“They were geniuses,” Mariano Monachesi speaks on how Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras were ‘GREATS’ irrespective of the generation in which they played
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Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi
Former Argentine tennis player, Mariano Monachesi recently spoke about the previous generation of tennis stars and how they are no less than the current ones- especially the Big 3. Monachesi cited the example of two of the greatest American players of all time, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
Monachesi said that when he started on the tour, there were many great players like Thomas Enqvist, Jonas Bjorkman, Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi. He termed all of them geniuses and said that we mustn’t pay attention to those who undermine achievements by saying that generation was different.
“When I started on the circuit, there were the Thomas Enqvist, the Jonas Bjorkman, the Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi … those players were fantastic, they were geniuses. We must not pay attention to those who say: ‘it was a different tennis, it was a worse tennis,'” Monachesi said.
Mariano Monachesi reveals how tennis was different back in the time
The Argentine further added that despite the tennis being different back in the 90s, it was great. He then spoke about Guillermo Vilas, who is considered to be amongst the best clay-court player of all time, and said that he had the ability to win points on slower surfaces by indulging in long rallies. This was to prove that the game style may change from generation to generation but the competition never goes down.
“It was different tennis, and it was great, just like today’s tennis is different tennis, and it’s great. And at the time that Vilas played, when tennis was played more slowly, obviously, he had the ability to win points with 25 balls,” he added.
Agassi and Sampras had a very fierce rivalry back in the 90s and the duo has scalped 22 major titles amongst themselves- 14 for Sampras and 8 for Agassi.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2648 Articles Published)