“Andre Agassi kind of pinches on Steffi Graf’s butt”- When Lindsay Davenport spoke out on the couple’s meeting before Wimbledon final
Lindsay Davenport claimed that Andre Agassi pinched Steffi Graf before his men’s singles final at Wimbledon in 1999.
Davenport, who won the women’s singles final by beating Graf 6-4, 7-5 in 1999, appeared on Rennae Stubbs’ podcast in 2018 and spoke about the incident.
She was standing just outside Centre Court alongside the men’s finalists Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras while Graf was being interviewed.
Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, said that while Sampras congratulated her, Agassi was silent.
“Pete, who I had grown up with in the same town, came walking over to me a couple of feet and said, ‘Wow that’s so great, congratulations, I am happy for you’, and I remember going ‘Oh my gosh, thank you so much’, and I remember Andre not saying a word,” Davenport said.
The American added that as Graf walked by, Agassi pinched her on her buttocks. Davenport also mentioned about the Graf’s final tournament, during which, Martina Hingis told her about Agassi’s presence.
“And then Steffi walks by, he kind of pinches her on the butt. I remember going, ‘That’s weird.’ Two or three weeks later, we’re at a tournament in La Costa and Martina Hingis tells, ‘Andre Agassi is here. I heard he went to Steffi’s room’. I’m like ‘What is going on?'” Davenport said.
“And then of course, at the US Open it comes out that they are dating and the rest is tennis legend history,” she added.
Andre Agassi went on to lose the 1999 Wimbledon final 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to Pete Sampras, with the latter claiming his fifth title at the grass-court Major.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have won a combined eight Wimbledon singles titles
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf won a combined total of eight Wimbledon singles titles between themselves. Seven of these were won by Graf herself, who is among the greatest competitors in the history of the grasscourt Major. The 1999 tournament was the German’s final appearance at Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, the only time Andre Agassi won Wimbledon was in 1992, when he defeated Goran Ivanisevic in the final. Agassi’s runner-up performance in 1999 was the best he managed to do in England since then.
The American continued to compete in tennis after Steffi Graf’s retirement in 1999, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2000 and 2001. His last appearance at the grasscourt Major came in 2006, when he reached the third round before losing to Rafael Nadal.
