WATCH : Andre Agassi speaks on what makes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal so special

Andre Agassi the former World No. 1 from USA was part of one of the most fiercest rivalry in tennis which he had with fellow countryman Pete Sampras.

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras met each other 34 times on the court in which Pete emerged victorious 20 times and Agassi 14 times. Both the Americans were always in battle for the top rankings and dominated the entire tennis of 90s. While Sampras won 14 Grand Slams, Agassi won 8 but won all the 4 Grand Slams which Pete couldn’t do as his best run at French Open was till the semis.

Tennis fans were lucky as they did not have to wait for much long post the conclusion of the Agassi-Sampras rivalry as a new rivalry had already started which produced matches of highest level. Swiss Maestro Roger Federer and King of Clay Rafael Nadal had started showing colours of what they were going to do in the coming years on the tour.

Andre Agassi recently appeared as a guest on ‘The Ranveer Show’ an interview hosted by Ranveer Allahbadia on YouTube in which Agassi talked about his auto-biography ‘Open’, The Big 3 of tennis, his learnings from his wife Steffi Graf, Federer-Nadal rivalry and various other things.

Answering a question on what makes Federer and Nadal so special, Agassi explained how every top player brings something special to the game that nobody has ever seen before giving the examples of Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, himself and others,

“When you saw Pete come in, nobody had a serve like him before. It was just remarkable. Everybody had to deal with it. Mine was ball striking, taking the ball early on both sides. Nobody played that way when I came in the game so.” said Agassi.

“When you look at Fed for example, I played him in the finals of the 2005 US Open and there was no safe place on the court. He probably had the best forehand in the world. When he played (Andy) Roddick, he aced Roddick more than Roddick aced him.”

“Then Rafa comes along and brings such enormous spin to the game that it actually changes the rules of engagement.

“Great players always do something that nobody else does” says Andre Agassi

Talking about the things Federer and Nadal changed, Andre Agassi said, “His (Federer) movement was a joke, his hands at net were a joke, his versatility was a joke. He might have had 5 things individually better than everybody on the tour. It’s hard to beat that guy.”

“You have two things with Rafa that clearly stand out to me, because he can hit the ball and it does not inward bounces, that changes position in the court where you can play and off-sets a lot of others. His power of movement, his strength and endurance and physicality is kind of unmatched.

“When you look at all these great players they always do something that nobody else does and that’s what gives them the chance to sit at No. 1 for a period of time.”

Agassi was part of some of the biggest rivalries during his 2-decade long career and like all other tennis fans considers himself lucky enough to witness the great Federer-Nadal rivalry.

In a press conference in Paris on Sunday Rafael Nadal was asked what he did after his wedding with his longtime girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello on Saturday October 19. The Spaniard said: “I played a charity exhibition in Kazakhstan for my foundation.

Novak came to Kazakhstan to play for my foundation. So that was — I can’t thank him enough. So have been great feelings. But obviously after the wedding I have the Sunday off. And then Monday, Tuesday, practice; Wednesday, flying to Kazakhstan; and Thursday late night here.

I take my weeks off during the season, and we decided that well. And in the world of tennis, you have to find your priorities, and we decided the way that we wanted to do. We take our time off before the wedding, and now is the moment to be back on the tour.”

On his schedule looking to the next weeks, Nadal concluded: “My program, everybody knows, is here, London, and Madrid. But as always, depends on how I feel.” Meanwhile the defending champion Karen Khachanov said: “It’s great to be back in this place, everything has started at a top level.

It was like a turning point when you beat four top ten players winning my maiden Masters 1000. It’s been one year, it looks like yesterday, it goes fast, a lot of things happen, it’s a long journey and this year at the beginning it was not so great but overall it was a good and positive season. You always expect something bigger than yourself but it could be worse and it’s about improvement.”

Roger Federer rarely shows up in Swiss public streets in Zurich where he lives. Last month the Swiss player had a photoshoot with Mercedes-Benz on the street and fans were watching him around taking also photos with Federer, who appreciates their support a lot.

‘Here almost everyone knows who I am but they are always calm’, the Swiss said in a recent press conference. ‘There was a time of my life when I tried not to make myself get recognized from other people. I went to the supermarket wearing sunglasses, hat, scarf.

Almost like it happens in movies! It was a short time to be honest because I was not that comfortable with it.’ The writer David Foster Wallace described seeing Federer as a “religious experience”. Can it be stressful? ‘Obviously.

Especially because I am aware that it will last until I am able to win. One day even my figure will not be so much at the centre of attention.’ Is he worried by it? ‘No. I worked with Stefan Edberg and he was my idol since I was a kid.