Sampras vs Agassi; a comparison from 1993

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

I made a post on Reddit a couple of weeks ago to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Andre saying that Pete looked like a monkey, and shouldn't be number one.

I also added a chart breaking down their respective achievements at that time:

Thought I'd repost it over here to see if it generates more discussion. I do find the rivalry interesting since (a) this shows that for several years before Pete went on a tear from Wimbledon 1993 onwards, the two were fairly inseparable as pre-peak young players; and (b) fans today tend to only see the final figures for their accomplishments, rather than the way they were compiled, i.e. an 11-3 slam count for Sampras until 1998, before Agassi turned it around with 5-3 in his favour from 1999 onwards.

EDIT: to fix error in chart per @Mustard

 

[Thetouch]

Man, I always thought it was a rumour that Agassi called Sampras a monkey. So I guess he actually said it around people.

 

[Mustard]

Agassi had 4 lost semi finals in majors at the time (1988 French Open against Wilander, 1988 US Open against Lendl, 1989 US Open against Lendl, 1992 French Open against Courier).

 

[Waves]

Nasty, I’m sure Agassi regrets this.( substance induced?)

Was a good rivalry between these two ATG’s. Despite the GS lead, don’t have a problem with anyone choosing Agassi over Sampras.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Man, I always thought it was a rumour that Agassi called Sampras a monkey. So I guess he actually said it around people.

He said it publicly and it was not meth-related. It was said years before Andre got on it:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/25/Sampras-ducks-war-of-words-with-Agassi/2573738302400/

 

[thrust]

Nasty, I’m sure Agassi regrets this.( substance induced?)

Was a good rivalry between these two ATG’s. Despite the GS lead, don’t have a problem with anyone choosing Agassi over Sampras.

Well, they played 5 slam finals with Pete winning 4
Pete has 286 weeks at #1, Andre has 101
Pete has 6 Year end at #1, Andre has 1
Pete won 64 total titles, Andre has 60

 

[Thetouch]

He said it publicly and it was not meth-related. It was said years before Andre got on it:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/25/Sampras-ducks-war-of-words-with-Agassi/2573738302400/

l knew he said it in 1993 because I read it myself then but I never knew whether it was just made up or real. I always thought Agassi might have had a snake personality. I read an article in sports illustrated from 1993 that claimed that many players didn't like him at all except for 2-3 people, amongst them Becker who "always held him in high regards". So if you think about their whole rivalry turning bad in 1995 maybe it was either because Becker was told by someone close to Agassi (cough Bollettieri cough) that Agassi talked bad behind his back or maybe old foxy Nick himself might have spiced things up between them on purpose to shove it to Andre. Just a thought

 

[Mustard]

l knew he said it in 1993 because I read it myself then but I never knew whether it was just made up or real. I always thought Agassi might have had a snake personality. I read an article in sports illustrated from 1993 that claimed that many players didn't like him at all except for 2-3 people, amongst them Becker who "always held him in high regards". So if you think about their whole rivalry turning bad in 1995 maybe it was either because Becker was told by someone close to Agassi (cough Bollettieri cough) that Agassi talked bad behind his back or maybe old foxy Nick himself might have spiced things up between them on purpose to shove it to Andre. Just a thought

I heard somewhere that Agassi in 1989 was the most hated player in the locker room. Agassi himself found 1989 difficult after his 1988. In 1988, Agassi had gotten loads of attention and advertizing promotion, got to world number 3 but hadn't beaten many top players to do so. A slight downturn and backlash in 1989 was almost inevitable.

The whole Becker vs. Agassi thing in 1995 was fascinating, when you consider the coaching situation. Agassi's old mentor Bollettieri coaching Becker, and Becker's old playing nemesis Gilbert coaching Agassi, although Bollettieri left the Becker camp just prior to the 1995 US Open.

Agassi and Muster had gotten on well up to the 1994 French Open, and then it went a little spicy. Surely that's Gilbert's influence, isn't it? Muster and Gilbert had some feisty matches in 1993, including at the US Open. They still shook hands, though. I'm sure Gilbert said that was the only occasion where he was angry enough to want a piece of a player in the locker room after the match was over.

On Eurosport at the time, the commentators used to talk about how Agassi really depended on his coach compared to Sampras. Agassi seemed to need moral encouragement from his coach as well as playing/tactical advice, while Sampras was fine enough by himself in terms of self-confidence even as he had Tim Gullikson or Paul Annacone coaching him. Gullikson didn't want Sampras relying on his serve and wanted him to be better as an all-court player, while Annacone was more of a full on aggressive attacking style of coach.

 

[thrust]

Agassi was overhyped and enjoyed the publicity, whereas Sampras was not and did not care for much publicity. It must have really shocked the Agassi hypers when Pete dominated him in their 90, USA final, which was a very happy day for me.

 

[Mustard]

Agassi was overhyped and enjoyed the publicity, whereas Sampras was not and did not care for much publicity. It must have really shocked the Agassi hypers when Pete dominated him in their 90, USA final, which was a very happy day for me.

Yes. Agassi had a deer in the headlights look for most of the match. Sampras was playing near his very best level.

 

[Kralingen]

Sadly, when the best of PETE met the best of Andre on a fast court. There was only one winner. That’s just the way it is.