No Equal to the ’99 Sequel

The plates were barely cleared away from Breakfast at Wimbledon when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi got together for a memorable rematch at the Mercedes-Benz Cup tournament in 1999 in Los Angeles.

Earlier in the month, Sampras beat Agassi in straight sets to win his sixth Wimbledon crown. It wasn’t as though Agassi played poorly. He didn’t. Sampras hit a high level and never returned to earth.

He was still soaring in Los Angeles. For all the times Sampras and Agassi played one another--this was their 25th match--they had never met in the UCLA final. Sampras beat Agassi’s coach, Brad Gilbert, in the 1991 final, and Agassi defeated Tim Henman in the 1998 final.

This time, the heavyweight atmosphere surrounding the Sampras-Agassi final transcended tennis, the way it usually does when they meet. Times columnist J.A. Adande realized it--first-hand--before the final.

“It wasn’t so much that people were scrambling for tickets--that’s standard for just about any sporting event--it’s the type of people who were doing it,” Adande wrote.

“I’ve never had a woman approach me about tickets, until Sunday. I was only a few steps out of the garage when a well-coiffed woman asked, ‘Do you have an extra ticket?’

“I told her I didn’t.

“ ‘Three hundred dollars,’ she said.”

Wonder if she ever found a ticket because the final, for once, met the hype. Sampras defeated Agassi, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1).

Agassi had his chances, a set point in the 12th game of the second set and a break point in the ninth game of the first set. Sampras had 11 aces, and his serve was so formidable that Agassi put only one return in play in each tiebreaker.

Tennis legend Jack Kramer, a three-time champion of Los Angeles and former tournament director of the event, looked back at the final with admiration and pride. His son, Bob Kramer, is the current tournament director.

“To me, the feeling, the expectation, the excitement of having those two fellas on the Center Court there in L.A., it was almost like watching the finals of Wimbledon or Forest Hills,” Jack Kramer said. “It’s pretty hard in our tournament when we weren’t given the magic status of the Super 9.

“To have that kind of field and end up with those two guys, and the show they put on, to me, it was a wonderful match.”