My theory on watching retired athletes compete is that a certain amount of time needs to pass before enough of the nostalgia element kicks in. The pleasure of watching familiar figures like Arnold Palmer or John McEnroe conjure up finely tuned, world-class movements can offset the inevitable deterioration of those same skills, but only when the memory isn't so fresh that we remember them in their prime. I prefer to see my sporting heroes after they've been away from the game long enough that I want to remember, even in shadows, how well they once competed. For instance, I don't need to see Todd Martin on the senior's tour now. But it's a delicate balance.

When I arrived Monday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose to see Pete Sampras take on Tommy Haas in an exhibition during the SAP Open, I wasn't sure what to expect - or if I really wanted to see Sampras so soon. After all, the last time I saw him hit a ball was at one of his greatest moments, when he ended a two-year title draught to beat rival Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final for a record 14th major.

At the outset, Sampras looked like he might confirm my theory and spoil my memory. He double faulted on his first service point; he bricked an easy volley; he sailed some forehands way long and shook his head. I cringed.

To my surprise, the six-time Wimbledon champ worked his way into a rhythm and suddenly, yes, there were flashes of the Sampras I remember as he took control and beat Haas 6-4, 6-2. To be fair, No. 26 Haas hasn't played since October and is coming off his third shoulder surgery. And who knows how hard he really pushed. But the truth is, at 36 Sampras still has some game. He bombed in a number of aces, whipped a few crosscourt running forehand winners, stuck some volleys and, of course, crushed some leaping overheads. (Sampras still has the best overhead I've ever seen). He moved pretty well, snuck in to the net with success and served-and-volleyed often. What's more, he plays a suffocating style that is largely absent from today's game and certainly seemed to make Haas uncomfortable.

Though the hair isthinning fast and he's put on a few pounds, Sampras, who has two young children, still looks like he's taking decent care of himself by playing tennis three times a week and hitting the links regularly. In his post-match presser, he had some interesting thoughts on Roger Federer's run at Wimbledon, coming back, and the advance of technology.

As it was Sampras' econd straight exhibition win against an active tour player, following November's straight-set victory over Federer in Macau, he was asked both on court and in the press room about a possible return five years after hanging up his sticks at age 31. He sounded grounded in his decision to leave it to the occasional exhibition, such as the March 10th contest with Federer at New York's Madison Square Garden.

"There's a lot to lose and not a lot to gain," he explained. "There's got to be a reason to come out of retirement. Some people miss the limelight, some people want to make more money, and some people don't have anything else to do in their lives. And there's no reason for me to come back."

He added: "I don't miss the limelight, I don't need the money, I -- the tricky thing with me is that I stopped not because of injury, it was more of an emotional level. I could still play at a high level, it's just emotionally I was spent."

Sampras, who played three exos in Asia with Federer last fall, said that during their time together he asked the Swiss No. 1 about why he had reverted to hugging the baseline on grass after upsetting Sampras in the '01 Wimbledon by serve-and-volleying.

"I actually had a curious question," recalled Sampras. "When he beat me at Wimbledon he served and volleyed, and I asked him, 'Why are you staying back now?' He just said he was more comfortable staying back, that he wasn't comfortable coming in. I said 'Is the court slower?', and he said, 'No, it's not really slower, I've just figured out how I need to play on grass.'

"I think before he served and volleyed because he felt he had to, now he feels he's better than everyone just staying back. He doesn't need to worry himself about trying tocome in. He can come in when he wants to, but nothing where he's trying to force himself to come in."

Of course, it was the net-charging game that resulted in Federer's loss to Mario Ancic the next year at the All-England Club. Federer apparently just decided to stay truer to what was working on other surfaces. "So I guess he didn't feel that comfortable coming in and he decided to stay back," said Sampras. He smiled and added: "It was a good decision."

With 14 majors and six year-end No.1 finishes, Sampras doesn't look in the rear view mirror much. But he admitted that his own intractability prevented him from switching from his trusty Wilson Pro Staff to a slightly larger frame, which might have helped him during the twilight of his career when he struggled against power players.

"I regret it a lot, especially on the clay," he said. "I would have loved to play with a bigger racket where you develop so much more power and spin way behind the court. I used the one racket with the same specs my whole career and at the end it started to catch up with me, playing Roddick with the big Babolat and serving at 140 mph. If I would have continued to play, I would have had to change and not been so stubborn and be creative about it. Jose Higueras recommended it at the end and I said no. At least I should have tried it."

And at least I should have given Sampras more of a chance to impress, despite his relatively short time away. In the end, I didn't regret seeing Sampras play and I came away feeling that he could easily be a top 20 player today without too much work. As my colleague Kamakshi Tandon at Tennis.com also wryly pointed out, after watching Andy Roddick implode against Philipp Kohlschreiberat the Australian Open it's nice to see that an American can still beat aGerman.