When the U.S. Open began about two weeks ago, I noticed an article about the U.S. Open with the lead, “Agassi’s Last Hurrah?” Tennis is a funny game. At age 34, in most other sports Andre Agassi would still have a chance at being in his prime. In golf, hell, he’d still almost be a babe. But in tennis, 34 is pretty much geezerville.…
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26 - Alex Rodriguez
Oh yeah and one more thing. Agassi did have a run of extended dominance. 1999-2003. In the 15 GS tournaments Agassi played in between the 99 French and 03 Aussie:
5 Grand Slams
2 GS Finals
2 GS Semis
3 GS Quarters.
60 weeks at #1.
Pete won 3 GS and played in 2 other finals. Hewitt won 2GS, and the other 5 were split between 5 other men. Agassi was easily the best player in the world for a 4 year span, and the numbers bear that out.
Additionally Agassi was a ranked in the Top 5 in the world at age 35, and ranked in the Top 10 as recently as April 17, 2006, at age 36.
Case closed.
27 - Johnny Long
What makes any sports figure great? Not just the way they play the game, but the impact on it. We can argue forever on how many titles he won or lost, so let's put an end to that once and for all. Andre only lost one quarter of his career games. No one ever looks at that, and that is shameful. Most of the time in any tournemant he did not win, he made it to the quarters,semis, or even the finals. He won all 4 grand slam titles at least once, isn't that good enough in itself to be called great? It is in my book. But let us go on to other ways Agassi has changed the sport.
I agree that early in his career he was not as diciplined as he could have been, but his talent was undeniable, and he dared to be different. He made people want to come see him play, something the sport deperatly needed. He attracted an audience that had not watched much tennis before, and inspired young people to want to pick up a racket. Is that good enough to be called great? There's more.
Agassi went from a good player, to a great player when he started working with Brad Gilbert. Like a catipillar turning into a butterfly, Agassi broke out and began kicking butt as he never had before. He showed that if you dedicate yourself to what you are doing and improve yourself, you can achieve your dreams. Is that good enough to be called great? There's more.
After weathering the storm of his marriage to Brooke Shields, He litteraly started at the bottom, playing in matches he hadn't played since he was a kid, when most players would have given up. He became what I consider one of the best athelets in any sport. He could out last any opponent in a 5 set match. You could visibly see other players taking notice, most likely after they went home suffering from cramps after Agassi made them go to every end of the court, because it seemed like he could make the ball go anywhere he chose with deadly accuracy. He became a brillian tactition. He won the Australian, U.S. Open, and the French Open during this last phase of his career, out-lasting every other player of his generation.
Is that enough to be called great? There's more.
The only thing to force Agassi into retirement was siatica. When this was not troubling him, he was still beating guys that were almost half his age. He was also now facing guys that were playing the way he did. In other words, Andre had such an impact on the game he was literally playing himself most of the time. Nadal, Blake, and even Federer ( whether he admits it or not) have all adopted most of Andre's tactics. You can add many other players to that list. Andre may not have won as many titles as Samprass or Federer, and no doubt they are great as well. But Andre's impact on every other aspect of the game will be felt for years to come. Is that enough to be called great? I think it is enough to be called one of the greatest of all time.
28 - Ben Xavier
The Australian Open hasn't been missed by most top player since the 70's or early 80's, when it was the 4th slam of the year and Borg, Connors and (half the time) McEnroe wouldn't turn up unless they could win the year's 'grand slam'. The 'top players' have all turned up (barring injury) since the Lendl/Edberg/Becker era. All the top players were there for Agassi's wins too. To discount his AO slams is beyond ludicrous. I honestly wonder how much you know about tennis.