Agassi and Sampras: made for each other

Rivalry is the lifeblood of sport and for Andre Agassi it was Pete Sampras that more than anyone defined his 20 years at the top of the tennis tree.

Their many showdowns may have lacked the cutting edge that is the hallmark of the fiercest head-to-heads, but there is no doubt that the two of them dominated men's tennis throughout the 1990s.

It began as the Connors/McEnroe/Lendl era wound down and ended with Rafael Nadal striving to emerge as the man who might eventually dethrone uncontested world champion Roger Federer.

On paper at least Agassi came off a distinct second best.

The Las Vegas-born son of an Iranian immigrant father is 15 months older than the Washington DC-born offspring of Greek immigrants.

And Agassi won their first ever encounter at a Los Angeles junior tournament in 1980 when he was 10 and Sampras nine.

Six years later Agassi turned professional followed two years later by Sampras and thereafter he mainly had to settle for second best against his fellow American.

They played a total of 34 times with Sampras winning 20 of them including their thriller in the 2002 US Open final after which he retired.

Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, the most by any man, to eight for Agassi, although his failure to win the French Open on clay meant that he never matched his rival's feat of winning on all four surfaces.

Five times they met in Grand Slam finals with Sampras dominating. Three times he defeated Agassi in the US Open final (1990, 1995 and 2002) and once at Wimbledon (1999). Agassi's only success over Sampras came in the 1995 Australian Open final.

In similar vein, Sampras topped the ATP year-end rankings for six straight years from 1993-98. Agassi managed that feat only once - the following year in 1999 when he won both the French and US Opens.

Style wise they were as different as chalk as cheese, at least in the early days of their rivalry.

While Sampras was all understated power and finesse in the best traditions of classical tennis greats, Agassi was a born street-fighter and slugger who loved a scrap and nurtured his rock-and-roll image.

But they had no problem joining forces to promote their shared sports products sponsors and enjoyed success together in the US team that defeated Russia to win the 1995 Davis Cup.

At times they were like a mutual admiration society.

Asked to comment on Agassi after his emotional win over him in the final of the 2002 US Open, his final game, Sampras replied:

"He's made me a better player. He's brought moments to my career that are like Borg and McEnroe. Those guys needed each other. I've needed Andre over the course of my career. He's pushed me. You know, he's forced me to add things to my game. He's the only guy that was able to do that. He's the best I've played."

Likewise, asked to name the best five best players of all time Agassi replied: "Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras, Sampras."

But it is debatable who will leave the more lasting impression.

Sampras always struggled to totally connect with the public, while Agassi was a natural crowd-pleaser even through the many image changes he went through during the course of his career.

One player who mixed it with them both - seven-times Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander - was left in no doubt.

Replying to his own question of why tennis fans preferred Agassi to Sampras, he replied: "Agassi has known it all, the victories, the decline, the renaissance and victory again. His path through tennis is symbolic of life."