Apparently, I am first.
Hi Pete, thanks for responding to the comments on Pete. The problem I have with the book is though when you don't show the otherside of you, you cannot talk about the otherside of your contemporaries, Pete or Andre or Blake or anyone for that matter, atleast that is how I see things. To me, you either write a book and talk about no one (Sampras and Blake) for instance or talk about the otherside of you openly (as Andre did, I guess HCC reinforces what Andre said in his book). I find did hard when a person has negative things to say about others but not about youself and it is sad when that becomes the most entertaining part of your book, the negative stuff about someone else but not your own story.
I am not saying that Agassi is great, he is flawed but thats not news anymore since his book came out.

Well, Sam, I don't know what "other side" there is to Patrick, if that's what you mean. None that he chose to share with me, or that I heard about. He's just a hard-working, decent, regular guy, but he also has opinions and bases most of what he says/wrote on his experiences with the people he writes about. There's plenty of good stuff in there about others - it's not like Pat trashes everyone, or even comes close. That's what I think, and remember, this book wasn't intended to be about Patrick, but about his experiences and opinions. We only told as much about his career as we did in an effort to find a good narrative structure for the book, using his experiences as signposts and jumping-off points. Some people find the narrative confusing, because it kind of hops around from topic to topic, but we tried to stucture it along the lines of a year in tennis (starting with the Australian Open), with Pat discussing some relevant issues at the appropriate times. We could think of no other way to organize the book and still have it be readable and moving along briskly.

PS - and thanks, Sam, for buying and reading the book!

Is this *the* Sam or another?

Pete: Thanks for the comments on the whole Cheap Pete thing. Timing is everything, eh?

And you're going to a Yankees game! So envious. Have fun. :)

Hi Pete! I bought Hardcourt Confidential a while back and have really enjoyed Patrick's candor in telling about his experiences. And yup, I did wonder a bit when he talked about Pete S. - but having worked for years in publishing I knew you guys had put the book to bed for the Hit for Haiti. btw, I think Andre acted like a jerk that night and what's more annoying is that insufferable Longines ad on TTC - where his students "learn repect" blah blah.

Enjoy the yanks, it's gonna be HOT out there tonight.

"Hingis the Firekitten." Awe - I miss her. Such a fun game to watch. She looked good when i saw a bit of a match she was in... last week i think?

Have fun at the Yankees game Pete, though something tells me that Luke's going to find a bit more to eat than just hotdogs and cotton candy.

Thanks for the info about the Pete thing; IW was SO uncomfortable to watch, I felt so bad for Pete. Just too bad that two players I've always liked and had a lot respect for were hurt in that exchange. Am glad you've clarified that Pmac wasn't 'piling on'. I do really like him, he's by far my fav 'Mac' and am very much looking forward to reading this. Sigh. My 'to read' pile is getting a bit unwieldly.... :)

Pete Thanks I have not read your latest book.

Living Down Under we tend to get things later

I had to order Champions Mind from o/seas which was a gift for my husband.

He still sleeps with Champions Mind under his pillow I am convinced of it.Being a total Sampras Nut to this very day.He adores the book.

Jackie, the other Sam or should I say, the otherside of Sam.

Hmmm Sam is that you?

*faints"

Pete, it is amazing to see how you as well as Patrick have been so open to the Internet and social media. The willingness to take the time to reach out to your audience and provide them with quality content is inspiring. I love reading Pat and yours book.

-kb

Hi Pete, I am not saying Pmac is a bad guy. You can really be a very nice guy and at times act stupid and wonder why in the world we did that, happens to everyone. Give you an example, I work with someone who gave a kidney to a complete stranger and when people say wow, that is really nice of you, she states that you don't have to donate a kidney to be a super nice person, you can also be nice by holding the elevator door when you someone hurrying to get in (she states that she did not do that few days after donating her kidney and wondered geez, I just donated a part of my body but was not willing to wiat on a person for a few minutes). There is good and bad in all of us, but the proportions of each vary.
Its time to faint now aussiemarg.

Well picking myself up from the floor

Like it has been like ages Sam

I have missed you.

