Sampras says majority of tennis gongs stolen from LA storage facility

LOS ANGELES - Tennis great Pete Sampras says most of the awards and trophies he won during his illustrious career have been stolen out of public storage facility in West Los Angeles.

He still has championship hardware for 13 of his 14 Grand Slam singles titles, but almost everything else is gone, reports the Los Angeles Times reports.

The lost items include trophies, medals, plaques, crystal and rings that were a testament to a career that brought a then-record 14 major titles and status as one of the greatest ever to play the game.

Three weeks ago, he found out that the dozens of boxes containing those symbols of his career had been stolen.

I have 13 of my 14 Grand Slam trophies,” he said. “Some are at home and some up at NikeTown [in Portland]. My first Australian Open trophy is gone, and so is everything else,” Sampras said.

“Seven Wimbledon and five U.S. Open trophies, and one Australian Open trophy, remain. Everything else” includes trophies for winning 64 tour tournaments, and finalist hardware from 24 others is gone,” he added.

Sampras had rented two units and stored furniture and the boxes of memorabilia. All, except for some large furniture, was taken.

Sampras said he never considered that his things wouldn’t be safe.

“I was like, ‘What?’” he said. “I thought there were security cameras. I thought these things were locked up tight. I was shocked.”

He said police currently have no leads, but they encouraged him to go public in the hope that somebody who knows somebody who heard something might come forward.

“Losing this stuff,” he said, “is like having the history of my tennis life taken away.”

Sampras said none of this was insured because there was no real way to assess value.

“For me to have it for my kids is priceless,” he said.

He added: “I just hope it hasn’t already been destroyed. That’s why I wanted to get the word out now. I know this is a longshot, but I’d regret it if I didn’t at least try. Maybe somebody knows something. That’s all I can hope for.” (ANI)