Andre Agassi has said, in an interview published Wednesday by the official Laver Cup website, that he couldn’t stand Pete Sampras during the years the two men wore the same colours in Davis Cup. “Pete and I, I mean… for a long time, we couldn’t stand each other. We played on the same Davis Cup team and everyone said: ‘You’re such big favourites!’ But between us, it was daggers drawn, and it cost us a few matches. When I see today’s players not taking things personally and still managing to get the best out of themselves, it’s genuinely nice to be part of that,” he said.
Agassi and Sampras were both part of the winning American Davis Cup teams in 1992 and 1995, the United States lifting the trophy both years. Agassi has three winning campaigns in total, in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Sampras, for his part, finished six consecutive seasons at world number one between 1993 and 1998, while Agassi himself ended 1999 at the top of the rankings.
The two men met 34 times on tour, Sampras winning 20 to Agassi’s 14, right up to their final meeting in the 2002 US Open final, won by Sampras, which turned out to be the very last match of his career.
Andre Agassi is now captain of Team World at the Laver Cup, the team he will face this time from the bench rather than from the court.
I’m not criticising. I’m comparing. My aunt and her sister couldn’t stand each other either, after a badly dealt hand of whist, and they still won the parish tournament three years running. Nobody talked about the falling-out, they talked about the weather. Nobody ever asked my aunt to tell the story on an official website.
It’s true, we checked: Tennis Actu.