Hmm by the way I am not the only one ok

I was kidding, I am not 'the' Sam.

Ahhh ok then.Stop playing tricks on me lol!

I welcome your thoughts anyway.

I've attended most of the Sportimes' home matches this year as media. Think of World Team Tennis as "Rock n Roll" tennis with a minor league baseball feel. The stadium is intimate, great views of the court from all seat locations. Great to watch tennis in this type of setting. Many families come out for the matches. (I've already admitted this on twitter, but I love the "Disco" break they have each night.)

Pete and other TWibers,

I'll see you there!

Have a great weekend all.

interesting post over at ESPN, Pete. not sure I quite understand the connection between Delpo and Roddick which you explained over there. I feel like first of all its a big ask for Delpo to beat Roger/Rafa for awhile, considering that he has been off the tour so long. (I'll be happy if I'm wrong). Also, personally I think that if Delpo beats one of them, he'll probably have an upperhand in a clash with A-rod too. Not to mention, isn't it a little early to be predicting all these things? I think it would be cool to have someone new challenge the big 2 (Rafa/Roger) in the HC swing..though I doubt it.
also loved the new podcast, a nice preview for the HC season. I had some laughs as well. :)

I'm looking forward to reading the post about WTT. I have been to a couple of matches and I thought it was a lot of fun. Not as serious as a tour match, but much more real than an exhibition.

GVtennisnews -- do you have a new blog or site? I used to like your Davis Cup posts here and your posts on TAT.

adicecream click into my signature. Thanks! Hope you are well.

Saturday Order of Play:

WTA: Prague at 6 AM - Zahlavova Strycova vs Schnyder to be followed by Hradecka vs Szavay
ATP: Bastad at 7 AM - Soderling vs Ferrer to be followed by Almagro vs Robredo
ATP: Stuttgart at 9:50 AM - Ferrero vs Montanes to be followed by Gimeno-Traver vs Monfils
WTA: Palermo at 11 AM - Kanepi vs Oprandi
WTA: Palermo at 1 PM - Pennetta vs Goerges

Pete, why are you always pushing this book?

I think it's pretty obvious that Patrick is a good guy. Not sure the reason for this post. I guess it hurt Pat's feelings that people thought he was picking on Pete. More likely, Patrick is worried about Sampras lumping him in with Andre.

Here's an idea, Pete (Bodo): have Patrick pick up the phone and call ol' Pete S if he's worried. If I were Sampras, I would be irritated as heck by now for all the 'cheap' shots.

Hey, didn't he give 60K to Agassi's foundation? Agassi really doesn't look good, meth and all.

I hate you because of your nadal love and Federer hate, but I bought your book all the same, great read, thanks to Pat haha

Yes, it was too to late to retract Pete is cheap after H4H 2 but not too late after Agassi's book came out talking about the same thing. One thing I know for sure, Pete S is never going to agree to work for the USTA now.

Thanks, GV - lots of good info on your site.

WOW all we hear about is how del Potro beat Rafa and he is the kind of player that will give Rafa problems!!! I guess we also bought that line on Soderling!! Martin is a top player and might just be a future n# 1 but give me a break with all the del po talk!!! Time will tell and lets see now that all the experts are proclaiming his future greatness what kind of pressure he feels when the big showdowns comeback around.

Pete,
you are very biased. I don't care for your Federer bashing. You seem very jealous of his accomplishments. Your only means to attract readers is writing things that are controversial about another player. You must be unhappy in your personal life, desperate or both.

SHAME ON YOU DIRTY OLD MAN.

SHAME on Aggassi as well. His long drawn out farewell speech at the US open didn't thank his father or Nick Bollettieri.
The 2 men who have been the most instrumental for the success in his life. With out them he would not have been able to afford the crystal meth in the first place.

test

Love the article and the book was very informative. I enjoyed how connected I felt to Patrick and the experiences he was having...

Go... wwwLoveTheCool.com
You rock.

I hate to say it so brashly, but get of Sampras' dick.

This sounds like bathroom chat from a 13 year old girl.

Venus is on PBS Travis interview show right now talking about her book. She designed the set of the show.

