http://www.ausopen.org/en_AU/index.html
Agassi still No.1 prospect
Sunday, 12 January, 2003
by Tim Brimblecombe
Those on the men's professional tennis circuit hoping that Andre Agassi
will finally start to slow down in 2003 are in for a rude shock according to
his coach Darren Cahill.
The former coach to world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt told the Seven Network's
Talking Tennis that the 32-year-old Agassi is moving faster around the court
than anytime in the past 12 months.
And to make matters worse for the opposition, Cahill says Agassi is
determined to make up for a disappointing Grand Slam year in 2002 that started
by missing the Australian Open due to a wrist injury.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner overcame the injury to peak with the loss
to Pete Sampras in a memorable US Open final and finished the year ranked No.2
in the world behind Hewitt.
"He and Lleyton are going to have a great year again and there's many other
players as well like Safin and Federer and Moya - all these players can push
for No.1," Cahill said.
"It's very open and Andre at his best still believes he's the best tennis
player out there and I still believe he is certainly capable of finishing
No.1."
Agassi has enjoyed a perfect preparation for the 2003 Australian Open by
winning the Commonwealth Bank International at Kooyong for a third time - the
previous two victories at Kooyong in 2000 and 2001 were followed by
consecutive Australian Open titles.
Cahill said Agassi started preparing for this year's Australian just a
couple of weeks after last year's Masters Cup in Shanghai, in November.
"He is fitter now then I've ever seen him," Cahill said. "He's strong and
fit and probably faster around the court than he has been.
"He really needs to feel that his tennis game is ready to take on everybody
at a Grand Slam and he had no better preparation than what he had at Kooyong.
He was pumped up to do well there. He went out, he worked, got the job done
and going into this tournament he is feeling really good."
Cahill, who played in the 1988 US Open semi-final against eventual
tournament champion Mats Wilander while Agassi played Ivan Lendl in the other
semi-final, would love to see Agassi and Hewitt battle in the 2003 Australian
Open final.
"If he (Agassi) can make it through and Lleyton can make it through it's
going to be a great final.
"We saw a couple of games last year - they played an incredible match in
San Jose which was 7-6 in the third and then they played a great match at the
US Open."
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