Centre Court and 63 of the 70 singles matches he played at the All England Club.

Sampras compiled a 762–222 win–loss record in singles during his 15 years on the ATP tour, winning more than 77% of his matches.

Sampras won singles titles in 11 different countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

Sampras is the only male player during the open era who played in at least seven singles finals at two different Grand Slam tournaments (8 US Open and 7 Wimbledon).

Sampras is the only male player to have won the same Grand Slam singles tournament 7 times (Wimbledon).

Only Sampras and Lendl have appeared in 8 finals of the same Grand Slam (US Open).

Sampras won two grand slams in a calendar year four times: (1993–95, 97). Roger Federer surpassed this former record by winning Wimbledon in 2009, the 5th time he has won at least 2 slams in a calendar year. (2004–07, 09)

Only Sampras (2000–02), Federer (2004–09), Lendl (1982–89) and McEnroe (1979–81) have appeared in 3 or more consecutive US Open finals.

Only Sampras (1997–2000), Becker (1988–91), Federer (2003–09), McEnroe (1980–84) and Borg (1976–81) have appeared in 4 or more consecutive Wimbledon Finals.

Sampras won 12 Grand Slam in 8 year periods (1993–2000).

Sampras was the only greek/american to win a grand slam

Awards

Summary of professional awards. Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Player of the Year for six consecutive years from 1993 through 1998. International Tennis Federation World Champion for six consecutive years from 1993 through 1998. U.S. Olympic Committee "Sportsman of the Year" in 1997. He was the first tennis player to receive this award.

GQ Magazine's Individual Athlete Award for Man of the Year in 2000.

Selected the No. 1 player (of 25 players) in the past 25 years by a panel of 100 current and past players, journalists, and tournament directors to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ATP in 1997.

Voted 48th athlete of Top 50 Greatest North American Athletes of ESPN's SportsCentury (also youngest on list).

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine named Sampras the greatest tennis player for the period 1965 through 2005, from its list, "The 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS Era".

See also

List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

References

Further reading

Video

''Wimbledon Classic Match: Federer vs Sampras (2001)'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006, Run Time: 233 minutes, ASIN: B000ICLR98.

''Legends of Wimbledon – Pete Sampras (2006)'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006, Run Time: 60 minutes, ASIN: B000ICLR84.

''The Netjets Showdown: Pete Sampras vs. Roger Federer (2008)'' Arts Alliance Amer, DVD Release Date: April 22, 2008, Run Time: 180 minutes, ASIN: B0013PVGN6.

External links

Text, Audio, Video of Sampras' International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Speech

{{navboxes|title=Pete Sampras in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Pete Sampras career statistics |list1= }}

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:American male tennis players Category:American people of Greek descent Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States Category:Greek Orthodox Christians Category:Olympic tennis players of the United States Category:People from Los Angeles County, California Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Category:Tennis people from California Category:Tennis people from Washington, D.C. Category:Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players

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Name	Andre Agassi
Country
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Birth date	April 29, 1970
Birth place	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	1986
Retired	September 3, 2006
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$31,152,975 4th All-time leader in earnings
Tennishofyear	2011
Tennishofid	andre-agassi
Singlesrecord	870–274 (76.05%) (on the Grand Prix tour, ATP Tour, in Grand Slams and Davis Cup)
Singlestitles	60 according to the ATP and 68 in total
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (April 10, 1995)
Australianopenresult	W (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003)
Frenchopenresult	W (1999)
Wimbledonresult	W (1992)
Usopenresult	W (1994, 1999)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	W (1990)
Olympicsresult	W (1996)
Doublesrecord	40–42 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Doublestitles	1
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Frenchopendoublesresult	QF (1992)
Usopendoublesresult	1R (1987)
Highestdoublesranking	No. 123 (August 17, 1992)}}

Andre Kirk Agassi () (born April 29, 1970) is a retired American professional tennis player and former World No. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game. Described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history", Agassi's performances, along with his unorthodox apparel and attitude, have seen him cited as one of the most charismatic players in the history of the game, and credited for helping revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s.

Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam singles champion who competed in fifteen Grand Slam finals, and an Olympic gold medalist. A multi-surface specialist, he is the first of two male players in history to have achieved a singles Career Golden Slam, and one of four male players to have achieved a singles Career Grand Slam in the Open Era (one of seven in history). He was the first male player to win all four Grand Slams on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and is the last American male to win the French Open (1999) and the Australian Open (2003). Agassi also won seventeen ATP Masters Series titles, won the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships and was part of a winning Davis Cup team in 1990 and 1992. He is the only male singles player in history to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments, the Olympic gold medal and the ATP Tour World Championships: a distinction dubbed as a "Career Super Slam" by ''Sports Illustrated''.