Maybe Pistol Pete is cheap. I really don't know. Maybe Patrick doesn't have a problem with Pistol Pete... and his character, or lack thereof. Once again, I don't know. What I do know is that when people think highly of others, they generally don't find less-than-flattering stories to tell about them when they finally get around to writing a book. I also know that if someone thinks you're cheap, there's a good pretty good chance that they might also think that you're greedy. Now, remind me again why the USTA turned Pete down when he approached them about helping out with player development. Wasn't it because he wanted to be compensated for his time, but they weren't willing to pay? Wasn't it up to Patrick to decide if Pete would've been hired or not? Now we all know that Pete is not a poor man by any stretch of the imagination, and he isn't looking for a job in order to make ends meet. So why would he want to be compensated? If I remember correctly, he said that that is the way that he does business. I might be wrong, but my impression was that Pete wanted to be taken seriously if he was indeed offered a job. He didn't want some position as some 'honorary' quasi-assistant coach. Rather, he wanted to be brought on as a guy who knew what he was talking about and could make a difference. No better way to ensure that the organization takes you seriously than insisting on a paid position. And no, I don't think that he wanted to be the highest paid guy in the joint. Once again, Pete doesn't need the money. When he offered to help out and they turned him down, I had a hard time trying to wrap my head around why they wouldn't want to bring him on board. I'm not having quite such of a hard time anymore. Well, at the very least, if anyone wants to benefit from hearing the past champ's perspective, they can still buy his book. But, on the other hand, that's only going to make him richer...

The one and only person who shld be concerned in case Pete tipped less than customary was the valet who received the tip. The Rest of them can shut up and go mind their own business.

Before it gets any worse than it already has, one thing everyone including me can do is stop talking about Sampras and his money issues. Pete and PMac can do it on a personal level since Sampras deserves an explanation for whatever happened,intended or unintended.
Sorry Pete B and Pete S, I shouldn't have started this in the first place and will be my last post on this issue as well.

I hope Pat Mac will be in Toronto at Rogers Cup so I can get the book signed by him. Maybe he'll have a booth there selling it? Really looking forward to reading it.

Who is this "Sam" anyway.

Apologies if this has been posted before.

Warning: For Nadal fans ONLY -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEP-olIsa0Q&playnext_from=TL&videos=BCe4FXuPrPA&feature=sub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfiDZpAj3cI&feature=related

pretty shabby to write a book with Pete (and enjoy his hospitality) then write one with Pmac and bash Pete. duh.

If Pete weren't cheap, he'd have nothing to worry about...

Pete Sampras IS cheap. People are just getting mad that Andre Agassi is bringing it to light. That's why Sampras almost hit him in the exo, because Andre let his secret out. Andre was just keeping it real with the mieser. I mean the fool made millions in his career and couldn't tip properly. Talk about cheap. He had/has no personality, is cheap, and aesthetically unappealing. It doesn't get much worse than that. What a LOSER!

imjimmy, thanks for that. A capsule of the season!

does it really matter if pete is cheap or not? i'm sure there are a dozen other qualities he has that people will either like or dislike. people's relationship to money is a very complex thing - most marriage that fail, disintegrate over money issues - and it translates into how they handle it.

Typical that Americans are dumping all over the greatest champion they ever had and are ever likely to have.

I'd take Agassi over Sampras ANY DAY!!!

Imjimmy: Thanks so much for the videos. The first one is such a nice recap of Rafa's season. :)

LOL Kat!

LOL indeed Kat.

I've been away camping for two weeks (Yellowstone!). Hope you're all well. Come back to check the tennis news - presume there is none by the facts that:
1) Pete is writing about his own book again
2) And talking about the Sampras is cheap issue again.

Guys Pete (Bodo) makes his living writing - he'll ghostwrite for anyone who'll pay him I'm sure. He's a hired gun.
But I think it's disingeneous to claim here that their book was done before HforH and they weren't piling on. The crucial issue is they were writing it in the wake of the Agassi book - hoping in fact to ride that wave of incredible sales (to absolutely zero effect as has it been discussed anywhere off this website?). The Agassi book put the Sampras story in play, not H4H, and they were indeed playing that (and other Agassi book lines - I nearly laughed when I read Pat M saying Agassi was the most insecure and easily distracted of champs -where's the news there after Open?) out.

