Hace 25 años, Marcelo Ríos 🇨🇱 se convertía oficialmente en el primer tenista sudamericano en ser N°1 del ranking ATP 🎾. Lo consiguió tras vencer 7-5, 6-3 y 6-4 a André Agassi en la final del Miami Open. Desbancó de la cima a un tal Pete Sampras.
"I thought about throwing punches with Sampras, but someone stopped us": Former World No.1 Marcelo Rios nearly came to blows in heated rivalry with Pete Sampras
Tennis NewsSaturday, 25 November 2023 at 12:10
Marcelo Rios revealed that he was on the verge of getting into a physical fight with Pete Sampras after an exhibition match.
The Chilean former world No. 1 experienced his peak in the late 90s, reaching world No. 1 in 1998 at the age of 22. However, he struggled to maintain enough consistency on the tour and spent only a total of six weeks at the top. Marcelo Rios retired at the age of 29 due to injuries and later participated in a series of exhibitions, including one in Santiago, Chile, against the 14-times Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras.
Rios recently spoke in an interview with CHV and discussed the little-known altercation he had with Sampras in 2008, offering his opinion on the American player:
"Stupid, a fool. Silly, he's silly. I had a fight with him. (...). Almost boxing, we almost boxed each other. In the exhibition we did in Chile, when the match ended, he sends for me to talk, and that's where the mess started.”
“It wasn't about getting along; it was something he said to me. It bothered me, I let him know, and it bothered him. He tried to continue being the Sampras he used to be, which, in my opinion, he's no longer. I told him, 'For me, you're not the Sampras you used to be; for me, you're ‘Pedro.’ That's when the fight started," he said.
"What happened is that at the beginning of the exhibition, there are times when you arrange the matches; you win the first set, I win the second, and then we play the third set one-on-one."
“So, when he called me to the locker room, I told him, 'you're not Pete Sampras anymore.' I told him, ‘Before, when I came to ask you what we should do, you should have told me let's play one-on-one, done, and everything would have been fine,” former world No. 1 said.
“But now, don't come and tell me that because I beat you, you're upset.' That's when the whole fight started. The guy who organized the exhibition arrived and stopped us before, separated us, but it would have been good. Hitting Sampras is Good," the Chilean former tennis player added.
Rios claimed victory in front of his home crowd with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-3, and 7-6 (4). In their professional careers, Sampras and Rios faced each other twice, with both victories going to the North American player.
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