Agassi Lightens It Up: "I got mad skills over here"
While Sampras and Federer took the match 8-6 to Agassi and Nadal, Agassi provided a lot of entertainment for the crowd with his fast-talking and game playing.
The men were also mike-ed up during play, and Agassi took full advantage of his ability to speak directly to the 16,100 fans.
“You better keep that away from me Rog.,” Agassi said to Federer as play began.
Agassi especially let Pete Sampras have a piece of his witty humor.
"You know what thousands of tennis fans are saying right now? Who are those two old bald guys playing with Nadal and Federer,” he said. "It's liberating... just embrace it."
He didn’t just keep the jabs at his opponents, either.
“Stop hitting [the ball] to Fed.!” he told Nadal. “Stay aggressive, Raf, stay aggressive.”
“I got that partner,” he shouted while cutting Nadal off from the ball at one point. But, when he missed it, he came back with a laugh, “I used to have that partner.”
“Thirty-love. We’re in the lead.”
The crowd ate it up. So Agassi kept ‘em coming.
"I just gotta comment on something" he said to Federer. "You're not very intimidating you know."
"I stay neutral,” said Federer. "Swiss."
At one point, though, all the bantering got a bit awkward when Agassi gave Sampras some heat for being “a bad tipper.”
Sampras fired back by giving his impression of Agassi, walking around like an old man in pain while playing.
But Agassi came back with his own impression of Sampras— by pulling out his empty pockets saying he’s too broke to tip any money.
Appearing upset at Agassi’s actions, Sampras tried to clear up his name after that: “I’m not a bad tipper, alright.”
While it did seem tense throughout the ‘tipping’ ordeal, after his victory Sampras said of Agassi: “It got a little tense with Andre… but we’re friends.”
To wrap up a fast-paced night, legendary singer Tony Bennett sang “Smile,” and attendees were able to witness a fireworks show.
