"Tell your boy he has a couple of beatings coming from me" - When Andre Agassi "made promise" to Yevgeny Kafelnikov's coach after Montreal SF defeat

Andre Agassi once said that he promised Yevgeny Kafelnikov's coach that the Russian would get a few beatings from him.

The two locked horns in the semifinals of the 1999 Canadian Open (then known as the du Maurier Open), and Kafelnikov made easy work of Agassi, winning 6-1, 6-4 to book his place in the final, where he would lose to Thomas Johansson.

The American wrote about the match in his book "Open: An Autobiography", saying that he was being "disenfranchised" by Kafelnikov.

"Playing in Montreal, in the semis against Kafelnikov, I can’t win a single point. He’s number two in the world and he puts a beating on me that causes people in the stands to cover their eyes. I tell myself: 'I have no say in the outcome of this match. I have no vote about what’s happening to me today. I’m not just being defeated, I’m being disenfranchised,'" Agassi said.

Agassi stated that he saw Kafelnikov's coach in the locker room where the latter was smiling. The American then promised the coach that Kafelnikov would receive a few beatings against him.

"But I’m OK. In the locker room I see Kafelnikov’s coach, Larry, leaning against the wall, smiling. Larry, that was the sickest display of tennis I’ve ever seen. 'I’m going to make you a promise. Tell your boy he has a couple of beatings coming from me,'" Agassi said.

Andre Agassi leads 8-4 in the head-to-head against Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Andre Agassi with Evonne Goolagong Cawley at the 2024 Australian Open

Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov locked horns on 12 occasions, with the American leading 8-4 in the head-to-head between the two. Their first encounter came in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters in 1994, where the Russian won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Kafelnikov led 4-2 in the head-to-head after their semifinal encounter in Montreal in 1999 but Agassi won all the matches against him since then. These included two semifinal wins at the US Open and the ATP World Tour Championships in that very year.

The most notable match between the duo came in the 2000 Australian Open final, which Agassi won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. That year, they also locked horns at the Tennis Masters Cup (now known as the ATP Finals), where the American won 6-1, 6-4.

The last encounter between the two took place in the third round of the 2003 US Open, with Agassi winning 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-4.