"For hours after Pete’s news conference I feel a sharp loneliness" - When Andre Agassi opened up on Pete Sampras announcing his retirement

Pete Sampras is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He won 14 Grand Slam singles titles in his distinguished career, which was an ATP record until Roger Federer (and later Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) surpassed it.

Sampras announced his retirement from tennis in 2003, shortly before that year's US Open. Andre Agassi, Sampras' long-time rival, wrote about his retirement in his book "Open: An Autobiography".

"As the 2003 US Open gets under way, Pete announces his retirement. He stops several times during his news conference to collect himself. I find myself deeply affected as well. Our rivalry has been one of the lodestars of my career," he wrote.

"Losing to Pete has caused me enormous pain, but in the long run it’s also made me more resilient. If I’d beaten Pete more often, or if he’d come along in a different generation, I’d have a better record, and I might go down as a better player, but I’d be less," Agassi added.

Agassi added that he felt a sharp loneliness for hours after Sampras announced his retirement.

"For hours after Pete’s news conference I feel a sharp loneliness. I’m the last one standing. I’m the last American slam winner still playing. I tell reporters: You sort of expect to leave the dance with the ones you came with. Then I realize this is the wrong analogy, because I’m not leaving the dance—they are. I’m still dancing," Agassi wrote.

Agassi was the top seed at the 2003 US Open, which took place after Pete Sampras announced his retirement. He reached the semifinals of the Slam before losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Pete Sampras' last professional match came against Andre Agassi

Pete Sampras (first from right) and Andre Agassi (second from left)

Many believe it was fitting that the last professional match of Pete Sampras' career came against Andre Agassi. The two locked horns in the 2002 US Open final, with Sampras seeded 17th and Agassi sixth.

Sampras won the match 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to lift his 14th Grand Slam trophy. Although he announced his retirement in August 2003, the title clash at Flushing Meadows was the last match of his career.

Sampras and Agassi had one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport and locked horns on 34 occasions, with the former leading the head-to-head 20-14. The first meeting between the two came in Rome in 1989, which Agassi won 6-2, 6-1.

They faced each other in five Grand Slam finals, with Sampras coming out on top in four of those - the 1990 US Open, 1995 US Open, 1999 Wimbledon Championships and 2002 US Open. The only time Agassi beat his rival in a Major final was at the 1995 Australian Open.