After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children.

Agassi resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife, retired professional tennis player Steffi Graf, and their two children.

1970–1985: Early life

Agassi was born in Las Vegas, to Emmanuel "Mike" Aghassian and Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley). His father is of Armenian and Iranian origin. Andre Agassi's mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor. He has three older siblings – Rita, Philip and Tami.

Mike Agassi reportedly banged on the fences with a hammer during Andre's matches when his son lost a point, screamed at officials and was ejected more than once.

In a passage from the book ''Open'', Agassi details how his father made him play a match for money with football legend Jim Brown, in 1979, when Agassi was just 9 years old. Brown was at a Vegas tennis club complaining to the owner about a money match that was canceled. Agassi's father stepped in and told Brown that he could play his son and put up his house for the wager. Brown countered with a $10,000 bet instead. After asking the 9-year-old some questions about his skills (Agassi told him he never loses) and getting warned by the club owner not to take the bet, Brown and Mike Agassi agreed that they'd set the amount after he and Andre played two sets. After dropping two straight sets by a score of 3–6 each, Brown politely declined the 10K wager and offered $500 for the third. Agassi, relieved that his family's life savings were no longer riding on him, won the match, winning the final set 6–2.

At age 13, Andre was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. He was meant to stay for only 3 months because that was all his father could afford. After ten minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free", claiming that Agassi had more natural talent than anyone else he had seen. Agassi dropped out of school in the ninth grade.

International tennis career biography

1986–1993

He turned professional at the age of 16 and his first tournament was in La Quinta, California. He won his first match against John Austin 6–4, 6–2 but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander 6–1, 6–1. By the end of the year, Agassi was ranked World No. 91. Agassi won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at the Sul American Open in Itaparica. He ended the year ranked World No. 25. He won six additional tournaments in 1988 (Memphis, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Forest Hills WCT, Stuttgart Outdoor, Volvo International and Livingston Open), and, by December of that year, he had surpassed US$1 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. During the year, he set the Open Era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager, a record that would stand for 17 years until being broken by Rafael Nadal in 2005. His year-end ranking was World No. 3, behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander. Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and ''Tennis'' magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for 1988.

In addition to not playing the Australian Open (which would later become his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at the event are required to conform.

Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and the US Open in 1988, and made the US Open semifinals in 1989. He began the 1990s, however, with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he was favored before losing in four sets to Andrés Gómez. He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semifinals. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras; a year earlier, Agassi had beaten Sampras 6–2, 6–1 after which he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi lost the US Open final to Sampras 6–4, 6–3, 6–2. The rivalry between these two American players became the dominant rivalry in tennis over the rest of the decade. Also in 1990, Agassi helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years and won his only Tennis Masters Cup, beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in the final.

In 1991, Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five set final. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991, leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He went on to reach the quarter-finals on that occasion, losing in five sets to David Wheaton.

Agassi's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the US Open where he had previously enjoyed success. In 1992, he defeated Goran Ivanišević in a five set final. Along the way, Agassi overcame two former Wimbledon champions in Boris Becker and John McEnroe. No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992. Agassi once again played on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years.

1993 saw Agassi win the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters, partnered with Petr Korda. Agassi missed much of the early part of that year with injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense, he lost to eventual champion and World number one Pete Sampras in five-sets. Agassi lost in the first-round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year.

1994–1997

With new coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. Agassi started slowly in 1994, losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, Agassi emerged during the hard court season, winning the Canadian Open. His comeback culminated at the 1994 US Open with a 5-set fourth-round victory against compatriot Michael Chang and then becoming the first man to capture the US Open as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in the final.

In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. He competed in the 1995 Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating Sampras in a four set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 (Cincinnati, Key Biscayne, and the Canadian Open) and seven titles total. He compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hardcourt circuit, which ended when he lost the US Open final to Sampras.

Agassi reached the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. In terms of win/loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 73 matches and lost only 9. Agassi was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of Agassi's career.

1996 was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. He suffered two early round losses at the hands of compatriots Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Open semifinals. At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose, as he did not want to play Boris Becker whom he would have faced in that final. The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final 6–2, 6–3, 6–1. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne.

