Publications
Partners
Indian Wells - Old rivalries flared as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi found themselves on opposite sides of the net at the Hit for Haiti fund-raiser for earthquake victims.
The retired pair of all-stars got under each other's skins on occasion on Friday night with verbal jousts as Agassi teamed in one-set doubles with Rafael Nadal and Sampras with Roger Federer with the quartet equipped with headset microphones for what was anything but a hit-and-giggle evening at the Indian Wells Masters.
The Federer-Sampras pairing took the victory 8-6.
Agassi, not particularly charitable with Sampras in his controversial autobiography, got to his former rival again with jokes about the Sampras tightwad tipping tendencies. Sampras answered with a winning service game, reinforcing his career 20-13 record in their head-to-head series.
The pair also tried to imitate the other's serving style to good effect with a sellout audience of 16 000 at the Tennis Garden.
Federer joined in with comments, but Nadal remained more concentrated on his game as partner Agassi forced the Spaniard to hurry his normally leisurely style.
"It was a great night," Sampras said. "It got a little tense. I just want to tell Andre that I love him. He thinks I'm a bad tipper, but I tip very well, trust me."
Federer and Sampras put their big serves to good use in the end to seal the victory.
"I was excited to be here," Agassi said. "To come back and share this moment, to do it for Haiti and what they are going through, it's a pleasure to be part of it."
Federer said he was pleased to have helped inspire the event with his original idea back in January.
The idea for the fund-raiser came to him a few days before January's Australian Open and shortly after the devastating January 12 Haiti earthquake.
Within the space of a day, the Swiss had persuaded event officials to get it organized on the Sunday before the Grand Slam's start, raising $600 000 in earthquake relief.
In the women's match, Justine Henin teamed with Martina Navratilova to defeat Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport 8-6.
Navratilova was the chatty one of the bunch with her conversation dying down as the match between holders of a combined 50 Grand Slam titles turned serious.
The four men had 44 between them, but the addition of Rod Laver as the pre-match coin flipper ran the total to 55.
"It is great being on court with these champions," Navratilova said. "That's what we wake up for. It's not about winning tonight. It's about not being embarrassed in front of 16 000 people."
Henin shook off a second-round loss in the tournament proper to Gisela Dulko to play against her idol Graf.
"This was such a lot of fun and a big honour," said the Belgian, a four-time Roland Garros winner.
Davenport and Graf, both mothers of two, put up a strong effort in defeat.
"It's been fun the last few weeks just practising," Californian Davenport said.
Added Graf, holder of 22 majors: "It's incredible to be out here in this full stadium."
The Indian Wells fund-raiser was backed by the new billionaire owner of the tournament, computer software tycoon Larry Ellison. His Oracle Corp donated $1 million to Haitian earthquake relief.
