Agassi–Sampras rivalry

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are retired professional men's tennis players who were ranked World No. 1 during the 1990s, Sampras holding the world's top-rank spot for a record 286 weeks while Agassi held it for 101 weeks. With contrasting styles and temperaments, they played each other 34 times from 1989 through 2002, with Sampras winning 20 of their matches, and Agassi winning 14 matches. Despite the storied Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal rivalry, some still consider Agassi vs. Sampras the greatest tennis rivalry of all time.

In Grand Slam tournaments, they played in five finals, with Sampras winning four. They met for the first time in a Grand Slam final at the 1990 US Open, with Agassi the favorite because of his top three ranking even though Sampras had defeated former World No. 1 players Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe on the way to the final. Sampras defeated Agassi in straight sets.

The next time the pair met at a Grand Slam final was at the Australian Open in 1995. Agassi beat Sampras in four sets, although Sampras had been distracted slightly earlier in the tournament by the collapse of his coach.

In one of their matches, played in the 2001 US Open quarter-final, Sampras won with the score of 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 7-6(5); throughout the game, no player managed to break the other's serve. The last match in their rivalry came at the 2002 US Open final. It was their first meeting in the final since Sampras won in 1995. Sampras went on to win the match in four sets and shortly after announced his retirement from the game. Agassi retired in 2006 after 20 years on the tour.

At the time of their retirements, Sampras held the record for most Grand Slam titles with 14 breaking the old record of 12 held then by Roy Emerson (Roger Federer has since overtaken Sampras with 16 titles). On the other hand, Agassi is one of only four men to hold the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era and one of seven overall. Having won the gold medal in men's singles at the 1996 Olympics, he is one of only two male players to achieve a Career Golden Slam in singles tennis, the second being Rafael Nadal. He also held the record for most ATP Masters Series (AMS) shields with 17 (Rafael Nadal has since overtaken him with 19 titles), and is one of two men (the other is Roger Federer) to have won seven different Masters Series tournaments.

Interestingly, from their first ATP match to their 1995 US Open final match, their head-to-head was tied at 8-8. From their 1995 US Open final match to 1999, their head-to-head was 9-3 in favor of Sampras. From 2000 to their last match in 2002, their head-to-head was tied at 3-3. Agassi has often said that the 1995 US Open loss was a powerful psychological blow to him that took him years to recover from, and it marks a significant shift in their rivalry. On a personal level, their rivalry did at times become heated, but in retirement they have found bonds to continue their friendship.

Head-to-head

Agassi–Sampras (14-20)

Legend

Grand Slam

Tennis Masters Cup

ATP Masters Series

ATP International Series

No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Round	Winner	Score
1	1989	Rome	Clay	R32	Agassi	6-2, 6-1
2	1990	Philadelphia	Carpet	R16	Sampras	5-7, 7-5, retired
3	1990	US Open	Hard	F	Sampras	6-4, 6-3, 6-2
4	1990	ATP World Tour Finals	Carpet	RR	Agassi	6-4, 6-2
5	1991	ATP World Tour Finals	Carpet	RR	Sampras	6-3, 1-6, 6-3
6	1992	Atlanta	Clay	F	Agassi	7-5, 6-4
7	1992	French Open	Clay	QF	Agassi	7-6(6), 6-2, 6-1
8	1993	Wimbledon	Grass	QF	Sampras	6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4
9	1994	Key Biscane	Hard	F	Sampras	5-7, 6-3, 6-3
10	1994	Osaka	Hard	SF	Sampras	6-3, 6-1
11	1994	Paris	Carpet	QF	Agassi	7-6(6), 7-5
12	1994	ATP World Tour Finals	Carpet	SF	Sampras	4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
13	1995	Australian Open	Hard	F	Agassi	4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6), 6-4
14	1995	Indian Wells	Hard	F	Sampras	7-5, 6-3, 7-5
15	1995	Key Biscane	Hard	F	Agassi	3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3)
16	1995	Canada (Montreal)	Hard	F	Agassi	3-6, 6-2, 6-3
17	1995	US Open	Hard	F	Sampras	6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
18	1996	San Jose	Hard	F	Sampras	6-2, 6-3
19	1996	Stuttgart	Carpet	QF	Sampras	6-4, 6-1
20	1996	ATP World Tour Finals	Carpet	RR	Sampras	6-2, 6-1
21	1998	San Jose	Hard	F	Agassi	6-2,6-4
22	1998	Monte Carlo	Clay	R32	Sampras	6-4, 7-5
23	1998	Canada (Montreal)	Hard	QF	Agassi	6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2
24	1999	Wimbledon	Grass	F	Sampras	6-3, 6-4, 7-5
25	1999	Los Angeles	Hard	F	Sampras	7-6(3), 7-6(1)
26	1999	Cincinnati	Hard	SF	Sampras	7-6(7), 6-4
27	1999	ATP World Tour Finals	Hard	RR	Agassi	6-2, 6-2
28	1999	ATP World Tour Finals	Hard	F	Sampras	6-1, 7-5, 6-4
29	2000	Australian Open	Hard	SF	Agassi	6-4, 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(5), 6-1
30	2001	Indian Wells	Hard	F	Agassi	7-6(5), 7-5, 6-1
31	2001	Los Angeles	Hard	F	Agassi	6-4, 6-2
32	2001	US Open	Hard	QF	Sampras	6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 7-6(5)
33	2002	Houston	Clay	SF	Sampras	6-1, 7-5
34	2002	US Open	Hard	F	Sampras	6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4

• Bulleted list item

Breakdown of their rivalry

• All Matches: Sampras 20–14
• Hard courts: Sampras, 11–9
• Grass courts: Sampras, 2–0
• Clay courts: Agassi, 3–2
• Carpet courts: Sampras, 5–2
• Masters Series matches: Agassi, 5-4
• Masters Series finals: Agassi, 3-2
• Grand Slam matches: Sampras, 6–3
• Grand Slam finals: Sampras, 4–1
• Year-End Championships matches: Sampras, 4–2
• Year-End Championships finals: Sampras, 1–0
• All finals: Sampras, 9–7

See also

List of tennis rivalries

Further reading

• "Head To Head". Association of Tennis Professionals. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=A092&oId=S402. Retrieved 2009-06-29. 

Videos

• 1990 US Open Final Part 1
• 2000 Australian Open Semi Final 4th Set Tiebreaker
• 2002 US Open Final Highlights - Sampras' and Agassi's final match*Things get ugly between to legends