Fan Forum - View Single Post - Tennis #18: Because we love the new Centre Court roof at Wimbledon!

**Hot Rod** · 05-21-2009, 05:44 PM

Glad y`all like the pics.

Here is some news regarding two of the all time greats:

Sampras to play Agassi for 1st time since retiring

MACAU (AFP) - Tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will renew their epic rivalry later this year for the first time since the US Open final in 2002.

The two Americans, who played each other 34 times, have not faced off since Sampras won that classic match and then retired.

But they will be back on court in front of 15,000 fans at the Venetian Macau Showdown on October 25 for an exhibition.

"I really enjoy playing, keeping sharp and staying in shape. It's great to see Andre playing again as well, after the problems with his back," said Sampras.

"My motivation to play Andre in Macau will be playing my rival and the great energy that Macau has, so I am very excited to play him in October."

Asked what he remembered most about facing Agassi, Sampras, who won 20 of their encounters, said it was the intensity of their rivalry.

"Andre had a great return of serve, passing shots and first serve. We always had really tough matches and we brought out the best in each other," he said.

"Back in the mid-90s when we were No.1 and 2 in the world I think it was a great rivalry and we transcended the sport.

"When people ask me who my great rival is I always tell them Andre—our matches were so competitive, so it will be great to play him again."

Between them they have won 22 Grand Slams.

"I have followed the Macau events featuring Roger (Federer), Pete, John (McEnroe) and Bjorn (Borg) so when the opportunity arose … I was excited to join such an illustrious roster of top tennis names," said Agassi.

I`m very excited that Andre and Pete will finally play each other again.

I remember a lot of their classic matches back in the day and they were always must see TV. In fact it seemed like they were meeting in a final almost every tournament in 1995. Hopefully the Tennis Channel will air it.

In other news, Maria was defeated by Alona Bondarenko 2-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinals in Warsaw earlier today. Not much of a surprise there. However i`m disappointed that Maria couldn`t make the match more competitive. Still i`m glad that she`s finally back in action.

It was nice to see her get a couple of wins in Warsaw. Today`s match obviously shows that she has a lot of work to do before she can get back to the championship form we`ve seen from her.

Lastly John Isner, Dmitry Tursunov and Mario Ancic will miss the French Open, which stars on Sunday, due to illness, a heel injury and lack of fitness, which is a first, respectively. Tough break for those guys, especially for Big John.