NEW YORK -- They haven't been the most unforgettable rivalry in the history of tennis, just the one that stays with it, all the way back to a juniors tournament in Northridge, Calif., in 1979, all the way to a thirtysomething U.S. Open quarterfinal on Wednesday night.

	Sampras says he's playing his best tennis of the year.

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will never be remembered as Borg-McEnroe, never Martina-Chrissy. Sampras-Agassi is just the best of this time, and there's no shame there. Just the best of their time.

Everyone has come to the Open waiting to witness the next great thing, the kid with the 140 mph atomic serves and the backward baseball cap, Andy Roddick. Maybe this is going to be his Open at 19, the way it was for Sampras 11 years ago, a 19 year old himself at the time. This just makes Sampras-Agassi something to see on Ashe Stadium court, something to hold tight, because they won't be playing for grand slam championships forever. Forever ends fast in tennis. Thirtysomething is the beginning of the end, even for these two champions.

"It's a different time for Andre and I," Sampras said. "I think people realize that you're sure not gonna be here for the next five years. But, you know, there's a certain appreciation and respect that I feel at least this week with the support I've had from the crowd. There will be a changing of the guard eventually. Not yet.

"But Andy (Roddick) is someone that I think we're all looking at as being the next guy to kind of lead all the other young guys to great things. He's got a lot of potential and a lot of, packs a lot of heat with that serve. So he'll be around."

The other day, Roddick came to the National Tennis Center to honor Sampras. Before Sampras walked to the court for his victory over Patrick Rafter, there was Roddick walking down the hallway with Agassi's coach, Brad Gilbert, on his way to a seat so he wouldn't miss the beginning of the match. Back on the eve of the Open, Roddick talked about the eyes on him in New York, about the changing of the game's great ones, about the stories of him as a savior for American men's tennis from the old men, Sampras and Agassi."

"I'm not going to be a savior," Roddick warned. "All along, I've said that. Nobody can replace the group that just went through. They're probably the best group of players from one country, ever."

	“	It's a different time for Andre and I. I think people realize that you're sure not gonna be here for the next five years. But, you know, there's a certain appreciation and respect that I feel at least this week with the support I've had from the crowd. There will be a changing of the guard eventually. Not yet.  ”
		—  Pete Sampras

He was talking about Sampras and Agassi, because the conversation still begins and ends with them in the majors. Maybe they've gone a year without a slam, but the way they're playing in this Open, something tells you maybe one of them can reach back and do the improbable: Win an Open after his 30th birthday.

This will be the 32nd time they've played on the men's tour, with Agassi winning four of the past five meetings. Agassi beat Sampras 7-6, 7-5, 6-1 in Indian Wells, Calif., in March, and beat him 6-4, 6-2 in Los Angeles in July. It isn't until now, until Sampras won his record 13th grand slam and the pressure was off, that Agassi started to get the best of him.

Sampras had pushed so hard, for so long, it was completely understandable. He was No. 1 for six years, and this just doesn't happen. Players come and go in the rankings, push and pull back, but Sampras never relented. He never had the personal dramas, the burnouts, the soul searching. He just pushed, and pushed, until he wore everyone else out.

Maybe Agassi's won four of five matches on Sampras, but never did Sampras look like he did on Monday beating Rafter. No longer can he be Sampras week to week on the tour, match to match. But he can dig down and deliver the old champion for two weeks at the Open. The great ones always can.

"I think things change," Agassi said. "I think priorities and focuses and eagerness, sometimes the body, sometimes the mind, sometimes the heart (change).

"...I think some day I've seen him not serve as well, other days not move as well. But I've also seen him put it together."

Together, they've never been so human. They've never been so vulnerable. Agassi is the No. 2 seed at the Open, won the Australian Open, but winning Grand Slams consistently on the north side of 30 years is tennis' toughest road to glory. This is too soon to lose a Sampras, an Agassi, out of the U.S. Open, but this is life for the thirtysomething legends. They meet on Wednesday, instead of next Sunday. Ultimately, this is the beginning of the end.

Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for The Record (N.J.) and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at Wojnarowski@northjersey.com.