Former rivals Michael Chang and Andre Agassi discuss Agassi's statements in his autobiography, Open, that he felt it was "ludicrous and insulting" that his fellow American thought God was taking his side against Agassi.
"I beat Chang and savor every blasphemous stroke," Agassi wrote.
Last week, Chang told the Montreal Gazette that he spoke to Agassi a "little about the book. My sense was that he wasn't really positive about a whole lot of things. He was pretty harsh on me, on Pete [Sampras], even hard on some family members, [coach Nick] Bollettieri. I don't know if that was purposeful or not," he said. "It's a little bit odd because I think Andre knows where I'm coming from, and I certainly wouldn't force Christianity down anyone's throat. The strange thing is that we used to have Bible study together early on in our careers If he were to say that now, it wouldn't really make that much sense, because a lot more athletes are more vocal now (about their faith), certainly much more so than when I was playing."
Agassi told the newspaper that he never apologized to Chang, but did explain his reasoning.
"Every time I saw somebody who showed resolve, or showed clarity or showed single-mindedness like Pete (Sampras) or Michael, it really was a mirror to me. That's what I expressed in my book," Agassi said. "Michael, from the outside, always represented the very thing I strove to have in my life, that sense of clarity. ... So now, it's a whole different deal with Michael."