Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi 6-4 6-3 6-2

First all american US Open final since 1979 between two young talents. First Grand Slam final for Sampras, second final for Agassi (beaten by unheralded veteran Gomez in Roland Garros)
In fact, Agassi shouldn’t have played this match: he should have been disqualified during his 2nd round match against Petr Korda for repeated obscenities and spitting at the umpire ( yep, most of you probably don’t remember that Agassi).
In semifinal, Agassi defeated defending champion Boris Becker in 4 sets to win a place in final.

As for Pete Sampras, he ended Ivan Lendl’s run of eight consecutive US Open finals. Ironically, Lendl was a kind of mentor for the young Sampras: the year before, he had invited Sampras to his Connecticut home to be a workout and hitting partner. In semies, the 19 yr old Californian overpowered 4 time champion John McEnroe.

Andre “the wig” Agassi was no match for Pistol Pete: Sampras completely dominated from first point on and Agassi looked like a lost puppy.

12 years later, those two would meet again in a very emotional final. After a four-set battle between the two longtime rivals, Sampras claimed a then record 14th Grand Slam singles title. It happened to be Sampras’ last match as he announced his retirement a few months later.

More:
- Sampras defeated Peter Lundgren in the second round of US Open 90. Yes, that Lundgren, the future coach of Marat Safin who would crash Sampras in 2000 US Open final
- between 1990 and 2002 Sampras reached 8 US Open finals winning 5 of them
- in 4 encounters, Sampras never lost to Agassi at the US Open

Pete’s run to the title: