Throughout his illustrious career Pete Sampras took the sport to new heights.
He dominated the game in a way very few players did before him and set new records many of which have since been surpassed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
He possessed one of the greatest serves of all time and crisp volleys that left plenty of his opponents bamboozled.
But for every iconic athlete there comes a time to bid farewell to the game they love, and this was a harsh reality for Pete Sampras to come to terms with.
Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty ImagesPete Sampras was practicing for Wimbledon when he knew it was time to retire from tennis
After Sampras won his seventh and final Wimbledon title in 2000, his form began to decline.
He went through the entire 2001 season without winning a major, and failed to reach another Wimbledon final courtesy of Federer and an upset defeat to George Bastl in 2002.
A sport he once made look easy was now proving to be much more difficult, but Sampras was determined to win one more Grand Slam, which came at the 2002 US Open.
Sampras then tried to play at Wimbledon one final time in 2003, but after three days of practice, he knew his days as a tennis player were over.
“I went through two years of not winning an event and what kept me going was winning one more major and once I won that major [2002 US Open], I spent the next 6 months trying to figure out what was next,” Sampras told TIME Magazine in 2008.
“I pulled out of a bunch of events, I didn’t really feel like practicing and slowly my passion for the sport just sort of vanished. I had nothing left to prove to myself, I achieved every goal that I put out there for myself.
“But the last straw was sort of when Wimbledon was coming around I was practicing thinking ‘okay, maybe I’ll play Wimbledon this year.’ But after three days of practicing I was like ‘I just don’t have it in me anymore’.
“It was time for me to realistically look myself in the mirror and just be honest here that I really am done. It was a hard thing to accept. I just didn’t want to believe it, but that’s when I knew.”
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesPete Sampras set Open Era record with 2002 US Open win
Sampras entered the 2002 US Open as the 17th seed and he had not lifted the title at Flushing Meadows for six years.
He began the tournament by beating wildcard Alex Kim in four sets, before winning successive five set matches against Paradorn Srichaphan and Greg Rusedski.
This was not vintage Sampras by any means, but he was battling through the field and reached the quarter-finals after defeating Tommy Haas in four sets.
After reaching the last eight, Sampras began to increase his level, starting with a straight sets win over Andy Roddick to reach the semifinals.
Another three-set win followed, as Sampras overcame Sjeng Schalken to reach his last Grand Slam final.
It was fitting that he took on his biggest rival Andre Agassi, and Sampras won 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to become the only man in the Open Era to win the final Grand Slam he entered, which brought the curtain down on an outstanding career.