COURTNEY STEWART UCLA women’s tennis Coach Stella
Sampras hits balls to her team during practice Monday.
By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Contributor
The choice was simple.
When Women’s Tennis Head Coach Bill Zaima was looking for
someone to groom as his successor in 1992, he had two people in
mind. One was already his assistant coach and had been No. 9 in the
world. The other, Stella Sampras, was No. 250 in the world and just
graduated college.
The choice was simply Sampras.
Although she had just started her professional career after
graduating from UCLA only a year before, Zaima knew he wanted
Sampras.
“I was thinking of her when she was still a player. Stella
was as good a captain and team leader as we’ve ever had in
the program,” said Zaima, who was head coach for 16
seasons.
As a student, Sampras had the respect of all of her teammates as
well as that of the coaching staff.
Zaima felt it was time for someone to lead who had come through
the program and had the same college experience as the team.
“Stella went through the program at its height, due in
large part to her efforts as a player,” he added.
Sampras’ years at UCLA were some of the best the program
has seen, as she helped lead the team to four-straight NCAA
top-three finishes. She was only the second player in UCLA history
to be a four-time NCAA All American.
Over lunch, Zaima told Sampras that he was looking for an
assistant coach to groom to take over the program.
“I had no idea I would become a coach,” Sampras
said. “It is a huge honor to be coaching at UCLA.”
Sampras was so excited about the opportunity that she quit the
WTA tour, where she had appeared in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, to
take the job.
After three years as an assistant coach, she took over the
program.
Zaima’s intuition was correct: Sampras makes an excellent
coach because she has been in the same shoes as the young women she
coaches.
“Stella has been in your exact situation so she
understands your social or academic problems as well as tennis
problems,” said senior Jennifer Donahue.
“But that means you can’t put anything by her. She
knows if you’re tired at practice that you went out last
night,” she added with a laugh.
Sampras does not like to discipline her team, but she expects it
to be classy, hard-working and committed. In return, her players
have nothing but the highest regard for her.
“You have to work hard, but Stella makes tennis a lot of
fun,” said freshman Mariko Fritz-Krockow.
She also has no problems with her players.
“You can trust her, tell her any problem, and she will
listen to whatever you have to say,” Fritz-Krockow said.
Sampras’ players trust her on the court as well.
“When we play doubles and we don’t know what to do,
we look at her for an answer and she always knows,” said
junior Petya Marinova.
Sampras once thought she would be an elementary school teacher.
The qualities that would have made Sampras a great teacher make her
a great coach.
“Her motivation style is different: everything is based on
caring,” said Assistant Coach Jon Reeves. “She has a
huge heart, she’s not one to raise a voice or be tough on
kids in that sense.”
Taking care of her players comes naturally to Sampras, but that
doesn’t mean she takes the job lightly.
“Sometimes I feel kind of like their mom. I’ll get
calls at six or seven o’clock at night. I like that
responsibility,” she said.
The attention that Sampras gives her players on and off the
court pays off. Sampras took the Bruins to three top-10 finishes at
the NCAA Championships, and these accomplishments were recognized
by her colleagues when she was named ITA West Region Coach of the
year in 2000. This season has been a challenging one, but her
positive energy helped the team win the Pac-10 Tournament on April
29.
Nine years after approaching Sampras with the opportunity to
coach, the choice is still clear to Zaima.
“I’ve seen her grow to be one of the best coaches in
the country,” he said. “And I knew she
would.”