12/21/24
May 14, 2003
Agassi is oldest men's pro tennis #1.: At 33, an age when most men's tennis players are chasing shadows or retiring, Agassi is playing his best tennis. He just came back from one set down to beat 23-year-old Andy Roddick in Houston and regain the number one ranking. How long will Agassi hold on to #1? He'll have to contend with challenges from men's tennis's answers to Venus and Serena: "America's brightest hope" Andy Roddick and "The nicest man in tennis" James Blake.
posted by worldcup2002 to tennis at 02:25 PM - 11 comments
As an impressionable young kid, I loved Agassi's game in the early 90s, it was all the flash that drew me in. The opening stance, the swinging vollies, standing 3 feet inside the baseline, I loved it all. It's cool though, that as I got older, he's game matured to match pretty much. I don't think the #1 ranking means too terribly much to him these days, it's a nice perk, but I'm sure he just wants to win as much as possible, especially the grand slams. He should win at least a couple more before his career is over with (either/and US/Aussie).
posted by corpse at 03:02 PM on May 14, 2003
To go with his four Australian wins, Agassi has won two U.S. Open titles and once each at Wimbledon and the French Open. Sampras, Agassi's peer, has the Grand Slam record with 14 titles, but has never won a French Open. And I think he's never going to do it. Can Agassi win six more Grand Slam titles?
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:13 PM on May 14, 2003
I always hated Agassi back in the early 90's, I'd much rather cheer for a player like Stefan Edberg. But now I love watching Agassi play. His play is much more solid now, and he doesn't win every damn match 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 (on serve throughout, but with one break) like Sampras. Andre and Steffi's kid could be scary good!
posted by emoeby at 03:19 PM on May 14, 2003
I too couldn't stand Agassi back in the day. "Image is Everything" he said, and I believed him, and his image sucked. But when he dropped down to #134 in the world or whatever, and was written off by everybody, and he went and shaved his head and rededicated himself and came back, storming past Courier and Chang and Moya and all the other pretenders to the throne, well he certainly won my respect. A few years ago Agassi and Sampras were peeved when the ATP came out with the "New Balls Please" ad campaign, basically introducing a fresh crop of players who were "young, good-looking, charismatic, and wildly talented." Sampras and Agassi were upset enough that the ATP responded with an ad campaign for the elder statesman entitled "Dream on, boys". Dream on, indeed. Congrats, Andre.
posted by vito90 at 03:36 PM on May 14, 2003
Agassi is the best. Sampras is still good, but oh so dependably boring. All the young 'uns, well, I guess this post is a response to the fact that I don't really know or care about any of the new players. They all seem to blend into one gray faceless clump. Which probably explains why I actually pay more attention to women's tennis. Where's the fun, where's the fire in the men's game? Now, all the joy I'll get is watching an "old-timer" (who's still younger than I) smacking away the rapscallions. What I wanna see is some alpha males wailing away at each other, screaming at the line refs and ump, running all over the court until they're drenched in sweat, and their hamstrings have turned to rock. Where's Borg v McEnroe? Where's Connors? Where's Becker v Cash? Chang v Edberg? Maybe Agassi can start talking trash while he's putting away the service return winners and down-the-line zingers.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:48 PM on May 14, 2003
Agassi's too cool to talk trash. He's like Larry Bird. He's muttering about your mama to you sotto voce but sweating out every point. The older I get, the more I love seeing the veterans upstage the upstarts. He seems hungry as ever and not ready to concede a point, set, or match. He hasn't had to worry about money for over a decade. He will be remembered in the classes of Jordan and Gretzky.
posted by vito90 at 10:13 PM on May 14, 2003
Yeah, he wore neon to Wimbeldon. Yeah, he had a mullet. Yeah, he shaved his head. Yeah, head had an ear ring. How stuffy was everyone to care about this crap? The guy has the best return in the history of the sport, period. And with the men's game being dominated (or atleast over run) by all-serve no-style 6' 10" players, its been great to see him take those serves and blast a return to the opposite court, just wide enough the guy standing there can't make a play for the ball. The Return Ace. He practically invented it. And for that, even neon pink shirts and a dyed mullet are sufferable. Besides, he married one of the best bodies in sport. Oh Yeah!
posted by garfield at 10:24 AM on May 15, 2003
I'm with garfield. Well played, sport!
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:04 PM on May 15, 2003
Where's StarFooker and his Anna pics?
posted by worldcup2002 at 02:40 PM on May 15, 2003
Roddick and Blake
