The Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi rivalry carries over into the argument over the most unexpected US Open champion. Who was better over time, but who was the most surprising winner, too.
Sampras and Agassi combined for seven US Open titles. Both also defied the odds in some of their title runs in New York.
You’ll see both Sampras and Agassi on the list as we celebrate the start of the final Grand Slam of 2026 with a look at the five most surprising US Open champions. You’ll meet an even bigger surprise at No. 1.
Who were the most surprising US Open men's champions?
5. Pete Sampras (1990 and 2002)
Sampras should have been too young when he won the first of his five US Open titles at age 19 in 1990. He should have been too old when he won his last one 12 years later at age 31. Both deserve mention on any list of the event’s most surprising title runs.
If you go by seeding, Sampras was a bigger underdog in 2002 as an aging No. 17 seed with 13 major titles to his credit than he was in 1990 as a promising No. 12 seed who had yet to advance past the fourth round of a major and had just lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
However, if you were an Andre Agassi fan – as I was – you were stunned when a then-relatively-unknown Sampras blasted Agassi in three sets in the 1990 final. You were disappointed – but not the least bit surprised – when Sampras bested Agassi in four sets in the 2002 final for his 14th and final major.
4. Patrick Rafter (1997)
Upsets wreaked havoc in the men’s draw during the first US Open with Arthur Ashe Stadium as the event’s main arena. Rafter, the No. 13 seed, was actually the favorite in the final against unseeded Greg Rusedski. He won in four sets to become the first Australian in 10 years to win a major.
Rafter reached the final with a three-set semifinal demolition of No. 2 seed Michael Chang, who was in position to rise to No. 1 for the first time in his career and was never the same after this event. Rafter’s most competitive match of the tournament was arguably his four-set victory against an out-of-form Andre Agassi in the round of 16.
Rafter turned some heads when he reached the semifinals of the 1997 French Open as a serve-and-volleyer, but few expected him to lift the trophy at that year’s US Open. That surprise run in Paris was the only time Rafter had advanced past the round of 16 at a major in his first 19 tries.
3. Andre Agassi (1994)
Agassi was a fixture in the top 10 from 1998 through 1993, but dropped to No. 32 in the world by February 1994 due to a combination of a wrist injury and inconsistency. His results picked up when he started working with Brad Gilbert as his coach in March.
However, he was still outside the top 20 – and therefore unseeded in an era when only 16 players were seeded at majors – when the 1994 US Open got underway.
Everything clicked for Agassi in New York. The pivotal match was a five-set win against No. 6 seed Michael Chang on Labor Day in the Round of 16. He dispatched Thomas Muster, Todd Martin and Michael Stich in the last three rounds – losing just one set in the process – to become the only unseeded US Open men’s champion of the Open era.
2. Marin Cilic (2014)
I remember settling in front of the television for the Saturday semifinal matches at the 2014 US Open, ready to watch Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer dispatch their opponents and set up a much-anticipated final.
Oops.
Kei Nishikori beat Djokovic. Then Cilic thrashed Federer – his only victory against Federer in 11 tries – to set up a surprise final. Few were there to see it in person when Cilic beat Nishikori in straight sets in a Monday afternoon final.
Cilic wasn’t a complete unknown, but at No. 14 he’s one of the worst seeds to win the US Open. His title run gets bonus points for shock value. No. 14 seeds just didn’t win majors when Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal were at their apex.
1. Mal Anderson (1957)
Anderson took advantage of a time of transition atop men’s tennis. Starting with the 1955 Australian Open, Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall and Lew Hoad won nine of 11 majors. However, all three had turned pro by the summer of 1957 and were ineligible for the US championship in the pre-Open era.
It would be the equivalent of if Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic had all become ineligible for Grand Slams at the same time during the 2010s.
Anderson had an Australian semifinal appearance and a couple of Grand Slam quarterfinal runs to his credit, but there was no outrage that he wasn’t one of the eight seeds for the 1957 US championship.
He took out all three of the event’s top seeds in the final week of the tournament, including a straight-sets win against Ashley Cooper in the final, to become the first unseeded – and still most unlikely - US champion.
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