"The idea of losing scares me, and the thought of winning scares me nearly as much" - When Andre Agassi felt 'sick' before French Open final

Andre Agassi said that he felt sick the night before the 1999 French Open final and was scared about both losing and winning the match.

Agassi entered the tournament seeded 13th and booked his place in the final following wins over Franco Squillari, Arnaud Clement, Chris Woodruff, then-defending champion Carlos Moya, Marcelo Filippini and Dominik Hrbaty.

In the title clash, he was to face unseeded Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev and wrote about the night before the match in his autobiography "Open".

Agassi stated that he shut off the TV in his hotel and felt sick going to the window as he thought about the past months and years.

"It’s the night before the final and I’m sitting in my hotel room, watching TV. I shut it off. I go to the window. I feel sick. I think about this last year, these last eighteen months, these last eighteen years. Millions of balls, millions of decisions," he wrote.

Agassi added that it was his final chance to win the French Open and while he was scared of losing, the idea of winning scared him almost equally.

"I know this is my final chance to win the French Open, my final chance to win all four slams and complete the set, which means my final shot at redemption. The idea of losing scares me, and the thought of winning scares me nearly as much. Would I be grateful? Would I be worthy? Would I build on it—or squander it?" Agassi wrote.

Andre Agassi produced a stellar comeback from two sets down to beat Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and win his only French Open title. The American thus completed the Career Grand Slam.

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Andre Agassi won 51 matches at the French Open

Andre Agassi and Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Australian Open 2024

Andre Agassi won 51 out of 67 matches at the French Open, with the 1999 win being his only title at the clay-court Major.

The American also reached two finals in Paris in 1990 and 1991, losing to Andres Gomez and Jim Courier respectively. In the 21st century, Agassi suffered a second-round exit at the French Open followed by three quarterfinal defeats from 2001-2003.

Andre Agassi's last two appearances at the clay-court Major came in 2004 and 2005 when he suffered opening-round exits. He lost to French qualifier Jerome Haehnel in 2004 while being beaten by Jarkko Nieminen in 2005.