"Me and Pete Sampras were opposite personalities": Andre Agassi reveals unique nature of rivalry

Former world number one Andre Agassi opened up about his rivalry with another legend America’s Pete Sampras.

The duo were involved in an intense rivalry in the 90s on the tennis court and were part of many title-winning campaigns. Agassi was quoted in a series where he revealed that he and Sampras were of opposite personalities.

"I think rivalries aren’t guaranteed in any sport. It doesn’t matter how talented a generation is, you need to capture the imagination of cultures and people," he said. “In the sense of me and Pete [Sampras], we weren’t just two opposite players, which was so obvious on the tennis court.

“We were two opposite personalities and two opposite people altogether. So, to find those… you need dynamics. Federer and Nadal, talking about righty lefty, one who makes it look like it’s so ballistic and one who makes it look like poetry. So, there’s some special elements to rivalries.”

Sampras is often termed as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 14 Grand Slam titles in his career. His most successful competition was Wimbledon where he lifted the title seven times.

On the other hand, Agassi ended up winning eight Grand Slams in his illustrious career. His most successful competition was the Australian Open where he lifted the title four times.