California’s Indian Wells (AP)—In an effort to raise money for Haiti, retired tennis greats Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Lindsay Davenport will play a second match alongside current women’s player Justine Henin.
An already announced men’s match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California on March 12 as part of the “Hit for Haiti” benefit will feature retired tennis greats Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Steve Simon, the tournament director, states he hopes to raise at least $1 million to support relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. More than $600,000 was raised during an Australian Open-related event.
Before Sampras retired in 2002, Agassi and he had one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history. Between 1989 and 2002, there were 34 meetings between the American duo, 20 of which Sampras won. Together, the two took home 14 and 8 Grand Slam victories. Federer prevailed in eight of his eleven meetings with Agassi as well as his lone Wimbledon matchup against Sampras in 2001. Although Nadal never played Sampras, he defeated Agassi in both of their encounters.
Federer/Sampras defeated Agassi/Nadal.
The teams needed to win eight games and win by a margin of two games each, or win a tiebreak that would be contested at 7-7, in order to win the one-set doubles match. All four players wore microphones and conversed during and in between points as the game progressed, with deuce points serving as the decisive point.
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