Plus Pete (Bodo) himself wrote in a separate column post H4H that Sampras is cheap and has had many conflicts with people about money.

SO this column is hard for me to understand, as a "oh we didn't mean it" ...

Fact indeed apparently at this point - Sampras is cheap. Too bad in someone with so much money. Does it detract from his tennis gloire? Not at all. Does it make him less attractive as a guy I'd like to be at a dinner party with? For sure but I don't think that's on the cards anyway....

(Plus Agassi and Sampras have both move don smoothly from H4H which was three minutes of idiocy on both their parts - perhaps Pete could try to find something to move on to as well...)

Now on a subject of real importance - what the heck with Serena being out with this surgery from cutting her foot on broken glass? Is anyone discussing that? Is it on another thread?

"the punishment (undeserved, IMO) inflicted on Pete by Andre "

Hold on a minute... Andre might've taken a cheap shot at Sampras' stinginess (and Sampras has every right to spend his money as he wants), but Sampras showed some real venom at Andre and nearly took his face off with a hit at his body! Not to mention Sampras mimicking Andre's pigeon-toed walk, which the guy can hardly help! Think Andre didn't get a lifetime of idiotic comments about his walk?

Sampras was a great player, but he has never impressed me as a nice guy. For the most part he played a sporting game, but when he got ticked off, I thought he showed real meanness -- at umpires, at other players (even Rafter, the epitome of good sportsmanship). And his book (and you Bodo, as his co-author, tsk tsk for not editing) had some gratuitous foul language that I did not expect and I didn't think my kids should read. So let's think a minute before we put Sampras on a pedestal!

Cheers Colette and rafadoc! I thought the video was very tastefully made. And, of course, It just goes to show that clay is truly the well spring from which Rafa flows!

Agree GS, the line made me laugh as well ("punishment inflicted on Pete by Andre"!!!!!!).
Atleast Andre was honest and did not blame his wirter for misinterpreting his stuff in his book and say "I did not mean it, by the time I realized and wanted to retract it, it was too late". The next thing you know, Andre being blamed for PMac's impression about Sampras.
Its really funny, till Andre's book came out, he was "a Paragoan" by the media and since he came out with his book and said, "hey, I am not a nice guy", now everyone blames him for everything, easy to dump your faults on someone else.
As one of the psoters said, the comments about the tipping was all over the media even before 'OPEN' hit the market, so not sure whhy Pete was only worried about it after H4H incident.

Looks like Pete's trying to smooth over some ruffled feathers. Pete criticised Agassi for first writing about Sampras' cheapness and again when Agassi brought it up at H4H only for him to rehash the issue (which he knew Sampras was sensitive about) in his own book with PMac. Anyway he tries to explain it, it doesn't look good and does seem like piling on. Maybe at the time when PMac was "writing" that part of the book was when Sampras turned down the USTA- hell hath no fury like a man scorned.

Nadal, in his latest interview demands more attention for Masters titles....my question is why should something be given more importance than necessary just because he has won them the most number of times?? Isnt that a hint at some insecurity deep down?
IMO, Masters are less than half as important as slams - they are 3 setters, one-week long (Compared to 2 weeks in majors where u need to be at the top of your game for 2 weeks) events. Also, we have 9 masters a year compared to 4 slams a year, so a player has a chance to win them 9 times a year as compared to majors. They carry 1000 points (exactly half that of slams-I personally feel that ATP should introduce carry-forward points for every major won-say 300 points for winning a slam which u wont drop throughout your career). Worst thing is that we dont have a grass-court slam (the grass season just carries 2250 points) - which is unfair for the most traditional surface of 'lawn' tennis.
It is for this reason we have players like Ljubicic and Davydenko and Murray winning Masters, but they havent won a major yet.

oops sorry for the double post. Actually i wanted to correct my previous post to *we have 9 masters a year compared to 4 slams a year, so a player has a chance to win them 9 times a year as compared to "4 times" for majors*

I really like you to write about the tennis, I was a tennis fan.

ou to write about the te