He may not be as gifted as roger federer who is all set to write history book, he may not have won as many grand slam as sampras but for me agassi is an idol in tennis. He maintained his cool even in tense of situation and always defied his age.
Personally i believe he is better than sampras and behind federer on his contemprory because unlike sampras he didnt have any favourite grand slam. He won all the grand slam and continue to trouble much younger and fitter player with his superb gameplay.
Your back problem has limited your game but we all know what you are capable of.
I hope to see you young agassi or steffi soon on tennis court in a decade. miss you always .
true fan
i have grown up watching him...to me, the best tennis player ever. a great player and an equally great sportsman and a human being. hats off to you andre!!
i have always admired his style of play (baseline)...i preferred him to sampras coz sampras was more of a serve/volly player. i have found andre more articulated and ia better mproviser..and his service return ability had me in awe time and again!
I was watching that last match of his and his farewell speech. he could not hold his emotuon and neither could i. i cried for few minutes!
Good Bye Andre! But you will be in our heart forever!!!
LooTe
one reminiscence!
it was the final of Wimbledon 1991 (i was a small kid then ...well not so small but a kid anyways hehe). agassi met goran ivanisevich in the final. goran was more of a power player. he had one of the nastiest serve...hehe. the lefty had such a quick evasive action while serving that lot of the good players would fail to decipher whether its coming in or going away...phew!! nasty server...hehe
agassi, on the other hand was the best returner of the service, the game has ever seen and hence outsmarted goran several times. agassi won the match and hence his first ever title. i thought then, hell yeah..."a new star is born"! :)
more about him later....
Andre's fan
LooTe
Thanks Bidhan816/2 for the thread on Agassi!!!
Indeed, Agassi is a role-model for us, a new generation. And I truly believe he has a true sportsmanship than many players so far. I agree with Loote that he is not a new breed of serve-and-volley players as Sampras or many of his generation, but sure he is one of the best baseline player so far. I had always admire his personality and game. I grew up watching him playing on clay,grass or hard-courts. What I was fascinated of him was his rebellious nature at the beginning and his coolness in his later years.
The most dignified quality of him is he did not retired as many other top players who ended their careers at their pinnacle- rather he fight and enjoyed the game till the end of his caree, which to me is the true sportmanship and a true fighter...
True Legend....!!!
WoW Loote-dawg.... You remember everything even you were a tiny kid, eh???
I remember that game against Goran. Goran's service took him to the final that year. But I guess some years later, Goran won the championship at grass court, right??? Anyway, he deserves it too.
haha quest, if i like someone, i remember everything of him/her. :P.
well, goran too was a favorite player of mine. he won the title in 2001. i admired him..he was a cool chap. do you know he went to navy after retiring from tennis...hehe
LooTe
loote ko memory power ta kasto khatra...i only remember pete sampras crying in the middle of the match of australian open when his coach died of cancer....i was great fan of pete...i didn't like when his old girl friend was always in the match...later on his cute girlfriend was there for him....
One of my favorite Tennis players.
Watched his first ever grand slam Title. When he cried on the court.
Watched him growing long hair to getting Bald.
Watched him with Brooke Shield.
Watched him with Steffy Graf. (My fav. Tennis player, female)
One good player and a good person.
GOOD BYE Agassi!!
As a rowdy kid in early twenties playing for money and fame.
Later as a mature, gentle and calm one playing for the game.
I admired him as a tennis player and even more as a man who didn't give up.
ss74K, so you remember that match against Jim Courier, eh???
I found that game more melo-dramatic during that final. He was perfectly fine and playing fine, but once Jim was giving him a hard time, then all of a sudden he started crying like a baby (commentators and audiences were blindsided by his emotional feeling for his coach), and that poor Jim Courier, he finally become so soft-hearted to give all those free points to Sampras. Sampras was a cool players, but he sometimes was very dramatic on the games.
Everything is fair in love, war and game- I guess....
That was one of the dramatic match I have ever witnessed....
Loote Dawg....
What do you think??? I remember everything of a person whom I like as you do DAWG (Yes indeed he serve for the country)... I even remember that beautiful nurse when I was just a few minutes old... He he he... Just a joke hai....
sunnydev spoke my mind in two lines...yeah, that's what andre is about.
pete definitely has more wins against andre but i have always admired the latter because of the great spirit and baseline techniques he was equipped with. Pete was more powerful a server and a great volleyer, whereas andre's game was about placing, improvisations and inexhaustible rallies--which makes tennis more worth to watch, in my view.
other than that, i liked the spirit of the fighter in agassi. he would not give up until the game is over. he has won so many games in five setters...sometimes he would come back after 2 sets to 0 down and down with a double match point in the third!! now that takes a lot from a player for a come back from that position. Andre has done that in numerous occasions.
great player--a legend!!
here's a video of the australian open 95 final between andre and pete. enjoy!
