The two met in the semifinals of the 1998 US Open, where Sampras was slowed in the third set by a leg injury and called for a trainer, and Rafter broke Sampras twice in the deciding fifth set. Sampras's loss denied him the chance to match two records—Jimmy Connors' mark of five U.S. Open titles and Roy Emerson's record of 12 Grand Slam singles titles. Sampras cited a leg injury as the reason Rafter won, an attitude that upset the Australian: "He really does say some funny things at the wrong time", said Rafter, "We are out there busting our guts and he doesn't show a lot of respect at the end of the day. He tries to play down the reason why he lost, giving no respect to the other player, and that is what really upsets me about him and the reason I try to piss him off as much as I can." Following Rafter's successful defense of his 1997 U.S. Open title by defeating Mark Philippoussis in the 1998 final, when asked about Sampras' earlier comments about having to win another Grand Slam in order to be considered great, Rafter replied: "Maybe you can ask him that question, if he thinks that now. For me, I won another Slam, and it hasn't sunk in yet. It's very, very exciting for me, especially to repeat it". For his part, Sampras said about Rafter, "When I see him holding the US Open trophy, it pisses me off." Rafter responded by calling Sampras a "cry baby" and saying that it would be better for tennis if someone besides the American were No. 1. Some had suggested at the time that the Sampras-Rafter feud was inflamed by the media since Sampras' traditional rival Andre Agassi was still in the midst of a comeback from injury.