Editing Pete Sampras (section)

===1988: Turning professional===
Sampras turned professional in 1988, at the age of 16, and finished the year ranked world No. 97 after starting the year at No. 893.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pete Sampras' Rankings History for 1988|url=http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/rankings-history|website=Official ATP World Tour website|access-date=February 7, 2017|archive-date=February 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207063340/http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/rankings-history|url-status=live}}</ref> His first professional match was a loss to [[Sammy Giammalva Jr.]] at the February [[U.S. Pro Indoor|Ebel U.S. Pro Indoor]] in [[Philadelphia]]. However, just one week later, at the [[Lipton International Players Championships]] in [[Miami Masters|Miami]], Sampras defeated two top-40 players, before losing to No. 18 [[Emilio Sánchez]]. He did not defeat another top-40 player for almost six months, at which point he defeated No. 39 [[Michiel Schapers]] at a US Open warm-up tournament in [[ATP Rye Brook|Rye Brook, New York]]. In his first Grand Slam singles match, Sampras lost to No. 69 [[Jaime Yzaga]] of [[Peru]] in the first round of the [[1988 U.S. Open (tennis)|US Open]]. Sampras did not advance past the quarterfinals in his next three tournaments, although he did record wins over No. 79 [[Jim Courier]] in their first career match-up, along with defeating No. 8 [[Tim Mayotte]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/player-activity?year=1988 |title=1988 Player Activity for Pete Sampras |work=[[ATP World Tour]] |access-date=January 18, 2018 |archive-date=January 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119060618/http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/player-activity?year=1988 |url-status=live }}</ref>