Andre Agassi received another standing ovation at Ashe Stadium last night, this time for his charity work, not his tennis.
During opening-night ceremonies, Agassi, 39, was feted for extraordinary work with his Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas for disadvantaged kids.
“It feels great pulling up to the stadium, not caring how you feel,” Agassi said. “That’s probably the best part about it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come here a little bit tired, a little bit sore, a little bit injured, a little bit distracted. There’s nowhere to hide out there. So I’ve lived and died on this court many times and taken a lot of people with me.”
Agassi, who retired in 2006 with eight Grand Slam titles, played a record 21 straight Opens and was arguably Flushing’s most popular player.
“I’ve shared all my life with New York fans,” the always eloquent Agassi said. “They not only helped me take a harder look at myself, they helped me grow up. At this juncture, I’m ending one sort of time chapter and I’m starting another. New York. So I can leave to New York to scrutinize. I can leave it to New York to nurture.”
Agassi said it shouldn’t have taken so long for Roger Federer being confirmed as the greatest player ever this year by winning his first French Open and topping Pete Sampras with 15 Slams.
“It’s just a pleasure to watch,” Agassi said. “It would have been a crime had he not ever won in Paris. He’s been the second-best clay-courter for five years running. He should have won four or five French Open if it wasn’t for one sort of freakish kid from Mallorca [Rafael Nadal].
“He would have won possibly two Grand Slams. What he’s done in separating himself from the game should be recognized. And the problem was, he wasn’t being recognized.”
As for the lack of American tennis studs after Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters, Agassi said, “We have 300 million people in this country. We got to get the racket into more kids’ hands.”
Ole Miss has a better chance of capturing the college-football national championship than freshman Devin Britton had of winning a set off Federer in yesterday’s first-round encounter. Britton, the NCAA champion, didn’t embarrass himself, getting up a break in both the second and third sets before getting run over by the Swiss Maestro 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 at Ashe Stadium.
Britton, a serve-and-volleyer, bashed a return of serve winner to break Federer in the second set and go up 3-2. But Federer came back to break Britton at love.
“I was pretty excited after the break,” Britton said. “I think I lost 13, 14 straight points after that. I think the nerves came back. I was thinking I’m up a break. This is awesome. Then it only lasted about 30 seconds.”
Brooklyn’s Gail Brodsky, 18, lost her first-round match to No. 20 Anabel Medina Garrigues on tiny Court 6, 6-3, 6-4, before about 300 fans. Ranked 340th, Brodsky got a wild card in to the event. Usually she’s competing in challenger events.
Last summer, Brodsky made the decision to forgo full scholarships from several schools, including from the Ivy League, to turn pro. Harvard was one of the schools she passed on.
“I had offers from many schools and I had a few in mind,” Brodsky told The Post. “I always wanted to play tennis and make it my career. I think it was the right decision for me. Although it’s not working out the way I’d like right now, I am at the US Open. It could be a lot worse.”
Brodsky, who has been training in Melbourne, Fla., hits the ball like a rocket from the baseline but often overhits.
