PETE Sampras will not change his personality just to comply with the critics who claim modern tennis is short on charismatic 'characters'.
'Guys like Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase and John McEnroe were considered characters on court, but they didn't behave in a way I would like my kids to behave,' said the world number one before practising at Victoria Park yesterday.
Sampras, a five-time Grand Slam winner, is in Hong Kong for this week's Marlboro Championships.
He hopes they will mark the beginning of his return from a relative slump in form caused by tendonitis and shin splints.
Sampras heads a 16-man field which includes Swede Stefan Edberg, a semi-final loser last week to Goran Ivanisevic at the Seiko Super tournament in Tokyo, Spain's double French Open holder Sergi Bruguera and Australian Open finalist Todd Martin.
The outdoor Victoria Park event will be a low-key way for Sampras to ease back into competition.