Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi played out one of the most intriguing rivalries in the history of tennis, with their presence on the ATP Tour certainly missed.
Sampras thinks Agassi was more emotional than him, with their rivalry having ended 20-14 in favour of the former.
Both Sampras and Agassi reached number one in the world rankings, and certainly gave fans plenty to cheer about for many years.
Sampras loved his 2002 US Open final win over Agassi, which represented his 14th and final Grand Slam title.
It also represented his fifth US Open title, having started his Grand Slam success at the tournament by beating Agassi in the 1990 final.
Pete Sampras ‘needed’ Andre Agassi throughout his career
The pair met in a long list of finals throughout their stunning careers, with Sampras sharing just how much the rivalry meant to him after the 2002 US Open final.
Asked in his winning press conference how different his career would have been without Agassi, Sampras replied: “Just… he’s made me a better player.
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“He’s brought moments to my career that are like [Bjorn] Borg and [John] McEnroe. Those guys needed each other. I’ve needed Andre over the course of my career. He’s pushed me.
“You know, he’s forced me to add things to my game. He’s the only guy that was able to do that. He’s the best I’ve played.”
Pete Sampras correctly predicted his Grand Slam future after 2002 US Open win
Agassi and Sampras were dominating US Open finals at the time, with the former having lifted the trophy in 1999.
Sampras then reached back-to-back finals in 2000 and 2001, but lost out to Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt respectively.
But he finally managed to end that run against Agassi in 2002, clinching a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over his rival.
Sampras ended his Grand Slam career there while Agassi went on to win the 2003 Australian Open, before losing the 2005 US Open final to Roger Federer.
Their futures were questioned in Sampras’s press conference, where he was asked if he thought it would be the last time he would face Agassi in a Grand Slam final.
“Well, it’s hard to say what the future is going to hold for us,” he said. “You know, to meet in major finals, players are too good today… where we were five years ago when we were dominating, now, this could be it for us. But maybe next year we’ll do it again.”
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