"You have to lose in such a way the crowd can't tell" - When Andre Agassi revealed he lost intentionally to Michael Chang to avoid Boris Becker final
Andre Agassi has made many shocking confessions that have sent shockwaves across the tennis world, including the fact that he once took crystal meth during his career. One other big revelation from the American was the fact that he intentionally lost once to Michael Chang, just so he would not have to face Boris Becker in the final.
The tournament in question was the 1996 Australian Open, with Agassi coming in as the defending champion. Seeded No. 2, he reached the semifinals, with top seed Pete Sampras shockingly falling in the third round.
Agassi took down Jim Courier in the quarterfinals in a marathon five-setter and was the favorite for the title all of a sudden. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, Boris Becker locked horns with Mark Woodforde.
Quite unexpectedly, Agassi went down 1-6, 4-6, 6-7(1) against his compatriot, who then went on to lose to Becker in the final. The German, with the win, won his second title at the Australian Open and sixth Slam overall, which would turn out to be the final Major title of his career.
Later in his autobiography 'Open' Agassi broke the truth to his fans, stating that he had to make sure he lost in a way the crowd couldn't tell he was doing it intentionally. The former World No. 1 also took a swipe at tennis writers who couldn't figure out what he was doing in the match.
"It's almost harder than winning. You have to lose in such a way that the crowd can't tell... [Sports writers] never get it right. When I tank, they say I'm not good enough; when I'm not good enough, they say I tank," Agassi wrote.
Agassi's reasoning for not wanting to face Becker in the 1996 Australian Open is rather perplexing, seeing as he had won their previous match at the 1995 US Open. Overall, his head-to-head against the German legend stands at 10-4, with Becker winning their first three battles on the trot and the American taking the last two.
"After Boris Becker beat me at Wimbledon, he said some things that bothered me on a very personal level" - Andre Agassi
At the 1995 Wimbledon Championships, Boris Becker earned his fourth win against Andre Agassi, beating him in four sets. Although Agassi exacted revenge for the loss at the US Open that same year, the pair exchanged a rather cold handshake afterward.
Explaining the moment at his press conference later, Agassi revealed that Becker said some things at Wimbledon that affected him mentally and that it broke the respect he had for his rival at the time.
"After he beat me this year at Wimbledon, he said some things that bothered me on a very personal level. It is hard for me to respect anybody who is going to beat me and say so many things that are not only wrong, but meant to hurt."
"I don't understand that and I don't respect it. It is real simple, I respect his tennis play but once a match is over, you know, it ends there," Agassi said.
After that, the duo met only one more time—at the 1999 Hong Kong Open final, where Agassi prevailed in three sets.