Petros "Pete" Sampras (born August 12, 1971, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired Greek American tennis player and former World No. 1. During his 15-year career, he won 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles, (a record he shares with Roger Federer from Switzerland) and had a 203–38 win-loss record over 52 Grand Slam singles tournament appearances. He is considered one of the all-time greats of the game.

He debuted on the professional tour in 1988 and played his last top-level tournament in 2002 when he won the US Open, defeating long-time 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 and tied for third all-time.

His seven Wimbledon singles championships is a record shared with William Renshaw. His five US Open singles titles is an open era record shared with former World No. 1 players Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.

The American journalist and television sportscaster Bud Collins has named Sampras as one of the top five men's tennis players of all-time, and Tennis Magazine has named him the greatest tennis player from 1965 to 2005. On July 17, 2007, Sampras was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Pete Sampras was born in Washington, D.C., and is the third son of Sammy and Georgia Sampras.

His parents are Greek immigrants. Greek culture played a big role in his upbringing since his mother Georgia is AYA originally from Sparta while his father Sam was half Greek Jewish. Interview by Nick Green, The Guardian, Sunday 1 July 2007 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 a young 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 Peninsula Racket 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 two-handed backhand to one-handed intending to increase Sampras' chances of winning Wimbledon.

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