By Austin Kelley

updated 5:02 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2008

Tennis giants Roger Federer and Pete Sampras will be facing off on March 10 for the first time ever in the U.S. Inspired by the rare event, presented by Men's Vogue, we give you the biggest battles in sports history.

No. 10: Greg LeMond vs. Bernard Hinault
In 1985, Bernard Hinault was riding to his fifth victory in the Tour de France. He was aided by his 24-year-old teammate, Greg LeMond, who finished third behind Hinault the year before. Hinault built a formidable lead going into stage 14. Then he crashed. When the tour hit the Pyrenees, LeMond wanted to surge ahead. With two black eyes and a broken nose, the team leader was lagging, and the race was wide open. But LeMond's coaches held him back (he says they lied to him). Hinault won that year. LeMond won the next, and the grudge never died.

No. 9: Alydar vs. Affirmed
If it wasn't for Affirmed, Alydar would have won the Triple Crown in 1978. Instead, the thoroughbred finished a close second in all three races. In the Preakness he couldn't catch Affirmed and lost by a neck. In the Belmont, after the lead swung back and forth for a mile and a half, Alydar was nipped at the line by a nose. Altogether the two horses raced ten times. Affirmed won seven of them and raced into history, just ahead of his rival.

No. 8: Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost
Two of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, Prost and Senna won seven World Championships between them. Prost, a Frenchman, was known as "the Professor" for his detached and studied style while Senna, a Brazilian, drove wildly. They clashed on and off the track, even when they were teammates in the late 1980s. In one of their most famous confrontations, at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, Senna deliberately crashed into Prost's car to prevent his rival from getting points. Senna held on to the title.

No. 7: Garry Kasparov vs. Anatoly Karpov
When a young Kasparov first challenged Karpov for the World Chess Championship in 1984, he fell down quickly, 0-4. But he battled back with a series of draws and extended the match to a record 48 games. Officials finally halted the whole thing (Karpov was up, 5-3), fearing that the players had reached an unhealthy state of exhaustion. So began the long struggle between two great champions. Kasparov held the title after 1985, but after four more matches, he was only two games ahead, winning 21 games, losing 19, and drawing 104.

No. 6: Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus
In 1962 Arnold Palmer was a beloved champion sitting on top of the golf world. On the final day of the U.S. Open at Oakmont, near Arnie's hometown of Latrobe, PA, he held a three-shot lead and was about to win his sixth major championship when a 22-year-old upstart came charging. Jack Nicklaus tied the match, then beat Palmer in an 18-hole playoff, ushering in one of the greatest rivalries in sports: Jack, the young, steely clinician, against the affable old Arnie. Golf was reborn for a television audience.

No. 5: Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert

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At the end of each season from 1975 to 1986, either the all-American girl-next-door or the powerful Eastern European was the top-ranked tennis player in the world. Through it all they remained close friends, so it was as much a sense of shared competition as a heated rivalry that made the 1985 French Open final, a see-sawing affair won by Evert, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, one of the greatest matches in history. Altogether the Hall of Famers played each other 80 times, including 60 finals, with Navratilova holding a 43-37 advantage.

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