A Champion's Mind - Pete Sampras

flickered. I was ready. Suddenly, I was in touch with my long-lost friend, the Gift. And it felt great. I
broke Andre.
Minutes earlier, I had been in desperate straits, filled with foreboding as a fifth set loomed in the
gathering twilight. Now, improbably but most definitely, I was serving for the match. I knew what to do
next. I ended it swiftly, with a sequence of points that ended with an ace followed by a backhand volley
winner.
I dropped the racket and slowly raised my arms. It was over, over and done, over and done for good. I
didn’t know it at the time, but it was my last U.S. Open title as well as my last match as a pro. My last
match with Andre, as well as my last Grand Slam appearance. It was my last moment in a special sun that
was fading as fast as the one that descended into the haze of a late-summer afternoon in New York.
I had been given a rare opportunity to go out on my own terms. I took it.