Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras had one of the greatest and most heated rivalries in tennis history, and Agassi remembered the effect it had on his career during a recent interview.
The pair met 34 times, with Sampras winning 20 of them. That included nine matches at Grand Slams and 16 contests in finals, establishing their rivalry as one of the best the sport has ever seen.
Sampras won four of their five Grand Slam finals, including all three at the US Open. Agassi’s sole victory in a major final against his greatest rival was at the 1995 Australian Open, where he triumphed in four sets.
The duo was also known for not having the friendliest relationship off the court. This contrasts sharply with rivalries such as Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s or the current one between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Agassi replaced John McEnroe as Team World’s captain for the 2025 Laver Cup. The three-day event is set to occur at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Yannick Noah was announced as Team Europe’s new captain for this year’s edition of the team event.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion recently visited the venue for the 2025 Laver Cup and did an interview with the Bay Area Sports Wrap YouTube channel, which included interesting comments about Sampras.
“Well, when I played Pete here I was outside the top 100, I was climbing my way back from falling from No.1 in the world, to 140 in the world, and I remember telling Pete after I beat him in the finals that year: ‘I can’t believe you lost to somebody ranked outside the top 100’; we had some battles and he ruined a lot of Sundays for me, but he also added a lot to my career.”
Despite Agassi and Sampras not sharing a close relationship, the respect that still exists is evident from the four-time Australian Open champion’s remarks. He knows the pair pushed each other to be better.
However, it was not just Agassi and Sampras pushing each other. The emergence and achievements of Jim Courier and Michael Chang during the 1990s helped them all improve and gave the four men belief.
“When I turned pro I gave Courier the belief, Chang the belief, Pete the belief; then Chang wins a slam, that gives Sampras the belief, it gives me the belief, Jim the belief; then Jim goes to No. 1 gives us all the belief. So we just all kept pushing each other.”
Players improving their games because of rivals on the ATP and WTA Tours has continued in the 21st century. Roger Federer took tennis to a new level, which meant Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had to push to reach his level at the top.
Nadal recently opened up about the physical toll those efforts took on him, Federer, and Djokovic. Federer and Nadal still have some issues after their careers, and Djokovic has started to suffer more injuries.
Djokovic returned from an injury at the 2025 Australian Open at the 2025 Qatar Open, but concerning footage showed him limping as he walked to the airport in Doha after the tournament.
