Pete Sampras Returning to Tennis

For those of you who miss watching Pistol Pete play professional tennis, you'll finally get an opportunity to see him play again, albeit against a little bit older competition. Pete's going to be playing in the Outback Champions Series at Boston University from May 2-6. The Outback Champions Series is open to professional players aged 30 and older.

"I just want to see how it goes," Sampras said in a telephone interview Monday. "I don't want to commit to a bunch of them, just see how I enjoy the week, the playing. I didn't want to commit to something I wasn't 100 percent sure about."

The series consists of five events, and the Boston stop is the second in the series. The last time Pete Sampras played competitive tennis in Boston, his doubles team notched the only victory for the United States in the Davis Cup quarterfinals against Australia in 1999.

Sampras, "After a couple of years of that you kind of wake up as the mornings go on feeling you need to do a little bit more and feel more fulfilled," he said. "Getting up in the morning to play golf is fun, but you miss a little bit of the structured life you had."

One reason he's returning is his relationship with series co-founder Jim Courier, who also will be in the eight-man field in Boston along with John McEnroe. Total prize money is $142,000. To qualify for the series, now in its second full year, a player must have reached a Grand Slam singles final, been ranked in the top five, or played singles on a Davis Cup championship team. What makes this tour interesting is the big names who participate. In addition to Sampras, the tour also features Mats Wilander, Todd Martin, Thomas Muster, Pat Cash and Michael Chang to name a few.

"I almost in a way wish he came back and played (regularly)," McEnroe said Monday night after attending the Rangers' hockey game in New York. "I know he sort of in a way wants to preserve what he's already done. But no one can take that away."

Sampras said he won't return to the regular tennis tour but is ready for the competition again although it's "nothing as intense as it used to be."

You can read the full article by going to this page on HappyNews.com.

Good luck today and make it a great one!

P.S. Speaking of tennis, if you or anyone you know is single and wants to meet other singles who enjoy playing tennis, check out TennisSinglesFinder.com.

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