"It was great to play you before you retire" - When Andre Agassi joked with 19-year-old Rafael Nadal after losing to him in Canadian Open final
Rafael Nadal's very first hard-court title came in 2005 after beating Andre Agassi in the Canadian Open final.
Nadal was seeded fifth at the tournament which was called the Rogers Cup at the time. He booked his place in the final with wins over Carlos Moya, Ricardo Mello Sebastian Griosjean, and Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Here, the Spaniard faced fourth-seeded Agassi and started the match well by beating him 6-3. However, the American bounced back to take the second set 6-3 and force the match into a decider. Nadal claimed the final set 6-2 to win the Canadian Open, thus clinching the first hard-court title of his career.
After the match, Agassi jokingly told Nadal during the presentation that it was great for him to play him before he retired.
"It's been great watching you, great competing against you, and it was great to play you before you retire," the American said.
The 2005 season was the season that established Rafael Nadal as truly one of the best players in the world and it was also one of the best of his career. The Spaniard won 79 out of 89 matches that year with 11 titles to his name, a number he hasn't bettered in any season in his career so far. He won the French Open along with four Masters 1000 titles.
Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi faced each other twice
Rafael Nadal faced Andre Agassi only twice during his career as the American was in his final years when he was on the rise.
The 2005 Rogers Cup final was the first match between the two. Their second meeting came in the third round of the following year's Wimbledon Championships.
Seeded second, Nadal started the tournament with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Alex Bogdanovic and followed it up by coming back from two sets down to defeat Ryan Kendrick 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round.
Here, the then-20-year-old was up against Agassi, who was the 25th seed. The American came back from a set down to win his first match against Boris Pasanski 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 but won his second match over Andreas Seppi in straight sets (6-4, 7-6(2), 6-4).
Nadal did well to beat Agassi 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4 and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon 2006. He went on to reach the tournament's final before losing 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3 to Roger Federer.