Andre Agassi has one of the most impressive legacies in tennis history. Not only did he won a career Grand Slam and an Olympic gold medal, but he was revered as one of the biggest personalities the sport has ever seen and transforming himself from a controversial teenager to elder statesman of the game.
As documented in my book “On This Day In Tennis History,” (for sale and download here https://a.co/d/42JAdn9 Agassi performed one of the classiest gestures ever in pro tennis that saved the final of the modern day Miami Open. Read the book excerpt below.
March 20, 1994 – In one of the sports best displays of sportsmanship, Andre Agassi agrees to delay the start of his Lipton Championships singles final against Pete Sampras after Sampras suffers from a stomach ailment, then loses to Sampras 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a hard fought final. The rules would have permitted Agassi to claim the match in a walk-over, but Agassi chooses not to be given the match – a decision that costs him $114,000 in prize money. Says Agassi, “If I can’t beat the best player in the world, I don’t deserve the trophy. And I certainly don’t deserve it if I can’t beat him when he’s sick.” Says Sampras of Agassi’s gesture, “He showed me a lot of class, and it’s something I’ll never forget,” Sampras wakes up feeling sick and blames a pasta dinner. He receives intravenous fluids for 90 minutes before taking the court on an empty stomach. “I’m as surprised as everyone in this room that I won,” Sampras says to the assembled media in the post-match press conference.
