“The day I played Roger Federer, that was the day I realized I was playing the greatest player of all time,” says Andre Agassi

The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, launched in 2003, is being held virtually for the first time in 17 years in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In the third session of the third week, sports journalist, Ayaz Memon interacted with tennis greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Graf won 22 Grandslam singles titles in her illustrious career, whereas Agassi won eight majors in his career.

The two greats of the game, got hitched way back in 2001, just two years after she announced retirement from tennis. The pair spoke about several in an interaction with Ayaz Menon. When Agassi was asked about Roger Federer, the American legend stated, “The day I played Federer, that was the day I realized I was playing the greatest player of all time.” Federer played against Agassi for the first time in 1998 at the Swiss Indoors in 1998.

Revisiting the first time Federer played against Agassi

Roger Federer played against Andre Agassi for the first time in the Round of 32 at the Swiss Indoors in 1998. It was just the third professional tournament for the Swiss maestro. Although, Federer was outplayed by Agassi in straight sets, the American still believed he was going to be a great player in the future.

Andre Agassi won the encounter 6-3, 6-2. The result was no surprise as Agassi was one of the top players on tour during the 1990s. Roger Federer’s first win over the American came in 2003 at the Tennis Masters Cup where he outclassed him in straight sets. Since then, he played Agassi on five more occasions, winning each match.

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