Pete Sampras reacts to former tennis rival Andre Agassi’s book – and he’s not happy!

They had one of the greatest rivalries in the history of men’s tennis playing their first grand slam final against each other at the 1990 US Open and their last 12 years later at the same tournament.

In between, Pete Sampras went on to win seven Wimbledon titles and a then-record 14 major tournaments in all while Andre Agassi became the fifth man in his sport to ever win all four of tennis’s grand slam tournaments at least once and the only one to have also won the Olympic Gold Medal in men’s singles.

But Agassi’s recent best-selling memoir, Open, revealed some of his true feelings about his former rival of whom he wrote: “I envy Pete’s dullness. I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration.”

Sampras finally spoke out on Thursday after being asked about it at a press conference for an exhibition match: “I got wind of a few things that he said about me, and I was a little surprised and a little disappointed. I always felt like Andre and I had risen above taking shots at one another. When I did my book, it wasn’t my way of settling scores or taking shots.”

That could be why Sampras’ book was a snooze and Agassi’s one of the best-written sports memoirs – ever.

While Sampras finished the year ranked number one a record six consecutive times, Agassi saw his ranking fluctuate from number one to number 141 as he battled personal problems including drug use and a lack of motivation at times.

“We were going in two different directions,” Sampras said. “I think he was sort of lost and not sure what he wanted, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. In order to be the best player in the world, tennis has to be your life. It’s a sacrifice, and something I was willing to do and it was something he was willing to do at times. But consistently I was willing to sacrifice more than many.

“You can’t have it both ways. I did it my way, and I have no regrets when I look back on my career that it was just a big focus for me.”