What’s the scoop about Pete Sampras and his fan club, Samprasfanz?

An Interview with Joy Parker

Paul — If my memory is correct, you became passionate about tennis in the 1990s. What or who ignited your passion for tennis?
Joy — My youngest son, Jason, and Pete, as a teenager, looked quite similar, and when Jason went off to get his Master’s degree and was no longer playing football, my mother-in-law sent me an article on Pete. She said you should follow him now that you do not have Jason to follow because Pete reminds me of Jason. So, in 1996, I went online and joined a Pete fan club that eventually got hit by the Melissa Virus and was destroyed. But we had a group of people still who wanted a fan club, and so we started Samprasfanz.

Paul — If my memory is correct, you became passionate about tennis in the 1990s. What or who ignited your passion for tennis?
Joy — My youngest son, Jason, and Pete, as a teenager, looked quite similar, and when Jason went off to get his Master’s degree and was no longer playing football, my mother-in-law sent me an article on Pete. She said you should follow him now that you do not have Jason to follow because Pete reminds me of Jason. So, in 1996, I went online and joined a Pete fan club that eventually got hit by the Melissa Virus and was destroyed. But we had a group of people still who wanted a fan club, and so we started Samprasfanz.

Paul — What was it about Pete that made you a big fan?
Joy — Well, first he reminded me of my son, but secondly, he was a very good tennis player, even though he was quite young. I remember living in Scottsdale, Arizona, when this all happened, and I read in the newspaper that there would be a tournament in Phoenix and that Pete would be playing. I asked my grandson Denys, who lived with us, if he would like to go, and he said yes. So, I created a poster board with Sampras down the side and a word after each letter of his name, with all the wonderful adjectives that described Pete. I also created cards that said, “Do you love Pete?” and I took the book, Sampras: a legend in the works, (by H.A. Branham) and off Denys and I went to the tournament.

Pete won his match, of course, and I ran to where he was walking off the court. I put up my sign and held out the book for Pete to sign. As he came by, the lady next to me said, “Look at your sign, Pete.” Pete stopped and read it and smiled. He then reached for my book to sign, and the book fell out of the jacket. Well, Pete picked up the book and signed it. Oh, and the cards— my eight-year-old grandson got the job of handing out the cards to people we were sitting by, which he did. This tournament was run by Gus, Pete’s older brother. We went home and bought tickets for the rest of the week, and I was hooked.

Paul — What wonderful adjectives described Pete and made him appeal to millions of sports fans around the world?
Joy — Pete was a gentleman on and off the court. There was a story in the Los Angeles Times on Sept. 20, 1990, titled “For Pete's Sake.” It covered Pete’s parents and his upbringing. It reported that his father, Sam Sampras, warned him that if he threw his racket and hit the ground in anger again, he would no longer support Pete’s tennis. Pete recalled that warning and said it helped shape his good attitude.

Pete was a champion without arrogance. He never held his finger to his ear when he made an amazing point. Pete came onto the courts to win matches. You never heard him curse, smash his rackets, yell at his box, or do anything other than play his game. I will say that in all the years of watching him play, only once when he disagreed with an umpire’s call did he ask him, “What are you smoking?” At press conferences, he answered questions honestly, never got angry, and was always respectful.

He had extraordinary talent. Yet he was quiet, and he let his racket do the talking. He was not out there to get attention or to put on a show like many players did during the Open era. He was there to serve up beautiful aces, to jump high to smash lobs, to run back and forth and win amazing points. There was not a shot he could not hit or get, but he used common sense and did not waste valuable energy, especially in a five-setter, trying to get to a ball that he knew he couldn’t get.

He was humble and modest. As Pete said at his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame, “I’m a tennis player: nothing more, and nothing less. It’s more than enough for me. It always has been.” These wonderful words express Pete in a nutshell. He was just a regular guy who played great tennis.

He was also good-looking. The ladies loved Pete’s looks, his curly hair, his dark brown eyes. And the ladies loved it when he changed shirts during the match.
You ask why Pete was loved by fans all over the world. I was chatting with someone about his appeal, and I especially liked his sentiment. “Across languages, cultures, and continents, Pete Sampras brought fans together through his extraordinary talent, quiet dignity, genuine humility, and the timeless class with which he played the game.”

Paul — Your dedication to continuing Samprasfanz is laudable, especially considering he retired 24 years ago.
Joy — It was very much my life for many years. And keeping the website is a place for people who love Pete now can go to renew memories of special matches, his and Bridgette’s birthdays, his induction to the Tennis Hall of Fame, etc. Sampras fans will always love Pete even though they are now supporting other players. He was Poetry in Motion to us and will always be the GOAT in our hearts.