1997 was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during the year. He would later confess that he started using crystal methamphetamine at that time, allegedly on the urging of a friend. He failed an ATP drug test, but wrote a letter claiming the same friend spiked a drink. The ATP dropped the failed drug test as a warning. He stated upon admitting to his drug use that the letter was a lie. He quit the drug soon after. He won no top-level titles and his ranking sank to World No. 141 on November 10, 1997, prompting many to believe that his run as one of the sport's premier competitors was over, and that he would never again win any significant championships.

1998–2003

In 1998, Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top 50. He also played classic matches in this period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter.

In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from World No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year. At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in the second round to ATP player Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became World No. 1 as a result.

Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Don Budge—these have since been joined by a sixth, Roger Federer and a seventh, Rafael Nadal) to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver, Agassi, Federer and Nadal have achieved this feat during the Open Era. This win also made him the first (of only three, the second being Roger Federer and the third being Rafael Nadal) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts), a tribute to his adaptability, as the other four men had won their Grand Slam titles on clay and grass courts. Agassi also became the first (of only two, the second being Rafael Nadal) male player to win the Career Golden Slam, consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal.

Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a 2 sets to 1 deficit) in the final. Agassi ended 1999 as the World No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–1998). This was the only time Agassi ended the year at number one.

Agassi began the next year by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semifinal and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.

2000 also saw Agassi reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin 6–3, 6–3 in the semifinals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest World No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end World No. 1.

Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément. Enroute, he beat a cramping Rafter (7–5, 2–6, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3) in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semifinals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3 hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras 6–7(7), 7–6(7), 7–6(2), 7–6(5), with no breaks of serve during the 48-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked World No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades (1980s—finishing World No. 3 in 1988 and No. 7 in 1989; 1990s—finishing World No. 4 in 1990, No. 10 in 1991, No. 9 in 1992, No. 2 in 1994 and 1995, No. 8 in 1996, No. 6 in 1998 and No. 1 in 1999; 2000s—finishing World No. 6 in 2000, No. 3 in 2001, No. 2 in 2002, No. 4 in 2003, No. 8 in 2004 and No. 7 in 2005). He also was the oldest player (age 31) to finish in the top three since 32-year old Connors finished at World No. 2 in 1984.

2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. The last duel between Agassi and Sampras came in the final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome, and Madrid, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end World No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.

In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final. In March, he won his sixth career and third consecutive Key Biscayne title, in the process surpassing his wife, Steffi Graf, who was a 5-time winner of the event. The final was his 18th straight win in that tournament, which broke the previous record of 17 set by Sampras from 1993–1995. (Agassi's winning streak continued to 20 after winning his first two matches at the 2004 edition of that tournament before bowing to Agustín Calleri.) With the victory, Agassi became the youngest (19 years old) and oldest (32) winner of the Key Biscayne tournament. On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the World No. 1 ranking after a quarterfinal victory over Xavier Malisse at the Queen's Club Championships to become the oldest top ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. He held the World No. 1 ranking for two weeks when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured the World No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. During his career, Agassi held the World No. 1 ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from many events. He did manage to reach the US Open semifinals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero and surrendered his World No. 1 ranking to Ferrero. At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer and finished the year ranked World No. 4. At age 33, he was the oldest player to rank in the top five since Connors, at age 35, was World No. 4 in 1987.

2004–2006

In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semifinals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at the event, a record that still stands. Agassi won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), surpassed only by Ken Rosewall who won the title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked World No. 8, the oldest player to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was World No. 7 in 1988. Agassi also became only the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.

Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup before falling to World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the US Open final. After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in straight sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to win 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6(6). His other five-set victims were Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semifinals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets, although Agassi gave him a scare when Agassi was up a break in the third set after splitting the first two sets.

Before the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Agassi rolled his ankle in a racquetball accident and tore several ligaments. He was unable to walk for weeks. He nevertheless committed to the tournament, in which he was seeded third, and played Nikolay Davydenko in his first round robin match. Agassi's movement was noticeably hindered, particularly on his backhand return of serve, and he lost in straight sets. He then withdrew from the tournament.

Agassi finished 2005 ranked World No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end top 10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end. In 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. A major reason for Agassi leaving Nike was because Nike refused to donate to Agassi's charities and Adidas was more than happy to do so.

Agassi had a poor start to 2006. He was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay court season, including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time.

