Adios Andre
The end of an era - is what i felt when Andre Agassi played his last professional tennis match in the 3rd round of this year's US Open. It was inevitable, having already announced his retirement well before the tournament, but nobody was prepared for it - not me, not all the people watching on television, not the capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium, not even Agassi himself. Everyone thought, or rather hoped, that he would stay to fight another day.
In order to maintain an active interest in tennis over the years, every fan needs a favorite player to follow. For me, that player was Agassi ... whom I first saw play during the '90 French Open final - a long haired, ear-ringed, spandex shorted, racket rippin rebel who managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of vicory against veteran Andres Gomez. That time i thought he was just some wannabe who would crash & burn soon after. How wrong was I ... He continued his trend of losing matches he seemed easily in control of for a couple more years which also included 2 grand slam final defeats. Then at Wimbledon '92, of all places (he refused to play Wimbledon till '90 as the dress code did not cater to his "Image is Everything" motto), he overcame ace blaster Ivanisevic in an enthralling final to claim his maiden grand slam title. Since then, he has been my unconditional favorite (2 of my high school buddies can vouch for that).
A change in attitude followed Wimbledon 1992 and "Image is everything" was replaced by "Winning is everything". The loss to Sampras (@$&*%) in the 1995 US Open final seemed to break his bubble and this along with some personal travails resulted in derailing his career once again. But, his rigorous fitness regime, hard work, perseverance and desire to win saw him storm back with a vengeance in '98 (sporting a completely bald look), which he started ranked 141 playing challenger level tournaments and ended ranked 6 ... the Las Vegas showman was back. He epitomized "there is no substitute for hard work" and it was this quality that endeared him to me. Now, he was more humble and gracious in victory as well as defeat. From '98-'05, he played the best tennis of his career & reached 8 grand slam finals winning 5 and also completed the career grand slam by winning all 4 majors, the only player in the open era to do so ... those were good times for me. He finished 2005 ranked in the top-ten for a record 16th time.
Though he did not have a booming serve and played mostly baseline, his short backswing, superb hand-eye coordination & physcial endurance made him a very difficult customer. During this time, he also turned philanthropist and helped many charitable organizations as well as starting a few of his own. He became a role model - younger players looked up to him, not just bcoz of his game, victories and attitude on court, but also off it.
And so, it all came to an end on Sep 3, 2006. That day, I saw a 36 year old man cry before the whole world - tears of joy for what was an amazing journey, tears of sorrow as he bid adieu and tears of hope for tomorrow and the years to come. He exits the game as one of its eldest torchbearers and leaves behind a lifetime of memories for his legion of fans.
In order to maintain an active interest in tennis over the years, every fan needs a favorite player to follow. For me, that player was Agassi ... whom I first saw play during the '90 French Open final - a long haired, ear-ringed, spandex shorted, racket rippin rebel who managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of vicory against veteran Andres Gomez. That time i thought he was just some wannabe who would crash & burn soon after. How wrong was I ... He continued his trend of losing matches he seemed easily in control of for a couple more years which also included 2 grand slam final defeats. Then at Wimbledon '92, of all places (he refused to play Wimbledon till '90 as the dress code did not cater to his "Image is Everything" motto), he overcame ace blaster Ivanisevic in an enthralling final to claim his maiden grand slam title. Since then, he has been my unconditional favorite (2 of my high school buddies can vouch for that).
A change in attitude followed Wimbledon 1992 and "Image is everything" was replaced by "Winning is everything". The loss to Sampras (@$&*%) in the 1995 US Open final seemed to break his bubble and this along with some personal travails resulted in derailing his career once again. But, his rigorous fitness regime, hard work, perseverance and desire to win saw him storm back with a vengeance in '98 (sporting a completely bald look), which he started ranked 141 playing challenger level tournaments and ended ranked 6 ... the Las Vegas showman was back. He epitomized "there is no substitute for hard work" and it was this quality that endeared him to me. Now, he was more humble and gracious in victory as well as defeat. From '98-'05, he played the best tennis of his career & reached 8 grand slam finals winning 5 and also completed the career grand slam by winning all 4 majors, the only player in the open era to do so ... those were good times for me. He finished 2005 ranked in the top-ten for a record 16th time.
Though he did not have a booming serve and played mostly baseline, his short backswing, superb hand-eye coordination & physcial endurance made him a very difficult customer. During this time, he also turned philanthropist and helped many charitable organizations as well as starting a few of his own. He became a role model - younger players looked up to him, not just bcoz of his game, victories and attitude on court, but also off it.
And so, it all came to an end on Sep 3, 2006. That day, I saw a 36 year old man cry before the whole world - tears of joy for what was an amazing journey, tears of sorrow as he bid adieu and tears of hope for tomorrow and the years to come. He exits the game as one of its eldest torchbearers and leaves behind a lifetime of memories for his legion of fans.
posted by amtonio at 3:21 AM
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