http://www.atptennis.com/en/newsandscores/news/2004/agassi_tmc.asp
STARS OF 2003
December 22, 2003
Andre Agassi and the Last Crusade
Andre Agassi has enthralled tennis fans for almost two decades with one of the
most compelling careers the game has seen. And, when the time comes, Agassi旧
style will be to leave with a bang. By JO SIRMAN.
And then there was one. Man by man they have all stepped down, the other great
Americans of his generation. Jim Courier was the first to go back in 2000, and
after a year of soul-searching, Pete Sampras bowed out at this year's US Open.
Michael Chang made his scheduled farewell to the circuit at the same event.
Leaving only Andre Agassi.
Andre Kirk Agassi is, at 33, the oldest of the gang of four who dominated the g
ame for more than a decade. He was the oldest singles player to contest this ye
ar's Tennis Masters Cup by six years. He is the oldest man to have held the No.
1 Entry Ranking. Who would have thought that, when he turned professional at t
he age of 16, one of the many superlatives that would attach itself to his name
would be 裵ldest'?
So Agassi's story continues to fascinate, and his iconic status grows. For 17 y
ears the world has followed his transition from teenage rebel to household name
to respected spokesperson for his sport, through his rise to the top of the ga
me, his plunge down the rankings, and his climb to the pinnacle again. It now w
aits to see how the final chapter will play out.
It became clear at the start of 2003 that Agassi was not done yet. He arrived a
t the Australian Open having gone two years without winning a Grand Slam title,
but any doubts about his ability to claim an eighth were swept away by his com
manding performance there. He lifted his fourth trophy in Melbourne, this time
for the loss of just one set, defeating Rainer Schuettler 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in the
most one-sided Grand Slam final for nearly 19 years.
All this, and it had been almost 31 years since any man as old as Agassi (he wa
s then 32 years, 272 days) had won a Grand Slam tournament. Rather than showing
signs of tiring, the challenge of pushing back the advancing years seemed to b
e spurring him on. 絶or me, it's about challenging myself, pushing myself. I ca
n live without the competition. I can live without the hard work. But I can't l
ive without knowing what it feels like to try to accomplish something that I qu
estion if I can.?
After Australia, Agassi stormed through the first part of this year, playing ?a
s has been his way in recent years ?sparingly, but to great effect. By the end
of April he had won four tournaments, adding the Siebel Open in San Jose, the N
ASDAQ-100 Open Tennis Masters Series event in Miami and the US Men's Clay Court
Championships in Houston to his collection. More seemed a foregone conclusion.
But then his title campaign stalled.
Surprisingly, after Houston, Agassi did not reach another final all season befo
re the Tennis Masters Cup, although two ATP semifinal appearances, another at t
he US Open, and a quarterfinal finish at Roland Garros, all from six events pla
yed post April, can hardly be deemed a failure. He had not played competitively
since the US Open, choosing to sit out the last eight weeks to be around for t
he arrival of his second child, daughter Jaz Elle, born in October.
Houston and the Westside Tennis Club was kind to Agassi in 2003, notwithstandin
g his straight-sets loss to Federer in the final of the Tennis Masters Cup. Not
only did he win his last title there, but that title led him to the No. 1 Entr
y Ranking for the fifth time in his career. He ended Lleyton Hewitt's 75-week s
tay at the top and, at a day short of 33 years old, became the oldest man ever
to hold the No. 1 ranking.
Just as significantly, Agassi's performance in Houston in April was a victory f
or age over youth, achieved with a defeat of Andy Roddick in the final. Much ha
s changed since then though; Agassi went on to suffer his first loss to the you
nger American at Queen's Club, and the next three Slams were to go to men whose
average age was 21 years, eight months, nearly 12 years younger than Agassi is
now.
The eight-times Grand Slam champion has succeeded in driving back time's winged
chariot so far, but how long can he repel the younger players snapping at his
heels? His performances against and alongside the likes of Roddick, Juan Carlos
Ferrero and Roger Federer in 2004 will be a factor in how much longer he stays
in the game. Following the retirements of Chang and Sampras in New York, Agass
i's reign as the only active American man to have won a Grand Slam tournament w
as short-lived, as the mantle was assumed by Roddick, now under the guidance of
Agassi's longtime coach Brad Gilbert. The symmetry will not have been lost on
Agassi.
Earlier on at the US Open, Agassi had said, 戦 don't think any athlete really h
as an idea of how things are going to end for them. For me, like I've addressed
before, I feel a strong sense of obligation to this game for everything it's g
iven to me.?That sense of obligation prompted the creation of the Andre Agassi
Charitable Foundation, which in 10 years has raised more than $23 million to cr
eate educational and recreational opportunities for underprivileged, abused and
abandoned children around Agassi's home in Las Vegas.
The Foundation is sure to play a significant part in Agassi's retirement plans,
although they were still on hold following his last match, when he lost to Fer
rero in the US Open semis. 戦 just got to go back to work. Something would have
to change drastically for me not to be back.?
So for now Agassi is still challenging himself, still setting the standard for
his fellow players. But there are clues as to how he will eventually go, since
he has said, 戦t wouldn't be my style to sort of carve something out, do a fare
well plan. That wouldn't be my thing.?It seems more likely - and more in keepin
g with the Agassi story - that he will emulate wife Steffi Graf, who took her l
eave at the top of the game in the wake of a last Grand Slam title at Roland Ga
rros.
Which suggests there is more to come. However he writes the final chapter, for
the time being Agassi is still in the hunt, and will continue to fascinate us
all until the end.
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