Agassi returned for the grass court season, playing a tune-up and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third round by World No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal 7–6(5), 6–2, 6–4. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open.

Agassi played only two events during the summer hardcourt season, with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile 6–4, 3–6, 7–5. As a result, he was unseeded at the US Open.

Agassi had a short but dramatic run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a tough four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round, who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semifinals. Agassi won 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 5–7, 7–5 as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match, Agassi fell to 112th ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received an eight minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a memorable retirement speech.

Earnings

Agassi earned more than US$ 30 million in prize-money during his career, fourth only to Federer, Sampras and Nadal to date. He also earned more than US$25 million a year through endorsements, during his career and fourth in all sports at the time.

Post-retirement

Since retiring after the 2006 US Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, Agassi was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer US Open quarter-final. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009 and played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona, where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin. On the way to the final, Agassi beat Mikael Pernfors in the quarter-finals and Wayne Ferreira in the semi-finals. He also announced that he will not be playing the tour on a full-time basis, and played the tournament as a favor to long-time friend Jim Courier. Andre played a charity tournament with Sampras, Federer, and Nadal for Haitian earthquake relief. In early 2011 Agassi will play a series of exhibition matches "Rise of Legends" in Taiwan with Marat Safin at the Taipei Arena on Jan. 6, 2011, and Kaohsiung Arena on Jan. 8, 2011. In August 2010 he made an exhibition game in Coliseo Cubierto El Campin in Bogota, Colombia, with Pete Sampras, Anna Kournikova, and other professional tennis players.

Playing style

Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. His return of serve, baseline game, and keen sense of anticipation were among the best in the game, and helped him win the Wimbledon title in 1992. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for the winner.

Agassi continually put pressure on opponents with a preference to taking the ball early and was known for swinging deep angles like a powerful backhand up the line. His strength was in dictating play from the back of the court. While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more.

Agassi's serve was never the strength of his game, but it improved steadily over the course of his career to being above average. He often used his hard slice serve in the deuce service box to send his opponent off the court, followed by a shot to the opposite corner. Agassi's service speed when hitting a flat first serve would range between . His second serve usually was a heavy "kick" serve in the mid-80s range.

Personal and family life

Agassi married actress Brooke Shields on April 19, 1997. In February 1998 they filed suit against ''The National Enquirer'', claiming it printed "false and fabricated" statements about the couple, but the case was dismissed. The couple later filed for divorce which was granted on April 9, 1999.

At the 1999 French Open Agassi and Steffi Graf were the surprise champions, since he had not won a Grand Slam title since 1995 and she had not won one since 1996. At the winners' ball they met each other for the second time, and shortly after started dating. Graf retired after they both reached the Wimbledon final in July. They were married on October 22, 2001, and four days later their son, Jaden Gil, was born. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born on October 3, 2003. The couple live in the Las Vegas area and own several other vacation homes.

Agassi's older sister, Rita, was married to tennis player Pancho Gonzales. In 1995, when Gonzales died in Las Vegas, Andre paid for the funeral. Andre's other sister, Tami, like their mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor.

Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends; some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi.

In December 2008 Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager, Perry Rogers, sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him.

Agassi's autobiography, ''Open'' (written with assistance from J. R. Moehringer), was published in November 2009. In it Agassi admitted that his once distinctive bushy mane actually was a wig, and that he used and tested positive for methamphetamine in 1997. In response to the latter revelation, Roger Federer declared himself shocked and disappointed, while Sergej Bubka declared that Agassi should have been disqualified. In an exclusive interview to CBS Agassi justified himself and asked for understanding, saying that "It was a period in my life where I needed help." He also revealed that he had always hated tennis during his career because of the constant pressure it exerted on him. He also revealed he thought Pete Sampras was "robotic". The book reached No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and received favorable reviews.

Politics

Agassi has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates. However, on September 1, 2010, when Agassi appeared on daily WNYC public radio program "The Brian Lehrer Show," Agassi stated that he is a registered Independent.

Philanthropy

Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994, which assists Las Vegas' young people. Agassi was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He regularly is cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It also has been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation.

Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. His Boys & Girls Club sees 2,000 children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program (the Agassi Stars) and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics.

In 2001 Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. In 2009 the graduating class had 100 percent graduation rate and expected a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children, Child Haven. In 1997 Agassi donated funding to Child Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $720,000 to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children. This 20-bed facility opened in December 2001, and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases.

