Pete Sampras
Age: 43 Net Worth: $150Pete Sampras is an American former professional tennis player for 15 years and was ranked no. 1 for six years in a row. Reuters

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras has already predicted the players who he thinks will be in the major storylines in the sporting world of tennis. The 2014 tennis season ended strongly for some of the world's greatest tennis players including Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who finished their season ranked World No. 1 and World No. 2, respectively. The 2014 tennis season has also been a great year for Grigor Dimitrov because it was the year when he broke into the top 10 of world rankings and even achieved his career-high singles rank at the eighth spot. As such, Sampras believes that Dimitrov is certainly the player to watch out for in 2015.

Sampras is looking forward to see further progress from the most successful Bulgarian tennis athlete. "Grigor is someone that I think is ready to make that next step," Sampras said in an article posted on Brisbane International's official website. "He's showing signs, I think he just needs to learn how to win but he's got the talent."

Dimitrov started the 2014 season ranked 23rd in the world. He achieved his career-high singles rank as World No. 8 on Aug. 3 and finished the 2014 season as World No. 11. The 2014 season was also the year that Dimitrov won the most titles with three wins. He won titles in Acapulco, Bucharest and Queen's Club in London.

Dimitrov will kick off his 2015 season at the Brisbane International, which begins on Jan. 4, 2015. It will be the third time that the Bulgarian will be playing in the tournament. Dimitrov joins a stellar lineup of players including Federer, defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori. He said that he will enter the tournament with one goal and that is to win. In the women's singles event, Dimitrov's girlfriend Maria Sharapova has also confirmed to play in the tournament alongside other female tennis stars Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka, local favourite Sam Stosur and Angelique Kerber.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal will also be one of the players to keep an eye on in 2015. Nadal will be competing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3, 2015 in Abu Dhabi, but his first big tournament will be at the 2015 Australian Open. Nadal's 2014 season has been limited because the Spaniard has had a number of problems including his back injury at the 2014 Australian Open, his wrist problem at Wimbledon and appendicitis in latter part of October.

Going into the next tennis season, share us your predictions for the Grand Slam tournaments. Who do you think will make great story lines in 2015?

To reach the author of this article, email r.corpuz@ibtimes.com.au.

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