I'm counting down the Top 5 tennis matches I didn't see. Yes. Incredibly fascinating. You can read about #5 here and #4 here.
3. Andre Agassi v. Pete Sampras, 2000 Australian Open Semifinal
This one is on the list more for personal reasons than any of the others. No one would call this match one of the greatest of all time, despite the fact that it was a 5-setter in the late stages of a Grand Slam tournament contested by two of the all-time best players in history. The quality of play was just a bit too uneven, Sampras made just a few too many unforced errors, for it to rank up there with the very best matches.
Still, I’d like to have seen it. The Sampras-Agassi rivalry defined a long stretch of my fascination with tennis. Sampras was cool, unflappable, a brilliant serve-and-volley player with impeccable service skills. Agassi was emotional, lightning fast, a baseline player with one of the best service return games anyone has ever seen. Their contrasting personalities and playing styles always made them interesting to watch, even though by most measures Sampras had by far the better end of their long running feud. From 1989 to 2002 they played 34 times, with Sampras winning 20-14. They played in 5 Grand Slam Finals, with Sampras winning all but one of those. Sampras spent 286 weeks ranked #1 in the world, Agassi 101 weeks. Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, Agassi 8. About the only honor Agassi could claim that Sampras couldn’t, was that the former won every Grand Slam tournament at least once and Sampras never could manage to win the French.
But they were both great, and their matches great to watch. I picked this one because it was a 5-setter, and because Agassi, who I just liked better, won it, and then went on to win the Australian Open that year.
Why didn’t I see it? Just because it’s the Australian Open, really. In 2000 I was living in New York, and still no cable television. And Australian Open matches, wouldn’t you know it, are played in some place called Australia. It’s on the other side of the world or something, so matches are usually on television around 3:00 a.m. in the U.S. Even if I’d had cable, I’m not sure I would have caught this one. Although you never know….
Here’s the 4th set tiebreak, probably the highlight of the match:
Next up tomorrow: The Gods Walk Among Us
3. Andre Agassi v. Pete Sampras, 2000 Australian Open Semifinal
This one is on the list more for personal reasons than any of the others. No one would call this match one of the greatest of all time, despite the fact that it was a 5-setter in the late stages of a Grand Slam tournament contested by two of the all-time best players in history. The quality of play was just a bit too uneven, Sampras made just a few too many unforced errors, for it to rank up there with the very best matches.
Still, I’d like to have seen it. The Sampras-Agassi rivalry defined a long stretch of my fascination with tennis. Sampras was cool, unflappable, a brilliant serve-and-volley player with impeccable service skills. Agassi was emotional, lightning fast, a baseline player with one of the best service return games anyone has ever seen. Their contrasting personalities and playing styles always made them interesting to watch, even though by most measures Sampras had by far the better end of their long running feud. From 1989 to 2002 they played 34 times, with Sampras winning 20-14. They played in 5 Grand Slam Finals, with Sampras winning all but one of those. Sampras spent 286 weeks ranked #1 in the world, Agassi 101 weeks. Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, Agassi 8. About the only honor Agassi could claim that Sampras couldn’t, was that the former won every Grand Slam tournament at least once and Sampras never could manage to win the French.
But they were both great, and their matches great to watch. I picked this one because it was a 5-setter, and because Agassi, who I just liked better, won it, and then went on to win the Australian Open that year.
Why didn’t I see it? Just because it’s the Australian Open, really. In 2000 I was living in New York, and still no cable television. And Australian Open matches, wouldn’t you know it, are played in some place called Australia. It’s on the other side of the world or something, so matches are usually on television around 3:00 a.m. in the U.S. Even if I’d had cable, I’m not sure I would have caught this one. Although you never know….
Here’s the 4th set tiebreak, probably the highlight of the match:
Next up tomorrow: The Gods Walk Among Us
His bio (Andre's) is next on my list to read- supposed to be amazing.
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