Sampras Recovers One Trophy, Three Scrapbooks

© Getty ImagesNone of Sampras' seven Wimbledon trophies was among the items stolen, but his 1994 Australian Open trophy was.

A small portion of Pete Sampras’ stolen memorabilia has been recovered. One of about 80 stolen trophies and three scrapbooks were found late last week in Griffith Park, located about 20 miles from the West Los Angeles public storage facility at which Sampras’ memorabilia had been stored.

Lt. Robert Edgar, of the LAPD commercial theft division, said that police were following several leads as they attempt to recover all items that were stolen.  Following the find Sampras was reported as saying that he is ‘a little more optimistic’ of regaining more of his memorabilia.

It was not disclosed which trophy was recovered. The 1994 Australian Open trophy was the only one of Sampras' 14 Grand Slam crowns that was in storage. He has possession of the other 13.

Transitioning between houses, Sampras put the majority of his hardware and memorabilia in a West Los Angeles public storage facility about four months ago. But his storage pod and one other were burglarized in November. Inside were trophies from 51 of his 64 tournament title runs, 24 runners-up trophies, six year-end No. 1 trophies and other priceless memorabilia.

In addition to the trophies, thieves stole photographs of Sampras with President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton and two letters written by President Bush. “One of the letters from President Bush was one he wrote me after I lost Tim Gullikson,” said Sampras, speaking of his former coach who died of brain cancer in 1996. “That has no value to anyone but me. And it means a lot to me.”

Precious scrapbooks chronicling Sampras’ career, assembled by his brother Gus and former coach Paul Annacone, were among the stolen items, as were newspaper clippings and magazines with Sampras on the cover. A signed piano bench from Elton John and a signed guitar from Carlos Santana were also lost.

There is no specific police tip line to report leads. But Sampras urged anyone with information to contact their local law enforcement office. Additionally, ATPWorldTour.com readers with information are encouraged to submit tips to content@atpworldtour.com. Please populate the subject field of your email with the words ‘Sampras Trophies’.