Pistol Pete content in retirement

Just finished a telephone interview with 14-time Grand Slam tennis champion Pete Sampras, who will be playing an exhibition against Todd Martin Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center.

While Sampras claims he picks up his raquet infrequently these days, he still puts it to good use. In addition to beating world No. 1 and possible Grand Slam record heir Roger Federer in an exhibition in Asia last year, he soundly thrashed top-20 pro Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-2 last month at an event in San Jose, Calif.

Sampras insisted in 2003 that he would remain ''100 percent'' retired, but I thought that me be worth revisiting since it's obvious his skills have remained largely intact.

"I enjoy being at home and seeing my kids (5-year-old Christian and 2-year-old Ryan),'' Sampras told me.

Not to mention the fact that he also gets to spend time with his lovely wife, actress Bridgette Wilson.

Sampras admitted there are days when he wonders what it would be like to lace up his sneakers for a Grand Slam event.

"I'd be curious to see how I might do at Wimbledon,'' he said.

But don't take that as any sort of hint that he's contemplating a comeback. He said former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre put the grind of being an elite athlete into perspective when he announced his retirement the other day.

"I was listening to what Brett Favre said about being tired,'' Sampras said. "It's the day in, day out grind of the sport. Once I got to a point where I had nothing left to prove to myself, that's when I knew I could walk away from it.''

You'll be able to hear more from Pistol Pete in the column I'm constructing for Thursday morning's Ledger-Enquirer. As all Troy's Noise fanatics know (I've heard there actually are some outside my immediate family), you'll be able to find it at www.ledger-enquirer.com/sports