Andre Agassi is one of only five men’s players in the Open Era to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments over his career.
The career Grand Slam refers to winning all four majors – the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open – at least once.
He became the fifth male player to reach that mark, following Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. Later on in his career, Agassi would go on to endorse Rafael Nadal as a future candidate to achieve a calendar-year Slam.
He finished off his collection by winning Roland Garros in 1999. That same year, he also claimed his second US Open title. Over his career, he would go on to earn 60 ATP Tour singles titles.
Even after retiring from professional tennis, Agassi has stayed involved in the sport through coaching and mentoring roles.
Andre Agassi calls completing career Grand Slam his best moment
In the 1999 French Open final, Andre Agassi staged a comeback from two sets down to defeat Andrei Medvedev 1–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4.
With that victory, he became the first man to complete the career Grand Slam on four different surfaces.
An emotional Agassi spoke after the match: “I’ll never forget this. I’m very blessed.”
In a 2020 interview with Roland Garros.com, he called it the best moment of his career.
“And the feeling was me living the rest of my life truly believing I wouldn’t have another regret as it relates to my career.”
Andrei Medvedev felt Andre Agassi had a case to be considered greater than Pete Sampras
Medvedev, who was ranked 100th in the world at the time of the final, said Agassi’s achievement gave him the right to claim he was better than Sampras.
Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles but never completed the career Grand Slam, as he did not win Roland Garros. He only reached one semi-final at the French Open during his career.
“I don’t have regrets,” said Medvedev, per Lakeland Ledger.
”As a competitor, I’m disappointed that I came up short, but I came up short to a great player [Agassi].
“He has a right to say now that he’s a greater player than, let’s say, Pete [Sampras] by winning all four Grand Slams. It’s an argument that he can have.”
And it was not just players from his own era who admired Agassi. In 2006, former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich called him the most talented player of his generation, ranking him above Sampras.
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