Pete Sampras's career of grit and low-key stardom

Until the past few years, when the Pete Sampras story resembled a soap opera - the aging warrior under the siege of time and his own records - millions of Americans had no clue about what made this guy such absorbing TV.

Tennis wonks knew all about Pete Sampras and what made him the durable superstar that he was for so long and so honorably.

Their number could be measured in the hundreds of thousands. They could tell you about his high-octane serve, his quiet but obsessive competitive fire, his court presence, and his unswerving devotion to the codes of the athlete:

Play if your legs are killing you, but play.

Play if you can barely stand in your exhaustion, but play.

The aficionados of the game know Pete Sampras's tennis from baseline to baseline. But the affection and the respect they are pouring out on him this week at the US Open, where he was to be honored Monday night, might explain it. There are people who take vacations from work to watch US Open tennis.

And then there are the millions who normally will surf into a match here and there on TV because John McEnroe is probably the best thing going today among the oracles of television sports today. These are people who have watched Pete Sampras two or three times a year, in cameo, in highlights, maybe for two or three sets.

But they are also people who can identify a one-in-a-million athlete when they see one. And what was that quality, apart from those amazing 14 Grand Slams and all of those Wimbledons and that unforgettable, take-no-prisoners match with Andre Agassi in last year's US Open?

The quality was absolute, unyielding commitment.

It reflected in his every move on the tennis court; in his tenacity in every point; in his will, his guts, and, of course, in his marvelous tennis. He was the embodiment of a creed that athletes themselves - the good ones - revere. The athlete will tell you, "here's a guy who brings it." Utter commitment on every play, no matter his or her fatigue or pain.

His good looks and that rather flawless head of dark hair didn't hurt him as a TV personality among the casual watchers (even though some labeled his court performance and demeanor robotic). As an icon in today's saturation of big-time athletics on the nation's screens, Sampras is not going to rank with Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or even Roger Clemens. Tennis does not ignite the multitudes.

But if you want to examine the reasons Pete Sampras's name is probably going to last through the ages when they call the roll of athletes of the era, you'll get them from a man who competed against him, once beating him 6-0, 6-1 when both were juniors.

David Wheaton of Minneapolis once reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the quarters in the US Open.

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