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EXCLUSIVE:
THE
SCOOP: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6
Sampras
confirms dismissing Annacone,
hiring Guillikson as coach
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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Pete
Sampras told tennisreporters.net
on
Wednesday night that he has definitely hired former Davis Cup
Captain Tom Gullikson as his new coach and that he dismissed Paul
Annacone as his coach last month.
"It
was my decision to go in another direction away from Paul,"
said Sampras, who was playing in the Tyco World TeamTennis Smash
Hits fundraiser to benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation at Sacramento's
Arco Arena. "I have a lot of respect for Paul. We have a
great relationship and he is still my friend, but I needed a change,
a breath of fresh air. Seven years with one coach is a long time.
There's comes a point where you need a different perspective.
I think it will be good for both of us."
Sampras
added that he decided to part ways with Annacone before Annacone
was offered the job of managing director of USA Tennis High Performance
on Wednesday.
"It
was my decision," said Sampras, who failed to win a title
in 2001. "I needed a fresh look. I performed inconsistently
this year and want to be at the top of my game mentally and physically
next year. I think that Tom can help me do that. I'm very happy
for Paul and think that he'll do a great job with the USTA. We'll
still be supportive of each other."
Sampras
added that his disheartening loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the U.S.
Open
final had nothing to do with the decision. "I
would have made a change even if I had won," he said.
GULLY'S
BROTHER HAD SAME POST
In
hiring Gullikson, Sampras hired the twin brother of his former
coach, Tim,
who has since passed away. Sampras and Tom Gullikson have a close,
personal
relationship and Sampras has performed extremely well at times
under
Gullikson's watchful eye when Gullikson was the U.S. Davis Cup
captain.
"Tom
is a really good man and I have confidence he'll do a good job,"
said
Sampras, who led the U.S. Davis Cup team to victory over Russia
in '95 with
Gullikson on the sidelines. "I actually asked Tom to coach
me before I hired
Tim but he wasn't available."
Sampras
said that he did consider going outside of his immediate close
circle
of confidantes to hire a new coach, but in the end, thought that
Gullikson
had the best insight into his game.
"I
did think about going with someone completely new but when I really
thought about it, I felt that Tom and I had a good enough relationship
to
where I can trust him enough to listen to him when he sees that
I'm doing
something wrong," Sampras said.
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