"He doesn’t like the theater, and he doesn’t get actors"- When Andre Agassi forced Pete Sampras to sit through Broadway show featuring Brooke Shields
Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras locked horns in 16 finals. One of them came at the 1995 Lipton Championships (now known as the Miami Open) in Key Biscayne, Florida.
Seeded second, Agassi beat Magnus Larsson in the semifinals to set up a title clash against his rival Sampras, who was the top seed. The latter won the opening set 6-3 but his rival won the next two 6-2, 7-6(3), to win the Lipton Championships for the second time in his career.
After beating Sampras, Agassi flew to New York with him and took him to a Broadway Production of the musical Grease, which featured his then-partner Brooke Shields.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion wrote about this in his book Open, claiming that while he loved Broadway, the same could not be said for Sampras.
"After the match, we fly together to New York, where we’re due to catch a flight to Europe for the Davis Cup. But first, upon landing, I drag Pete to the Eugene O’Neill Theater to see Brooke as Rizzo in Grease. It’s the first time Pete has seen a Broadway show, I think, but it’s my 50th time seeing Grease," Andre Agassi wrote.
"I like Broadway. I find the ethos of the theater familiar. The work of a Broadway actor is physical, strenuous, demanding, and the nightly pressure is intense. The best Broadway actors remind me of athletes. All this is lost on Pete, however," he added.
Agassi claimed that Sampras did not like theatres as he never understood actors. He claimed that he smiled at Sampras' "discomfort" and claimed that forcing him to sit through the show was more satisfying than defeating him in Florida.
"From the opening number, he’s yawning, fidgeting, checking his watch. He doesn’t like the theater, and he doesn’t get actors, since he’s never pretended anything in his life. In the quasi-darkness of the footlights, I smile at his discomfort. Somehow, forcing him to sit through Grease feels more satisfying than beating him in Key Biscayne," Agassi wrote.
Pete Sampras' wife Bridgette Wilson joked about facing Andre Agassi's family in a doubles match
Pete Sampras' wife Bridgette Wilson joked about facing Andre Agassi's family in a doubles match while speaking to Sports Illustrated in 2002.
The actress was asked if she and her husband would square off against Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf in a doubles match. She replied by stating that she would only partner Sampras if the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion's son Jaden was his partner instead of Graf.
"If it's Andre and [their infant son], Jaden, against me and Pete, I just might consider it," Bridgette Wilson joked.
Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi had a fierce rivalry, with the former leading the head-to-head 20-14.