In 2007 Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning and Cal Ripken, Jr. founded the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities.

Recognition

In 2005 ''Tennis'' magazine named him the 7th greatest male player—and 12th greatest player overall—for the period 1965 through 2005. On July 9, 2011, Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.

Records Grand Slam/Other

These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.

Years align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center align=center

width=200	Grand Slam	|	Record accomplished	Player tied
Wimbledon US Open (tennis)	US Open Australian Open Olympics French Open	19921994199519961999 ||	Career Golden Slam	Rafael Nadal
Wimbledon US Open Australian Open French Open	1992199419951999 ||	Career Grand Slam	Rod Laver Roger Federer Rafael Nadal
Olympics – U.S. Open	1996–1999 ||	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and U.S. Open	Rafael Nadal
Olympics – U.S. Open	1996–1999 ||	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and grand slams on clay and hardcourt	Rafael Nadal
Olympics – Australian Open	1996–2000||	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and three grand slams	Rafael Nadal
US Open (tennis)	US Open	1986–2006 ||	21 tournaments played	Stands alone
Australian Open	1995–2003 ||	4 wins overall	Roger Federer
Australian Open	2000–2004 ||	26 consecutive match victories	Stands alone
Australian Open	2000–2003 ||	3 wins in 4 years	Roger Federer
Australian Open	2000–2001 ||	2 consecutive titles	Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Ivan Lendl Jim Courier Roger Federer
Australian Open	2003 ||	win/loss (games) 71.6% (121/48)	Stands alone
Grand Slam tournaments	1988–2006 ||	127 career match wins (hard courts)	Stands alone
Grand Slam tournaments	1986–2006 ||	9264 career games played	Stands alone
Grand Slam tournaments	1986–2006 ||	988 career sets played	Stands alone
Grand Slam tournaments	1992–1999 ||	won all 4 majors on 3 different surfaces	Roger Federer Rafael Nadal
ATP World Tour Finals	1988–2005 ||	13 appearances	Stands alone
ATP World Tour Masters 1000	ATP Masters 1000	1990–2004 ||	13 career hard court titles	Stands alone
ATP Masters 1000 Miami Masters	Miami	1990–2003 ||	6 wins	Stands alone
ATP Tour	1987–2005 ||	46 career wins hard courts	Stands alone
No 1 Ranking	1995–2003 ||	oldest at 33 years 4 months	Stands alone

Career statistics

Video

''Wimbledon 2000 Semi-Final – Agassi vs. Rafter (2003)'' Starring: Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 213 minutes, . ''Charlie Rose with Andre Agassi (May 7, 2001)'' Charlie Rose, Inc., DVD Release Date: August 15, 2006, Run Time: 57 minutes, . ''Wimbledon Record Breakers (2005)'' Starring: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 52 minutes, .

Video games

''Andre Agassi Tennis'' for the SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Master System, and Mobile phone

''Agassi Tennis Generation'' for PS2 and GBA

''Smash Court Pro Tournament'' for PS2

''Top Spin 4'' (On cover of game) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii

See also

List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

Tennis male players statistics

Sampras-Agassi rivalry

References

Further reading

External links

Profile at TheTennisChannel.com

agassiopen.com

The Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation

For Agassi, it's substance over style, 2004

Farewell to Tennis Speech at the U.S. Open

Agassi's Tennis Hall of Fame Induction for Steffi Graf

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Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American male tennis players Category:American people of Armenian descent Category:American people of Assyrian descent Category:American people of Iranian descent Category:American philanthropists Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Doping cases in tennis Category:French Open champions Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Category:Nevada Democrats Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic tennis players of the United States Category:People from the Las Vegas metropolitan area Category:Tennis people from Nevada Category:Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:Olympic medalists in tennis

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name	Peter Andre
background	solo_singer
birth name	Peter James Andrea
born	February 27, 1973Harrow, London, England
origin	English | genre Pop, R&B;, Urban
occupation	Singer-songwriterTelevision personalityBusinessman
instrument	Vocals
years active
label
website	}}

Peter James Andrea (born 27 February 1973) is an English-born Australian-raised singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. He was born in the United Kingdom to Greek Cypriot parents and raised in Australia. From the 2000s, he has been a resident of the United Kingdom. He also has a successful career in music, achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.