LooTe
Quest, The match that u are talking about was the match when Sampras got the word about the medical result of his coach during that match. He became emotional to know that his coach had cancer.
Nobody even comes close to the great Sampras- 14 grand Slams. And on top of that, he held number one position for 6 consecutive years. And that is awsome.
Rein Bandhu, thanks for such a diligent effort of giving me the details of that scenario.
Pal, I know the entire details. I am sure it was not during that match he got the news, perhaps he got that sad news prior the championship match. I understand Sampras's feeling at that moment as he had a strong friendship with his coach. And obviously it had reached its saturation point during that match.
I don't deny the fact that Sampras is a fine player- he is an excellent player, but sometimes "LUCK" has lot to do with one's success along with the hard work.
I am glad that there are plethora of Die-Hard Tennis fans here in Sajha.... Good to know...
Kudos to Sajha Tennis Fan Club.....
Quest bro, yes luck sometimes helps you to achieve certain things, but only sometimes. If you say that you win 14 grand slams (a record) and hold number one position for 6 straight years with luck, then, well, I can just laugh at such comment. No offense.
I like the players who do things and talk less like Sampras. I like players who gracefully exit from the game without hanging in there till they get old with mediocre performances. After Sampras, my next favorite players are Evan Ledl and Stefan Edberg. Roger Federer has a great potential and I believe he can set many records if he stays fit for some 6/7 years to come. Lets see that.
I always liked Andre, his baseline plays and his spirit towards the game. He is always there out on the court smiling and fighting. One of the best players in the modern era has retired relinquishing his 21 years of superb tennis career, winning 8 grand slams and numerous ATP titles. He will always be regarded for his baseline domination and his service returns that inspired generations of young tennis stars. Andre is someone a young player can look into and be inspired and model himself. His match against the world number one Federer in last year's US Open proved that he can equal todays generation's number one player, dominating him for much of the final and succumbed to a defeat that was admired by Roger himself, calling him one of the greatest player to walk into the tennis court. Good luck to him for the rest of his life.
14 grand slams, no.1 for six years...BUT POOR SAMPRAS, couldn't win french open once :), just shows his greatness.....The way federer is going, sampras's record will be trivial in a few years' time.
Idolizing Edburg, Becker and Ivanesevic while growing up, I didn't have much inclination towards Agassi, until he plumetted down to 200 in the rankings, took time off for a year or so, and then came back right at the top. I think that was inspirational for anyone who thinks life doesn't give you a second chance. Above all, it was only fitting that he got off Shields and got approval from the Tennis Queen. That makes him a much appreciable person now :).
A legend, no doubt! I too am an avid fan of him. His style, body language, cute innocent look (don't get me wrong here) and more importantly his class, elegance and baseline techniques will always be cherished in time immemorial.
I don't think we really can compare Agassi with Sampras. They were completely different players. Baseline play, superb service return and placments were Agassi's assets while Sampras had a great service action (probably the best ever) and equally superb volleys. His backhand was a killer. If you play with Sampras, you don't want to let him open up with his backhand or else he will kill you!
Agassi won all the grand slams whereas Pete could not manage the French which I am sure will remain as a scar in his otherwise scintillating career. All in all, both were class players in their own rights.
Just like they say "Behind every successful man is a woman", Agassi's career marked a remarkable comeback after a sudden downfall, once he got Steffi Graf as a life partner.
Talking of tennis, I cannot forget the name of John McEnroe, one of the most controversial players in the court. Although I could not watch many of his games, the few that I did were worth remembrance. His infamous catchphrase "You cannot be serious!" directed to the refree in one of the wimbledon matches was quite comical and interesting. There was this another match where he literally bullied and knocked over the refree. The poor refree could not retaliate but had to listen to John's gibberish. "You are wearing a sun-glass Mr., how can you see the white line?". His response to the refree's over-rule. :). Interesting character he was. The swedish B'jorn Borg was his arch rival for many years.
Aww....I am feeling so nostalgic. Let me take a sip of coffee! :)
