After 20 Years of Punishment... Farewell to the Phenomenal Agassi

By Camilla Mancini

Andre Kirk Agassi has been one of the greatest professional tennis players in history. With a rollercoaster career he had shown to all the tennis world followers what it means to love the sport. For a total of 101 weeks he got to be the No.1 in the World rankings.

Taught by his father, Mike Agassi, Andre started playing at a very young age. At his short 16 he started his professional career and won his first top-level singles title at Itaparica on 1987.

No one ever reached a top-level as fast as Agassi did: in 1988 he won 6 tournaments and by the end of that same year he had earned more than $2 million in prize money, with only 43 tournaments played.

On those first years his image gave a lot to talk about, his long blond scruffy hair and his untraditional for a tennis player attitude and looks started to turn him into a showman and caught the people's attention.

In 1990, the 20 year-old Andre got in to the French Open where he put the press upside down with his rebel outlook; in fact he named for the press, his fluorescent lycra, shirt and headband costume, the "Lycra, hot lava look".

The president of the French and the International Tennis federations back in to those days, Philippe Chatrier, appreciated tradition and soon criticized Agassi's unorthodox clothing, to what Agassi respond: "These bozos will look for anything to talk about. You should see my next outfit, if you think this one's wild... I think you should have freedom to express what you feel. Wearing colors is what tennis needs. Without colors I'd still be me but I'd be more boring."

During these years his rebelliousness against the All England Club's rules about color clothing, kept him out of the Wimbledon Tournament. For three years he insisted that he didn't possessed any suitable attire for the championships, in other words nothing in white color _ the request to all players is to wear only white cloth.

At his 21 he realized that while he was wasting his time with the press, his comrades Sampras, Chang and Courier were passing ahead him taking all the honors away, and leaving him on the back of the row. Therefore he accepted Wimbledon's rules and went to the tournament that same year.

The acceptance to the regulations of the Centre Court gave Agassi his first Grand Slam, after he defeated Goran Ivanisevic in a tight five set final, in his second participation in the Wimbledon Open.

Agassi used a baseline style of play, thanks to his short backswing and excellent hand-eye coordination, he could made contact with the ball ‘inside' the baseline _something really hard to do even for professional players.In fact John McEnroy among others called Andre the best service returner ever to play tennis; Brad Gilbert (coach) also said he was the best ball striker in the history of tennis.

Getting more focus Agassi started to care more about his healthiness and with that advantage began to use a new strategy that consisted on wear down his opponents, making them run too much. For this reason his opponents gave him the nickname "The Punisher".

After a wrist surgery in 1993, he came back feeling and playing better than ever. As a result won his second Grand Slam at the US Open in 1994, after beaten Michael Chang in the quarterfinal and Michael Stich in the final.

Andre also founded during this time the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation created to provide recreational and educational opportunities for at-risk children in Southern Nevada; "I have been very blessed and had many opportunities available to me" said Agassi.

Next year Andre played against Pete Sampras in the Australian Open final, capturing is first triumph on this tournament after a great four set final. That year was probably the best one in his career; he won 72 matches and just lost 10 and for the first time and for 30 weeks in a row got to be World No. 1 in the ranking. In 1996 ‘The Punisher' got the gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics after beating the Spain Sergi Bruguera in straight sets in the final.

However 1997 wasn't going to be a good year. Agassi's love for tennis was apparently being killed by Hollywood's bad publicity. His turbulent relationship and marriage with the actress Brooke Shields, was keeping him away from his career. In November that year his ranking felt down to the World No.141 position and during the entire year didn't won any top-level titles.

During 1998 he began to worry more about his performance and physical condition in the sport competitions. He participated in several events, always trying to get back in the track. By the end of the year he proved what an excellent and dedicated sportsman he turned into. Winning 5 titles in 10 finals and jumping on the rankings from the World No. 141 at the start of the year, to the No. 6 at the end of it; making it the highest leap to the top 10 ever made in history.

In 1999 got divorced after the 2-years-marriage with Shields. One down for love, but great things for his tennis career came along. Agassi beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, this way becoming the fifth man to won the four Grand Slams singles titles. As prove to his adaptability, Andre is also the only one of the quintet who won the four titles in four different surfaces. Plus he reached the final at the Wimbledon Open, where he lost to Sampras and later a second Us Open trophy gave the perfect finale to a World No. 1 Andre Agassi's year.

Keeping a right patch 2000 and 2001 gave him two more Australian Open titles. In addition, during these two years Agassi awarded us with some of his best matches:

2000: what many people regard as one of the best matches ever seen at Wimbledon was the final against Patrick Rafter.
2001: at the Us Open quarterfinals played against his compatriot, Sampras although Andre lost it is considered to be one of tournament's all-time greatest matches.

On October 22, 2001 Andre got married for the second time, with former tennis player Steffi Graf, who dated before his divorce Brooke Shields was over.

In 2002 one more time Agassi took part on the US Open final, alongside with his 'archienemy' Pete Sampras. On this match, that end up being their last duel, Sampras defeated "The Punisher"; after it, Pete stopped participating in competitions and in 2003 he officially retired. Meanwhile Andre's victories at the Miami, the Rome and the Madrid Masters, helped him finish the year as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.

On May 11, 2003 regained the top position in the world rankings, being the oldest player to hold that spot. His eighth Grand Slam arrived that year, in company with 2 ATP Tour titles and an ATP Master Series victory.

With 34 years, won his 17th ATP Masters Series title, the Cincinnati Masters; he won in 7of the nine Masters Series, missing only Hamburg and Monte Carlo. In 2005 he reached his current record of 60 titles, the last one in the ATP Tour in Los Angeles.

During the French Open in 2005 he lost against Jarkko Nieminen for a pain related to a pinched sciatic nerve. He kept playing in several events, but a persistent back injury continued troubling and at Wimbledon when he lost after the three rough sets with Rafael Nadal the media started to speculate about his retirement.

Agassi had a difficult start this year. He was still in recover from his back-leg and ankle pains. After all the suspense, he finally announced this year, on June 24, that the 2006 US Open was going to be his last tournament.

To play this week Agassi needed cortisone and anti-inflammatory injections for the pain, "I take pride in the striving" said Agassi about his situation and his decision to play until the end.

All his fans were wondering on Sunday if he was going to be able to fight back well against the 25-year-old Benjamin Backer. Since despite all the pain he was having and the extra-effort he was making, he made it through before, in his first two matches against Andrei Pavel and Marcos Baghdatis.

As we all know by now our dearest Andre couldn't make it, although he pushed himself to the limit. Agassi was beaten on Sunday by the German, who was defeated the very next day by Andy Roddick.

By the end of the match we saw an Agassi with eyes full of tears as the crowd stand up and applaud him for around four minutes. Among the crowd his wife and kids showed him their support. Also joining the people in the ovation was Becker, who said later to the press: "He was my idol growing up", as he gave his opinion about Agassi.

No one really cared about the scoreboard; ‘The Punisher' gave more than what he was expected to give. He said to his fans in the field: "The scoreboard said I lost today... But what the scoreboard doesn't say is what is I've found..."

I can say for all of his fans as well as for me that we are going to remember Andre Agassi forever, especially for those like me who grew up watching him ascend into the top positions.

His image, the desire of success and the effort, everything he gave us, was and is until today, somehow, inspiring. Even on his first rebel years he fought for what he believed in, when he felt he did all he needed to do to place back in the top, and there's where lays the difference between greatness and mediocrity.

So, farewell Andre and thank you for everything you gave us in these wonderful 20 years!