Sampras recalls 1995 Canadian Open final versus Agassi

Pete Sampras won just about everything in his illustrious 14-year professional tennis career.

He was victorious seven times at Wimbledon, took home five U.S. Open championships and also captured two Australian Open titles - not to mention the various tournaments that lead up to these Grand Slams

Aside from the obvious void, a French Open title, another tour stop where Sampras never came out on top is the Canadian Open.

However, his lone finals appearance in Montreal 18 years ago was notable in that he faced his biggest adversary - Andre Agassi.

At the time, Agassi was his fiercest competition for the No. 1 ranking in the world. In those years, it was the most hotly contested rivalry in the sport, and it stands as one of the greatest of all time.

Friday, prior to hitting centre court at Rexall Centre where he took on fellow American James Blake as part of the Rogers Legends Cup exhibition, "The King of Swing", who will soon turn 42, hearkened back to 1995, a year in which he and Agassi met in five tournament finals.

"It was a big turning point that summer where I believe I won Wimbledon that year and came (to Montreal) - lost to him and he went on a 28-match winning streak or something ridiculous," Sampras recalled of his only loss (6-3, 2-6, 3-6) to Agassi that year.

"I think he was the favourite going into that final a little bit. We played a great set point in the first set, I won it and then it just seemed our careers went in different directions."

After Agassi's win in Montreal, their head-to-head record was 8-8. It was the last time the two would be at parity with each other - the tide would turn for good.

"I grew from that and won some majors," Sampras said, "He dropped off out of the top 100 and was a bit lost."

They met a month later at Flushing Meadows in the a highly anticipated rematch of the 1990 U.S. Open final. Sampras would defeat Agassi for a second time. (6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5).

"I managed to squeak out that final. That was a breaking point for Andre," Sampras said. "For the next year or two he just lost his way."

Over the course of the five years after their meeting in Montreal, Sampras went 9-3 versus Agassi and closed out the decade winning a total of five Grand Slam titles. Agassi didn't win another slam until he captured the French Open - four years later in 1999.

Looking back nearly two decades later, it is clear that the Canadian Open final was part of a bigger story in a year that marked a change in fortunes between two of the most elite players to ever swing a racquet.

"He got me pretty good in Montreal, but he'd rather have had the U.S. Open than that one." Sampras said before digressing. "It was a big summer."