PETE Sampras had the record-setting Grand Slam titles.Andre Agassi had the record-setting affection from the
folks of Flushing Meadows.
Agassi always got New York and New York got him from the start.He barged onto the national scene in August,1986 -a 16-year-old with a mashing forehand, long-flowing,peroxide-blonde locks,and displaying a showmanship befitting his Las Vegas roots.
Considering he created more noise in Flushing Meadows than the planes that used to descend overhead,you ‘d think Agassi had won more than two Open championships,with a winless Flushing record against Sampras.
Through all the slopes of his career,through the girls in his life, from Barbra Streisand,to Brooke Shields,to Steffi Graf,whom he married,through the vanishing of his hair and unseemly denim shorts in which he would play,the Open ‘s love affair with Agassi never waned.
But the noise may stop forever for Agassi at Flushing Meadows after this fortnight.Tomorrow, Agassi ,now 35,will begin his 20th and,quite possibly,last Open.
“Andre transcends a tennis player,” U.S.Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said.”It ‘s a little bit like Jimmy Connors when he got older. The longer he goes,the more crowds are getting behind him.He ‘s had charisma since his early days. It ‘s a flair for the dramatic.He ‘s one of the few players who goes beyond the tennis fan.In New York,the
people coming to the Open,a lot of them are just sports fans.Agassi primed for 20th Perhaps Agassi ‘s response to a
question in Montreal two weeks ago,illustrated why New Yorkers embraced him.After his first match,Agassi said he felt nervous in the early going.
When asked if he really still gets nervous during tour matches after all these years,Agassi said: “It ‘s never old hat when people are taking a day of their lives to come watch you.”
Agassi always wanted to put on a show here and he ‘s never missed an Open since turning pro.Of the three other Grand Slams,Agassi skipped 10 Australian Opens,missed six Wimbledons and didn ‘t play the French Open twice.
“The open has a soft place in his heart,” McEnroe said..”If he had to win one more,I don ‘t know if he ‘d admit it,but it ‘s the Open.”
“When I turned pro,I didn ‘t care for the city or the sports fans of New York,” Agassi said in the new issue of Tennis.”I found myself falling in love with the city and the mentality of the sports fans there.I had to understand
the people first before I could appreciate the city or the fans.”
Agassi always has been a deep thinker.He first was marketed as a tennis rebel.Streisand ‘s remark during the 1992 Open that he plays like “a Zen Master ” deepened the Agassi mystique. But cynics scoffed at his “image is-everything ” commercial campaign when he hawked everything from cameras to credit cards while not putting in the hours on his fitness.How times have changed.In his twilight,Agassi became legendary for running hills under the
scorching Vegas sun.Last month he ended an 18-year alliance with NIKE because it wouldn ‘t get behind his
youth foundation in Vegas that spawned the Andre Agassi College Prep Academy for troubled youths.
“It went from nonexistent to every day,” Agassi said of his workout habits in a recent interview.
Agassi took a swipe at the sneaker giant that once was criticized for the shoddy work conditions for child laborers in sweatshop factories in Asia.”That wasn ‘t something they showed any interest in,” Agassi said,,referring to NIKE about his foundation.”I don ‘t begrudge them. They make great shoes.It ‘s not my place to tell them they need to
care about children.”
Roman Prokes,Agassi ‘s stringer and racket man for 18 years,travels with Andre to all his events. “Some people have that charisma, some people don ‘t,” said Prokes, whose company,RPNY Tennis, designs Agassi ‘s Head racket.”He relates to people anywhere in the world.We were in Dubai a few months ago.His match was the
one always sold out.”
Said Agassi:”I have received more love than I did 20 years ago for sure.”
He won ‘t commit to this being his Flushing farewell.”For four years,I ‘ve had one question or another with the word “retirement ” in it,,” Agassi said..”I ‘ve heard it at 75 press conferences the last 4 ½ years.It ‘s not something I
try to focus on because it takes away from what I want to do.”
Agassi never beat Sampras here, losing to him in three Open Finals and the classic 2001 four-set quarter-final that featured four tiebreakers and more standing ovations.It may have been the highest level of tennis ever played on these grounds.
“They ‘ve had unbelievable matches,but the U.S.Open made it come out stronger because of the energy,” Prokes said.”He ‘s always loved the energy of this city.”
This reporter watched every stroke of Agassi ‘s first professional tournament -in upstate New York -when the then-unknown made jaws drop in July,19 summers ago.Playing in Schenectady ‘s Central Park,Agassi drilled forehand winner after forehand winner in a 6-0,6-1 shellacking of the famed Harold Solomon.
Albany tennis fans knew they were watching tennis ‘ future..Six weeks later,salivating Open officials lavished Agassi with a wildcard.The rest is history.Agassi never became the greatest Open champion,but he was the greatest theater.
U.S.OPEN FLUSHING MEADOWS
Here ‘s a year-by-year look at Agassi ‘s U.S.Open career:
1986 Described by Sports Illustratedas “a proud possessor of the damnedest forehand as well as the most
outrageous tri-colored locks anybody ever blew a Conair through,” 16–year-old receives wild-card entry from the USTA. His Open debut is short-lived as Britain ‘s Jeremy Bates hands him a first-round exit in four sets.
