It was a sunny Sunday afternoon on June 6th, 1999, when Andre Agassi defeated Andrei Medvedev in an epic five-setter at the 1999 French Open final. With this incredible win against Medvedev, Agassi became the third man in the Open Era to win a major singles final from two sets down. After hitting the last point in that match, his racket fell on the ground as he raised his arms to the sky and began to sob. “My first feeling was just sheer shock that it was really over.” Later on, while sharing his thoughts about this epic moment in his career, Agassi revealed, “I’ve got to say it was the best moment I’ve ever had on a tennis court, as far as an accomplishment goes.” However, almost 26 years after that epic final, Agassi is all set to grace his presence on the same court where he lived his best moment.

26 years later, but yet again, on a sunny Sunday afternoon of June 8th, 2025, Andre Agassi will grace the court Philippe-Chatrier. Almost 2 weeks after Rafael Nadal’s emotional farewell, the Parisian clay will now bestow the 55-year-old with a special honor at Roland Garros. 

While in 1999, the crowd at the French Open saw Agassi lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy as a winner, this time he’ll lift the Musketeers’ Cup to present it to the winner of the Men’s Singles. On the other hand, Justine Henin will present Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen to either Aryna Sabalenka or Coco Gauff.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only moment of honor for Agassi at the 2025 Roland Garros. The 8-time Grand Slam champion also got reunited with Andrei Medvedev on the TNT Desk, and guess what? Their interaction reflected their love and admiration for each other. They both met two times in their careers; the Ukrainian won their SF clash in New Haven in 1993 before Agassi got the better of him on the bigger stage.

Recalling some of those moments (1999 final) during their recent interaction, Agassi said, “You’re so strangely on an island on a tennis court, but also so uniquely connected. Then you find yourself in the biggest moments of your life. An opportunity to do something you’ve never done. And you have this battle that’s hanging in the balance. Maybe one shot. Maybe one point. Sometimes you feel it’s a matter of luck or of destiny. But Andrei was always one of those players where I could always say to myself, ‘Well shit, at least he won’“

Hearing this, Medvedev added, “Same for me. I think it was the magic of the moment. We knew history was on the line. If Andre wins, he completes the Grand Slam. If I win, I would win the slam everyone thought I deserved to win… if you look a bit back in the career. Because of the mutual respect and also the special thing that happened a few months before Roland Garros in Monte Carlo, when Andre saved my career by giving me some advice, which I used going into Roland Garros.“ He also said, “If you can say that you’re happy to lose to someone, I can say I was happy to lose to Andre. Because he’s the guy I respect. The guy who brought so much flavor and color in tennis. We all respected him. To see him completing the Slam, being on the same stage was a great honor.” 

Nevertheless, after sharing the moment of nostalgia with Medvedev, Agassi also took some time to acknowledge the two contenders of the Men’s Singles at the French Open this year?

Andre Agassi analyzes the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz currently leads the H2H record by 7-4 against Jannik Sinner. Last year, the Spaniard defeated Sinner by 2-6,6-3,3-6,6-4,6-3 in the SF of the French Open. Including that result, it has been 2-1 in favor of Alcaraz on this surface. Before the 2025 Italian Open final, Andre Agassi spoke about what exactly keeps Carlitos slightly ahead against Sinner on this surface. He said, “I look at it like Alcaraz’s upside on anything that is slippery is his chance to be a level or have an advantage over Sinner.”

Even before the 2025 Roland Garros final, Andre Agassi was heard saying, “When I look at Alcaraz and Sinner as the two that have sort of pulled away from the pack, I see advantage Sinner on any surface that is firm underneath. I see Alcaraz having a slight advantage on any surface that I would call slippery. When you look at Alcaraz, he is crazy fast defensively. This is a guy that when you watch him move on a hard court, you’d put him top three in the world in movement, you’d put him, Tommy Paul, and [Alex] de Minaur. Then you watch those same three run on clay, a [more] slippery surface, and you realize the fastest guys’ movement diminishes about 5% but Alcaraz’s only diminishes 1-2%.”

But having said that, in another interview, Agassi showcased his astonishment after seeing Jannik Sinner’s restored strength amid his comeback after three months. “The thing that surprises me the most about three months away was always the movement stuff. For me, it was always the return, it was always the reaction to the ball.” So, the storyline for the French Open is “wide open” at the moment for the American legend, and he claims he’s excited to watch it unfold.