"The sad part is that felt more like relief than a celebration" - When Andre Agassi nursed mixed feelings about his Wimbledon triumph

Andre Agassi reflected on his Wimbledon triumph in 2012, claiming that there was something unfortunate about it. It was the former World No. 1's first out of eight Grand Slam triumphs.

The American entered Wimbledon in 1992 after losing that year's French Open in the semifinals. He reached his fourth Grand Slam final after wins over Andrei Chesnokov, Eduardo Masso, Derrick Rostagno, Christian Saceanu, Boris Becker, and John McEnroe. Here, he faced Goran Ivanisevic and registered a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title.

20 years on from his victory, Andre Agassi spoke to the New York Times about it, initially claiming that the triumph felt more like a relief than a celebration before changing his take.

“The sad part of all of it is that Wimbledon felt more like a relief at that stage of my career than a celebration," Agassi said.

The American then stated that while relief did not trump celebration, it was a major part of what he felt, something he found unfortunate.

“I shouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t say relief trumped it. Relief was a significant component of what I felt, and that is the unfortunate part," the then 42-year-old said.

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Wimbledon 1992 triumph brought an end to Andre Agassi's Grand Slam final losing streak

Andre Agassi at an event in Munich in 2024 (Image Source: Getty)

Andre Agassi entered Wimbledon 1992 having lost his first three Grand Slam finals, two of which came in 1990. That year, the American lost the French Open title clash to Andres Gomez before suffering a straight-set defeat to rival Pete Sampras at the US Open final. Agassi's third Grand Slam title clash defeat came in 1991 when he lost to Jim Courier at the French Open.

Wimbledon 1992 brought an end to the tennis great's losing streak in Grand Slam finals and it was his only triumph at the grass-court Major. His title defense ended in the quarterfinals in 1993 and he reached the semifinals or further on just another four occasions.

The closest Andre Agassi came to winning a second Wimbledon title was in 1999, when he reached the final before losing 3-6, 4-6, 5-7 to Pete Sampras. His last appearance at the London Major came in 2006 when he was seeded 25th.

The American reached the third round of the tournament with wins over Boris Pasanski and Andreas Seppi before losing to eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal.