"It took him two years to recover from that devastating loss"- When Pete Sampras commented on Andre Agassi being affected by the 1995 US Open final

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi locked horns in several high-profile matches throughout their career. One of them included the 1995 US Open final.

Agassi, who entered the tournament as the top seed and defending champion, booked his place in the title clash with wins over Bryan Shelton, Alex Corretja, Stefan Edberg, Jared Palmer, Petr Korda and Boris Becker.

Here, he faced second seed Pete Sampras, who won the match 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to win his third US Open title.

The American wrote about the match in his book, Pete Sampras: A Champion's Mind, stating that the victory started a run for him that saw him claim a lot of Grand Slams in the following years. He added that the match had a devastating effect on Andre Agassi, who admitted it took him over two years to get over it.

"The win opened the floodgates for me in a number of ways. It was my seventh major, and it launched me on a run that would earn me six more majors in the next four years. The match also had a devastating effect on Andre. It put me up 9–8 in our rivalry, but more important it impacted Andre so badly that he soon fell off the radar—he admitted much later that it took him two years to recover from that devastating loss," Sampras said.

"It was too bad because the match also certified my rivalry with Andre; nobody could push me and force me to play my best tennis the way Andre could. And nobody could call our rivalry hype cooked up by Nike anymore—it was the real deal, even though it was put on hold," he added.

---

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi squared off in 16 finals

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras with John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi faced one another on 34 occasions, 16 of which came in finals. The former came out on top in 11 matches, while the latter triumphed in five.

The first title clash between the two came at the 1990 US Open, with Sampras winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to win his maiden Grand Slam singles title. They faced each other in five Major finals, and Sampras won four of them. The only time Agassi beat his rival was at the 1995 Australian Open.

The last fixture between the two also came at a Grand Slam final, the 2002 US Open, with Sampras winning 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.