Paul — Who were the officers of Samprasfanz? And where did they live?
Joy — I was President (Missouri), Philip Ip (Hong Kong) was Vice President, Cynthia Smith (Maidenstone East, UK) was the Corresponding Secretary, Georgia Christoforou (UK) took over as Corresponding Secretary when Cynthia left, Christy Parker Bean (Missouri) was the Treasurer, and Cherry Chan (The Philippines) was the Webmaster.

Paul — How many members did Samprasfanz have at its peak? And how many countries did fan club members come from?
Joy — Samprasfanz membership peaked at around 1,200, and members lived in 42 countries on six continents.
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the former Yugoslavia. 
Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.
Americas and Caribbean: Argentina, Aruba, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and Venezuela.
Africa and the Middle East: Egypt and South Africa.
Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

Paul — What did Samprasfanz talk about and do to promote Pete?
Joy — We, as you know, had a chat board where fans could post. The chat was amazing, and Pete had such smart tennis fans. We would get together whenever Pete had a match using live updates. It was kind of like Zoom, but without any video. This was before Tennis Channel, so most of Pete’s matches were tape-delayed. So, while he was actually playing, we would bring up the live update on our computers, and I would commentate about his match to all the members who had joined.
It’s terrible to see the score 0-40 and just hope Pete would come back and win his service game. But we, of little faith, would light candles, change clothes, drink wine, and maybe even use a little stuffed doll with his opponent’s name on it. Yes, we were obsessed with Pete. And did anything we thought would help him win! When Pete was trying for his sixth consecutive year as No. 1 in the year-end ATP rankings, we looked at the players he had to beat, or the players who had to lose, for Pete to stay No. 1. We had very smart members who could do the math and figure out Pete’s ranking. Thanks to Csilla Kiss, one of our original members, we knew before anyone that he had held that No. 1 position.

Back then, we made banners we carried to all his tournaments. They were big yellow banners that fans would hold up while Pete was playing. We had fundraisers and raised money for the Gullikson Foundation and for the Pediatric Cancer Center in Ohio. We created T-shirts and sold them to fans.

Paul — What was the Gullikson Foundation, and why was it created?
Joy — When Tom Gullikson, Pete’s coach, was diagnosed with brain tumors and eventually died from them, his family created the Tim and Tom Gullikson Foundation. On April 1, 2000, SamprasFanz announced that it made a donation totaling $1,344 to the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation. The Foundation was set up in 1995 by Tim and Tom Gullikson and their families to assist brain-tumor patients and their families by funding support and care programs.

In the summer of 2002, a group of us got together and organized the “King of Swing” T-shirt project. Over the next few months, over 100 shirts were sold to members all over the world. We raised $4,000 and donated all of it to The Tim and Tom Guillikson Foundation. The T-shirt was created by Philip Ip and Lily Chan. Shirts were given to Pete and Bridgette at Wimbledon 2002. In 2008, we donated $870 to the foundation.

Paul — Please talk about the Banner Project and the Great American Insurance Ad.
Joy — The Samprasfanz banners made their debut at the 2000 Australian Open. The banners have traveled all over the world following Pete in each of his tournaments. We have a total of five banners! I have pictures of the banners.

The Great American Insurance Ad was conceived because 1998 marked the sixth consecutive year that Pete Sampras finished the year as the No. 1-ranked tennis player in the world. But the importance of this record-breaking feat was ignored by most of the media. While Pete was in Europe for several weeks chasing the No. 1 ranking, only one member of the American press was covering the historic moment. That journalist was Lisa Dillman, who wrote a Los Angeles Times article titled “6-Pack for Sampras as He Remains No. 1.”

The feat’s significance was not lost on Samprasfanz, though. In the first quarter of 1999, the group banded together and decided to place an ad in the Great American Insurance (GAI) program to congratulate Pete for his outstanding achievements.

As a bonus, the profit from the advertisement benefited the Tennis for Charity organization that supports the pediatric cancer care center of the Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vince Barr, a Samprasfanz member, put together this ad for us. I have a picture. We had 25 members donate to this project. So, we took 25 of the programs to Paul Annacone, then Pete’s coach, and asked him to ask Pete if he would have Pete sign these. Paul rolled his eyes, but took the books, and Pete signed them, and they were given to members who donated.

Paul — What was the Samprasfanz Paver? And why was it important?
Joy — In 2011, thanks to the donations of the members of Samprasfanz, we were able to collect sufficient funds for a yellow bronze paver to be laid in the Pete Sampras Neighborhood at the Avenue of Aces, located on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the US Open. Pavers surrounding the names of tennis legends were made available to tennis fans and other interested organizations, and the funds raised for the pavers would be for the benefit of USTA Serves, which is the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association.

