The spotlight has been chasing Australian Open junior champion Yuki Bhambri all through 2009. The 16-year-old has become quite adept at dealing with cameras thrust into his face and endless questions thrown in his direction. Usually, he comes up with exactly the right answers, but for the moment, the Delhi player seems to be short of words to describe his thoughts on playing with two former legends of the game.

Bhambri, along with another junior, Ryan Harrison of the United States, has been chosen to play with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in the Venetian Macao Tennis Showdown, an exhibition event this October. “I’ll have to be there to believe it. I think I still wouldn’t believe it if I was right there with them,” says Bhambri, speaking to The Indian Express from Kuwait, where he is taking part in a men’s Futures event. “You dream of watching them play, but to actually play with them is huge.”

Watching world

The world will be watching, along with a crowd of nearly 15,000 at the Cotai Arena, as Agassi and Sampras face each other for the first time since the US Open final in 2002 when Sampras let four sets of tennis do the talking. Before that, Bhambri and Harrison will play a 45-minute timed match, but the moment which will be deemed unforgettable in Bhambri’s experience will follow right at the end — a doubles match with either Sampras or Agassi in his team.

There has always been a rather sharp divide between followers of the game when it comes to a choice between the calm, composed serve-and-volley game of Sampras and the baseline play of Agassi, the entertainer.

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