Sampras Keeps It Consistent but Varied

Smashing--Pete Sampras did it again and then some. He is 1998’s No. 1 tennis player on the ATP Tour rankings for a record-breaking sixth straight year.

(Love it--last year he matched Jimmy Connors’ five-year streak as No. 1 from 1974 to 1978.)

During a recent volley by phone, Sampras, 27, talked about some of the ways he prepares for tournaments. The tennis champ, who grew up in Rancho Palos Verdes, trains at his Orlando, Fla., home. “I do a number of things,” he said. “Lifting weights, riding the bike, doing foot drills, going for runs anywhere from 50 yards to 200 yards, stretching, massages. It’s pretty much every day--maybe with one day off.”

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Question: Do you train on the road too?

Answer: I don’t really do much on the road. The training that I was just talking about I do when I’m home in Florida. On the road, since I’m playing a lot, I’ll do an occasional jog or a little bike, but I’m not very consistent--not with that--because I just like to put everything into trying to win and play well.

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Q: Let’s hear how you train, starting with the weights.

A: I do leg curls, leg extensions, some leg presses, some back exercises. I do a little free weights. I’m not doing weights to really bulk up. I’m just trying to stay strong. I’ll do this probably two to three times a week.

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Q: What are the foot drills like?

A: My trainer sets up a few cones. We’ll just go back and forth 10 times--weaving in and out of cones--hitting groundies or low volleys. I mean, anything to do with the tennis movements but really hard and really fast.

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Q: Are you working on a particular kind of surface in the gym?

A: Yeah. We’ve got a specific area to do these foot drills--kind of like a rubber surface that is pretty good on the body. And we do some [step climbing]. On a hard day we do 10 one-minutes as fast as you can with a minute off to rest. That’s probably twice a week. And we do stuff with this band--it’s like a rubber band--that my trainer puts over my waist and I try to hit forehands and my trainer’s holding onto it and pulling me back. I’m pushing forward so that’s basically just giving me a lot of resistance. I also do eight or 10 laps around the court.

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Q: You mentioned the stationary bicycle too.

A: A couple times a week. I do most of my stuff in short and quick spurts because that’s how I play. So on the bike I’ll do 10 30-second sprints as hard as you can go and with the 30-second recovery.

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Q: Do you play tennis every day?

A: No. If I’m getting ready for a tournament, obviously I’ll be practicing, but if I have some time off and I don’t need to practice, I usually don’t. But it seems like there’s a tournament always around the corner so I’m always feeling like I’m hitting a few balls.

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Q: You are. Look how long the season runs--January through November.

A: You’re telling me.

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Q: How much do you practice tennis before a tournament?

A: Usually a couple weeks.

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Q: Does your workout vary according to the surface that you’ll compete on?

A: Yeah, absolutely. On clay, since you’re sliding more, I’ll probably spend more time doing foot drills. And, you know, when you play on different surfaces you’re using different muscles in a way. For instance, if I’m playing on grass, I’ll do short, quick stuff--10 to 20 yards, do a bunch of those because the points are pretty quick and I’m always coming in and playing a lot at net. With the clay, I try to make sure that I’m doing longer, harder stuff because that’s the surface that you’re playing a lot of long points on and you want to make sure you’re in the best shape possible.

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Q: Do you do exercises for your ankles?

A: I’ll have my trainer do resistance--doing all different directions with my ankle. We try to do that actually quite a bit since I’ve got pretty sensitive feet. I’ve had some ankle trouble in the past.

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Q: What about your shoulder? You’ve got a strong serve.

A: Well, one thing that I’m lucky is that I have a pretty loose shoulder. The way I string my racket, which is very tight, and I serve pretty hard, I want to make sure my arm’s nice and strong. I’ll get a weight--a 7-pound dumbbell--and do a service motion, a couple of sets of 15, three to four times a week.

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Q: Anything else before we move on to food?

A: We do a lot of medicine ball work. I’ll get the medicine ball and throw it against the wall and do the forehand or the backhand motion, do a set of 15 where I’m throwing it over my head. And a lot of stomach work like sit-ups with the medicine ball and throwing it back to [his trainer]. That’s a very nice piece of equipment to use--I’ve used it most of my career.

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Q: Tell me something about your concentration, your focus.

A: Mentally you have to be very fresh and do whatever it takes and, you know, I’m not that disciplined. I feel like I need someone pushing me and that’s why I have a trainer because I do things but I don’t do them with the same intensity.

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Q: Want to talk about food now?

A: Yeah. When I play, I eat very well--a lot of pastas. I try to eat red meat quite a bit, chicken. I don’t like fish but I try to get a lot of protein in me, but it’s also important to get all the carbs for the energy.

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Q: What are your meals like on a day when you’re playing?

A: Before a match, if I play an afternoon match, I’ll try to get some pancakes in me or a waffle. I’ll have water. Every now and again I’ll have a cup of tea. Then maybe a couple hours before I play, I top it off with a turkey sandwich or a couple bananas just to make sure you don’t go out there empty. I make sure if I drink, I’m well hydrated drinking water. I stay away from the Cokes and stuff. I’ve got a pretty sensitive stomach, and I just make sure that what I’m putting in, it is not going to have a bad reaction.

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Q: Those pancakes--any butter or syrup?

A: Very limited. That’s why when I’m done playing, I usually grease out. Not totally. I mean, maybe also a banana, cereal and bagel or toast.

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Q: What’s for dinner?

A: Always pasta and maybe a piece of meat or chicken or salad. I eat a lot of Italian food. I usually find one restaurant and we just seem to always go to it every night during a tournament.

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Q: Dessert?

A: Tiramisu or ice cream. Dessert’s important in a way. I mean, it’s good to have some sugar in you.

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Q: Let’s say you have a couple of tennis-free days. How would you grease out? That’s your term.

A: A pretty good grease meal--but it’s not that bad--is a nice cheeseburger and fries or something like that. You know sometimes in the morning I crave eggs--omelets and fries and Coke. If I have some time off, I’ll for sure do that once or twice. But once I start playing, I eat really healthy. If I play well and win something, I’ll reward myself--but I still reward myself even if I lose.

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