"Pete Sampras doesn't find tennis as lonely as I do" - When Andre Agassi recalled telling his rival about his pets
Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras were the flag-bearers of American tennis on the ATP Tour from 1990 until the early 2000s. They often faced each other on the tour and were known for their contrasting playing styles and temperaments on the court.
Andre Agassi mentioned one of the off-court encounters with Sampras in his book, Open: An Autobiography. The incident happened during a joint interview with a magazine reporter for which Sampras came to Agassi's hotel room and was stunned to see his pet parrot, Peaches.
Agassi told Sampras that he had rescued Peaches from a Vegas pet shop that was going out of business and could do perfect mimicry of him.
"Pete and I agree to do a simultaneous interview with a magazine reporter. Pete comes to my hotel room, where the interview is to take place, and he’s shocked to meet Peaches. What the hell? Pete says. Pete, meet Peaches. She’s an old parrot I rescued from a Vegas pet store that was going out of business.
"Nice bird, Pete says mockingly. She is a nice bird, I say. She doesn’t bite. She imitates people. Like who? Like me. She sneezes like me, talks like me—except she has a better vocabulary," Agassi wrote.
Agassi also told Sampras about other pets he had back in Vegas, including a cat and a rabbit, to fight the loneliness of the ATP Tour. Sampras responded by shaking his head. From this interaction, Agassi inferred that Sampras did not find tennis as lonely as he did.
"I crack up every time the phone rings. Peaches yells, Telephone! Tel-ephone! I tell Pete that back in Vegas I have a whole menagerie. A cat named King, a rabbit named Buddy, whatever it takes to fend off the loneliness. No man is an island. He shakes his head. Apparently he doesn’t find tennis as lonely as I do," Agassi continued.
Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras played against each other 34 times on the ATP Tour
Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras first competed against each other on the ATP Tour at the 1989 Italian Open. The former easily won the match in straight sets. Their rivalry intensified in the next 10 years as they locked horns a total 34 times on the tour, with Sampras winning 20 and Agassi claiming 14 victories.
Their first big matchup came at the 1990 US Open final, with Sampras coming out on top. The duo played a total of 15 finals on the ATP Tour, with Sampras winning eight of them. They last competed against each other in the final of the 2002 US Open, where Sampras was again victorious.
That title clash in New York was the last professional match Pete Sampras played. He officially retired from the sport in 2003. Meanwhile, Andre Agassi hung up his racket in 2006 with eight Grand Slam singles titles.