Andre Agassi’s rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings was anything but conventional, but two big wins against his great rival Pete Sampras confirmed his destiny.
The American first broke into the World’s Top 5 in 1988, but he did not reach the sport’s summit until April 10, 1995. Agassi’s ascent was underpinned by two pivotal changes that he made over the space of 12 months, which paved the way for significant success.
The first was hiring former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert as his coach to start the 1994 campaign. With a new approach to his game, Agassi clinched tour-level titles in Scottsdale and at the ATP Masters 1000 in Toronto before breaking new ground to triumph at his native US Open for the first time.
The second instrumental change came in 1995, when Agassi opted to compete at the Australian Open for the first time. After skipping the first major of the year on eight occasions prior, Agassi won the tournament on his debut, rallying to defeat Sampras in a four-set final, and pull one back in their riveting Lexus ATP Head2Head series (6-8).
In the final of the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami two months later, Agassi claimed another comeback win over Sampras, which ultimately propelled him to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time. After becoming the 12th man to hit the pinnacle, Agassi spent 30 weeks there before he was forced off by Sampras.
“When you’re No. 1, people raise their level and play stronger against you; that’s the downside,” Agassi said in 1995. “But the upside to it is that it’s a little nerve-wracking trying to beat the top guy when you might not get that opportunity again for a long time, so it creates a certain amount of nerves, I think. Either way, you’ve got to win to be No. 1 and you’ve got to win to stay No. 1. If you don’t, it’s not going to last very long.”
Agassi’s success was hampered by a wrist injury in the years that followed, and he dropped to as low as No. 141 in the PIF ATP Rankings in November 1997. Yet the American achieved a spectacular return to the top spot in July 1999 after winning his fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, and reaching the final of Wimbledon.
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