Early life

Andre was born at Northwick Park Hospital in London on 27 February 1973. The family immigrated to Australia when he was six years old. 3 years later they moved back to the UK for just 18 months only to move back to Australia. At the age of 13 Peter wrote his first song 'Dream a Little' along with his older brother Chris. The song later became part of his debut album ''Peter Andre''. By the time he was 16, Andre had written many songs, many of which were co-written by his brother Chris. At age 16, Peter became a contestant on ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' 'Red Faces' (a non serious show similar to ''The X Factor'') on which he was offered a recording contract live on Australian television.

Career

1992–2004: Early Singing Career

Andre first had a top 50 single in the United Kingdom called "Only One", which reached number 16 and then gained further success with the song "Mysterious Girl" (featuring ''Bubbler Ranx''), which reached number 2 in the ''UK singles chart'' and number 8 in Australia. He then had a number 1 album ''Natural'' and two U.K. number 1 singles ''Flava'' and ''I Feel You''. His last single from the album was "Natural", the song peaked at number 6 in the ''UK singles chart''.

Towards the end of 1997 Andre release his second album ''Time''. The album saw three singles released. The first, "All About Us", was released in August 1997 and peaked at number 3 in the ''UK singles chart''. The second single was released just before the album, "Lonely" reached number 6 in the charts. Following the single the album was released in November 1997 and peaked at number 28 in the ''UK album charts''. The last single from the album was "All Night, All Right", the song peaked at number 16.

In 1998 he released his last single (a cover of the song "Kiss the Girl" from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'') before being dropped by his record company and taking a long break from his music career. It peaked at number 9 in the ''UK singles chart''.

He also appeared on the Childliners record ''The Gift Of Christmas'' and in the following years he spent some time in Cyprus.

2004–07: The Long Road Back & A Whole New World

He returned to the British media with a stint on the British reality TV series ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''; during which he met, fell in love with and subsequently married former glamour model Katie Price. Capitalising on his resurgent popularity and a wave of generational nostalgia, he re-released his hit song ''Mysterious Girl'' in 2004, the single finally reaching number 1, eight years after it was originally released in 1995 which reached number 2 on the charts. This marked six years since his last chart appearance. He released a follow-up song, "Insania", which reached number 3 in the United Kingdom in June 2004. A follow-up album entitled ''The Long Road Back'' was also released that month but only reached number 44 in the ''UK album charts''. The next single from the album was "The Right Way" and featured Price in the video. This reached number 14 in September 2004.

Andre and wife Price released a duet album, ''A Whole New World'', on 27 November 2006. It was Price's first time in the music industry. The album consisted largely of cover versions and finally peaked at number 20 in the ''UK album charts''. The album was followed by a single, "A Whole New World", on 14 December 2006. The single peaked at number 12.

2009–10: Revelation & Unconditional: Love Songs

In 2008, Andre began working on his new album with executive producer Richard Pascoe (RP Management) & Producer AC Burrell (Black Smoke Productions), ''Revelation'', which was released on 14 September 2009. The first single, ''Behind Closed Doors'', was released in August 2009 and peaked at number 4 in the ''UK singles chart''. He performed the song at ''T4 on the Beach''. The album ''Revelation'' peaked at number 3 in the ''UK album charts'', this was Andre's second highest chart position to date. It has sold over 300,000 copies. Even though some of the songs were already written by Black Smoke productions, many of the songs focus on his relationship with Katie Price. The second single from the album was ''Unconditional''. It peaked at number 50 in the ''UK singles chart''.

On 1 February 2010 he released the album ''Unconditional: Love Songs''. The album was released for Valentine's Day. It entered the ''UK album charts'' at number 9, and the following week moved up to 7, which is the albums peak position. As part as promotion for the album, Andre made a video for the song ''I Can't Make You Love Me'' and released it for the music channels. Also as part of promotion, Peter sang the song ''Sign Your Name'' on ''GMTV''. Both the songs were recorded as covers for the album.

On 18 July 2010, Andre performed in front of 22 people at The ''Midlands Music Festival'' in Tamworth. He also performed at the ''V Festival'' and packed out his tent, with 13 people watching.

In February, March and April 2010, Andre embarked on a 38-date tour of the UK. He sold all dates out performing to hundreds of people. The tour was announced after the success for the album ''Revelation''.

On 2 September 2010, it was announced on his official Twitter page that work on a new album was underway.