Paul — Did Samprasfanz members get together at tournaments?
Joy — Yes, we got together at the Cincinnati tournament for many years, got invited to help choose the draw for the tournament, and sang “Happy Birthday” with a banner there also to celebrate Pete. We had a lot of fans with tents at the 2021 Wimbledon. We slept on the street, had our banners out, and were interviewed by ESPN Argentina. We met at many of Pete’s exhibitions, including in New York at Madison Square Garden and twice in Macau.

Paul — Were there annual dues?
Joy — No, never, just a group of friends from many countries who loved Pete. However, we had rules, and if members did not follow the rules, they would be banned from being able to post. I moderated everything that came in on our chats.

Paul — How does Pete feel about Samprasfanz, especially given that he is very little involved in the tennis world?
Joy — Pete is very appreciative of all the work we put in to set up and run Samprasfanz. When I was working, I got a phone call from Pete, thanking me for everything. That kinda shocked me, as he had to do some research to find out where I worked and my number. I’m sure Grant did the research for him.

Pete and I have a great relationship. I met him at his Hall of Fame induction. He introduced me to his personal assistant, and he said if I needed anything, just go to Grant. I was able to go to his press conferences, invited to go up to the roof with my daughter and Philip to watch him and Agassi doing a little PR at his exhibition in Macau. I was also invited to meet with Pete and James Blake after an exhibition in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was set up by his brother-in-law Steve Webster, who I’m friends with.

Paul — On the current status of Samprasfanz, Google reports: “Following Sampras's retirement from professional tennis, the group eventually migrated their extensive archives of news, tournament timelines, and photos to a free WordPress blog layout to keep the content publicly available without the overhead of standalone hosting.” Is this accurate?
Joy — This is true in a sense. In the beginning, fans donated to help pay for the website, then for a long time Philip Ip paid for the domain, and after that, I began paying for it and still do. Cherry Chan and Philip Ip put in a lot of work to make this wonderful website possible. After Pete retired, Cherry decided to begin putting all the important info into a WordPress Blog. I am so grateful to both of these dedicated people for the hours of work they put in. And especially to Cherry for her dedication to Samprasfanz. Meanwhile, we still had the large website with pictures, videos, everything on it. I continued to pay for the domain not realizing I had something else I had to pay. To my dismay, we lost a lot of info and eventually redirected to WordPress. For the past couple of years, we’ve used the WordPress version.

Paul — How and what are Pete’s children doing?
Joy — The boys live very private lives out of the spotlight, so I don’t really know. Their oldest son is Christian Charles. Members donated to buy and plant trees to mark the birth of Pete’s first child, Christian Charles. There are 40 trees in a woodland near the village of Hucking, Maidstone, Kent—about 30 miles from Wimbledon. (This site was chosen because it is the nearest to Wimbledon, in the hope that the Sampras family may visit the trees when they came to England for The Championships.) When Ryan was born, members donated to buy 90 trees in California to replace trees burnt in a forest fire. I know that Ryan was interested and doing well playing tennis, but that was a while back.

Paul — What is the name of Pete’s other son? And what are their ages?
Joy — Christian Charles was born 11/21/2002 (presently 24). Ryan Nikolaes was born 7/29/2005 (21).

Paul — Has Pete’s wife recovered from her illness?
Joy — Bridgette was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2023 and is recovering. It put quite a strain on Pete and his family.

Paul — What is Pete doing these days? Does he have any hobbies? Does he support any causes inside or outside tennis?
Joy — I really don’t know. He is very private. I think he is happy to stay home and take care of Bridgette and his family.

Paul — Pete was clearly the greatest U.S. men’s player in the Open Era, starting in 1968. (1920s superstar Bill Tilden was the greatest American man in the Amateur Era.) Do you think the USTA should bestow a special honor—perhaps a statue on the grounds of the US Open—to recognize Pete properly?
Joy — Samprasfanz started a 501c3, non-profit organization called the Samprasfanz Foundation. Our members paid an accountant to put it together. We sent letters to many influential people asking for donations to help us raise funds to have a statue sculpted and placed on the grounds of the US Open in Flushing Meadows.

I put together a PowerPoint presentation. My husband and I met the sculptor. We then met with a representative of the USTA and requested they put up a statue of Pete on the US Open grounds. They turned us down because they said the city would not allow it. The USTA decision did not make sense to us because they had a statue of Arthur Ashe at the entrance to the venue.

So yes, the USTA should have a statue or something highly significant to commemorate Pete’s incomparable career and exemplary character, besides a plaque on a wall right along with all the other legendary U.S. tennis players.