1987 Draws No.11 seed Henri Leconte in the first round,and falls to the Frenchman in a four-set night match on the Grandstand Court.
1988 Arrives as the sport ‘s biggest sensation,gaining rock-star status with his rapid rise to a No.4 world ranking,wavy shoulder-length hair and denim blue-jean shorts.Makes a run to the semifinals,defeating
16-year-old Michael Chang in the round of 16 and 36-year-old J Jimmy Connors in the quarterfinals.Falls to world
No.1 Ivan Lendl in the semifinals.
Creates waves with Connors, boasting after the 6-2,7-6,6-1 victory that he thought he would win the match.”I was
surprised he could hit with me,” Agassi said..
1989 Agassi again meets Connors in the quarterfinals; this time,fends off Connors ‘ furious surge to win a five-
set match for the first time in his career.Falls in the next round,again to Lendl.
1990 Reaches the final for the first time in his career,only to run into the buzzsaw who would become his arch-rival in professional tennis:Pete Sampras.The 19-year-old defeats Agassi 6-4,6-3,6-2 in one of the most impressive
displays of shot-making and power ever seen in an Open final.
1991 Arriving as one of the favorites,Agassi ‘s hopes are dashed in a first-round straight-set loss to Aaron Krickstein. Commits 61 unforced errors in the 7-5,7-6 (3),6-2 loss.
1992 With theGrand Slam albatross off his back Wimbledon,Agassi reaches quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows,where he is dismissed by reigning Australian and French Open champion Jim Courier in quarterfinals.Gains
headlines when Barbra Streisand is part of his support group.
1993 Entering with a host of injuries,a No.16 seeding and Pancho Sequra as his new coach,Agassi is handed
his second first-round dismissal in three years,this time to Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in five sets.
1994 With girlfriend Brooke Shields and new coach Brad Gilbert in tow, Agassi wins his elusive first U.S.Open men ‘s singles title, ironically during a year in which he entered as an unseeded player for the first time in seven years.Knocks off five straight seeded players – including No..4 seed Michael Stich of Germany 6-1, 7-6 (5),7-5 in the final – to become first unseeded U.S. men ‘s singles champion since Fred Stolle in 1966.
1995 Enters the tournament with his first-ever No.1 seed,having won 20 straight matches in a stunning summer run. Stretches streak to 26 and reaches men ‘s final,but nemesis Sampras deals him crushing 6-4,6-3,4-6,7-5
final-round loss.”I ‘d give up all 26 to have that one back,” Agassi said of his streak.
1996 Fresh off an Olympic gold medal from Atlanta,Agassi struggles to find his form in Flushing Meadows,but
negotiates a semifinal showing before suffering his worst Open loss ever,a 6-3,6-2,6-2 drubbing by Chang.
1997 Agassi ‘s only Grand Slam tournament appearance that year ends in a round-of-16 loss after midnight to eventual champion Patrick Rafter of Australia.Fends off retirement talk although his ranking is about to drop
below No.100.
1998 The laconic K Ka ar ro ol l
K Ku uc ce er ra a outlasts Agassi in a
two-day,five-set round-of-
16 clash that is highlighted
by Kucera struggling with
his ball toss on his serve.
Agassi complains to chair
umpire about Kucera ‘s ball
toss and mocks the toss
after the match.
1999 After winning
French Open in May,Agassi
returns to U.S.Open
winner ‘s circle,rallying
from two-sets-to-one down
to defeat T To od dd d M Ma ar rt ti in n 6-4,
6-7 (5),6-7 (2),6-3,6-2 in
men ‘s final for his second
U.S.Open championship.
Attending the match is
Agassi ‘s secret girlfriend
and future wife S St te ef ff fi i G Gr ra af f,
who had retired just one
month earlier.
2000 A listless Agassi,
the No.1 seed and
defending champion,falls
in straight sets to
Frenchman A Ar rn na au ud d C Cl le em me en nt t
in the second round.Defeat
comes just two days after
he reveals that his mother
B Be et tt ty y and youngest sister
T Ta am mi i are both battling
breast cancer.
2001 In one of the great
matches in tournament
history,Agassi and
Sampras lock horns in an
epic quarterfinal in which
neither player surrenders a
service game,with Sampras
emerging victorious in four
sets.”A night like this
makes me realize why it ‘s
so special when you beat
him,because it ‘s not easy
to do,” Agassi said..
2002 Agassi and
Sampras meet in the final
for third time.As with their
previous four U.S.Open
meetings,Sampras emerges
victorious,winning in four
sets in his swan-song
appearance in pro tennis.
2003 Agassi ‘s dream for
a third Open title comes
crashing down in the
semifinals with a four-set
loss to J Ju ua an n C Ca ar rl lo os s F Fe er rr re er ro o
of Spain.The loss not only
dashed Agassi ‘s title
chances,but also his No.1
ranking,which Ferrero
takes over two days later.
2004 In Roger Federer ‘s
first U.S.Open
championship run,34-year-
old Agassi provides the
most resistance to the
unquestionable world No.1,
falling in a five-set
quarterfinals thriller,6-3,2-
6,7-5,3-6,6-3,played over
two days and highlighted by
difficult swirling winds in
the final two sets. Corbis
With wife Steffi Graf and son Jaden Gil
1988
1997
2001
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
Andre and then girlfriend Brooke Shields