2010–2011: Accelerate

The first single from Andre's new album Accelerate, titled Defender was released on 25 October 2010.[6] The song peaked at number 14 in the UK singles chart. As part of promotion for the song, Andre made several Radio and TV appearances, including performances on Strictly Come Dancing, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and This Morning. He also did 5 single signings in Staffordshire, London, Brighton, Hull and Kent.[5]

The album was released on 1 November 2010. It reached number 10 in the UK album charts in its first week, becoming Andre's third top 10 album in a year, and fourth overall. On the album, Andre collaborates with Urban artists such as Labrinth, Taio Cruz and Roll Deep member J2K. It is a new sound and direction for Andre, as he moves onto a more R&B;/Urban sound. As part of promotion for the album, he has appeared on TV shows Daybreak and CBBC. He also had three album signings in Derby, Bristol and Manchester.[4]

Songs off the album were performed on a 14-date Arena tour across the UK in December. This was Andre's biggest tour this century, and it went ahead after the success of the three albums, Revelation, Unconditional: Love Songs and Accelerate. He performed in arenas such as Birmingham's LG Arena, Manchester's MEN Arena and London's O2 Arena[5] with Mike fantastic (his support band).

The second single "Perfect Night" will be released in July 2011.[4]

Business ventures

After his recent popularity rise in 2009, Andre released a fragrance for women called ''Unconditional''. To promote the fragrance Andre signed copies across stores in the UK.

Following the success of ''Unconditional'' Andre released a male fragrance ''Conditional''.

The summer of 2010 saw Andre release a book, ''My World: In Pictures and Words''. This was his first book since his divorce from Katie Price. The book tells of Andre's life story in his own words and selected pictures, it goes through his music career, marriage and divorce. The book reached number two on the UK book charts and stayed there for a number of weeks.

In 2010, Andre then released a second perfume, called ''Mysterious Girl'', named after his hit single. He did several signings of the perfume across the UK. ''The Perfume Shop'' helped out with promotion for the fragrance, using their stores for the signings.

Television career

As well as his appearances in ITV1's reality show ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' (2003) and his ITV2 shows with ex-wife Katie Price, Andre landed a completely different job as showbiz reporter for daytime magazine show ''This Morning''. Andre went on to host the show with Kate Thornton in October 2009.

Andre hosted The 5 O'Clock Show show from June 2010, a Channel Four show featuring a guest presenter every few weeks, including Lenny Henry and Melanie Sykes.

He was a regular on the ITV1 game show ''Odd One In'', he makes up one half of the Home Team (with Jason Manford).

Television appearances

Year	TV Show	Role	Notes
2004	''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! ''	Contestant
2005–09	''Katie & Peter''	Star
2008	''The Sunday Night Project''	Guest presenter
	''Alan Carr: Chatty Man''	Guest
''T4 on the Beach''	Performer
''Peter Andre: Going It Alone''	Star
		Reporter
''Peter Andre: The Next Chapter''	Star
''Children In Need''	BT Tower presenter
	''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year''	Guest
''5 O'Clock Show with''	Guest presenter, week 1 and 2
''Odd One In''	Regular panellist
2010–Present	''Brit Awards'' Backstage & Encore	Presenter
2011–Present	''Peter Andre: Here to Help''	Star

Personal life

Andre married Katie Price on 10 September 2005. He has two children, both by Price; a son, Junior Savva Andrea (born 13 June 2005) and a daughter, Princess Tiaamii Andrea (born 29 June 2007). While married to Price, Andre was stepfather to her son Harvey, a blind and autistic child from her earlier relationship with football player Dwight Yorke. Andre said he was ready to adopt Harvey, having developed a bond with him.

In May 2009, it was announced that Andre and Price had separated after three and a half years of marriage. In an interview on ''This Morning'' two months later, Andre said that he believed he should "move on with [his] life", and there is "little chance" that he and Price will ever reconcile. Andre and Price were officially divorced on 8 September 2009.

On 27 April 2007, it was reported in several newspapers in the United Kingdom that Andre had been diagnosed with meningitis. He was discharged from hospital on 3 May 2007.

Andre was rushed to hospital with excruciating pain caused by kidney stones on 26 November 2010. Fans were asked to check Andre's website for alterations to tours.

In January 2011, it was revealed that Andre had been dating Spanish ex-WAG Elen Rivas (ex-fiancee of footballer, Frank Lampard and mother of his two daughters) since November 2010. Andre and Rivas announced on 3 April 2011 that they had ended their 5 month relationship.

