Tennis News: Tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi revive rivalry
The near capacity crowd at the Madison Square Garden was entertained with the revival of one of the greatest tennis rivalries of all time, as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi played an exhibition match there on Monday. The event was
jointly organized by USTA, Star Games and MSG Sports.
Sampras, once again proved that he will always be the best of the two as he claimed a 6-3, 7-5 victory over his countryman. It was a rematch of their 2002 US Open final which Sampras won 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Sampras’ serve was as good as it was nine years ago, when he retired from professional tennis. He was unarguably the best server when he ruled the tennis world in 1990’s and one can say that his serve is still the best in the game.
His first serve still comes like a bullet and his second serve is as fast as his first serve. The 39 year old moved well, volleyed well and hit some great running forehands to refresh the memories of his 14 year career.
Sampras outclassed Agassi in the first set, winning most of the long rallies. After losing the first set 3-6, Agassi played better in the second set. However, he could not take the match to third set and lost the second set 5-7.
Sampras apologized by holding up his hand when his shot clipped the net to earn him three match points. Once arch rivals, they both were friendly and the match was played in a good atmosphere. This was in complete contrast to the
last time they played an exhibition, when the two got into an uncomfortable on-court discussion.
Sampras and Agassi played each other 34 times in their professional career, with Sampras coming out as the winner on 20 occasions. This great rivalry started when they met for the first time in the round of 32 in Rome. Agassi,
a better ranked player than Sampras at that time, thrashed his opponent and won the match 6-2, 6-1.
They played each other in five grand slam finals, with Sampras clinching victory in four of them. Their first meeting in a grand slam final was at the 1990 US Open final, where Sampras prevailed over Agassi in straight sets 6-4,
6-3, 6-2.
The next time these two legends met in a grand slam final was at the 1995 Australian Open. Agassi won the match in four sets 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6), 6-4.
In their quarterfinal match at the 2001 US Open, both players failed to break each other’s serve throughout the match and all four sets were decided on tie-breaks. Sampras won the match 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 7-6(5).
At the time of his retirement, Sampras held the record for the most grand slam wins with 14, breaking the old record held by Roy Emerson with 12 titles. Roger Federer later overtook Sampras by winning 16.
On the other hand, Agassi won eight grand slams in his career. However, he is one of the seven players who have won a career grand slam. He is one of only two players who have won a career golden slam. The 40 year old won the gold
medal in men’s singles at the 1996 Olympics. He also held the record for the most ATP Masters Series wins with 17, at the time of his retirement.
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