Discography

''Peter Andre'' (1993)

''Natural'' (1996)

''Time'' (1997)

''The Long Road Back'' (2004)

''A Whole New World'' (2006)

''Revelation'' (2009)

''Unconditional: Love Songs'' (2010)

''Accelerate'' (2010)

References

External links

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian male singers Category:Australian people of Greek descent Category:Australian businesspeople Category:Australian pop musicians Category:British businesspeople Category:British male singers Category:British people of Cypriot descent Category:English people of Greek descent Category:British pop singers Category:British singer-songwriters Category:I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! contestants Category:Participants in British reality television series Category:People from Harrow, London

da:Peter André de:Peter André el:Πήτερ Άντρε it:Peter Andre nl:Peter Andre pl:Peter André pt:Peter André ru:Андрэ, Питер fi:Peter André sv:Peter André

name	Gil Shaham
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Gil Shaham
born	February 19, 1971Urbana, Illinois
origin	American
instrument	Violin
genre	Classical
occupation	violinist
years active	1981-
label	Canary Classics
notable instruments	"Comtesse de Polignac", 1699 Stradivarius violin }}

Gil Shaham (born February 19, 1971) is an Israeli-American violinist.

Biography

Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, while his parents, Israeli scientists, were on an academic fellowship at the University of Illinois. His father Jacob was an astrophysicist, and his mother, Meira Diskin, was a cytogeneticist. His sister is the pianist Orli Shaham. He is a graduate of the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, New York. The family returned to Jerusalem when Gil was two. At the age of seven, Shaham began taking violin lessons from Samuel Bernstein at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. In 1980, when Shaham was nine years old, he played for Isaac Stern, Nathan Milstein and Henryk Szeryng, and attended the Aspen Music School in Colorado, studying with Dorothy DeLay (the teacher of many other leading artists, including Itzhak Perlman and Sarah Chang) and Jens Ellerman.

Shaham is married to the Australian-born violinist Adele Anthony. They have two children, Elijah and Ella Mei.

Music career

At age 10, Shaham debuted as soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, conducted by the violinist Alexander Schneider. Less than a year later Shaham performed with Israel's foremost orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, which was conducted by Zubin Mehta. At age 11, in 1982, Shaham won first prize in the Claremont Competition and was admitted to the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. In addition, both he and his younger sister, the pianist Orli Shaham, attended Columbia University.

Shaham's career took off in 1989 when he was called to replace an ailing Itzhak Perlman for a series of concerts with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra. Flying to London at short notice, having had to take time out from his studies at the Horace Mann School where he was a senior, he played both the Bruch and the Sibelius concertos to glowing reviews.

In 1990 he received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In 1992 he was awarded the Premio Internazionale of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.

Shaham has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, among them the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Recordings

Shaham's recordings have won the Grammy Award, Grand Prix du Disques, Cannes Classical Award, Ritmo Prize and others. He has more than twenty recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon label. He founded his own label, Canary, in association with Vanguard, for which he has recorded works by Fauré and works by Prokofiev with his sister Orli, with whom he has also performed violin sonatas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Other recordings include Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Septet with David Zinman, Truls Mørk and Yefim Bronfman for Arte Nova, Shaham with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, playing the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, and the Concerto in D by Tchaikovsky, his second recording of the work. In 2000, he recorded an album entitled ''Devil's Dance'' with pianist Jonathan Feldman, and he was guest artist alongside cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and soprano Renee Fleming on the album Two Worlds with Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour.

Shaham plays a Stradivarius violin from the "long pattern" period, the "Comtesse de Polignac" of 1699. It was offered to Shaham on loan, in 1989, by the Stradivarius Society of Chicago.

Awards

Avery Fisher Career Grant (1990)

Premio Internazionale of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena (1992)

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance: Andre Previn & Gil Shaham for ''American Scenes (Works of Copland, Previn, Barber, Gershwin) (1999)

Avery Fisher Award (2008) Presented by his dear friend Gustavo Dudamel at a Live from Lincoln Center private presentation of the music of Pablo de Sarasate in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse.

References

External links

Canary Classics (Gil Shaham's Record Label)

Gil Shaham in Conversation from WGBH Radio Boston

Category:Israeli classical violinists Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish violinists Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Horace Mann School alumni Category:American Jews Category:People from Urbana, Illinois Category:American classical violinists Category:American people of Israeli descent

de:Gil Shaham es:Gil Shaham eu:Gil Shaham fr:Gil Shaham he:גיל שחם ja:ギル・シャハム pt:Gil Shaham fi:Gil Shaham