Posted on Sun, Aug. 28, 2005
Andre Agassi blows kisses to the adoring crowds after his victories.
• Then & now with Andre Agassi
• About the U.S. Open
SUNDAY FOCUS
Transformed and enduring
Andre Agassi has gone from young brat to beloved legend, and he remains a U.S. Open contender at age 35.
BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
[email protected]
Andre Agassi crashed the tennis establishment two decades ago, a bratty 16-year-old from Las Vegas who shunned country-club whites for denim shorts, neon spandex biking shorts and a bleached-blond mullet that was better suited for a Bon Jovi concert than the hallowed courts of Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
''Image is everything,'' he declared in Canon camera commercials. Nike anointed him the coolest thing in tennis. Never mind that he had poor work habits, a potty mouth and irritated opponents with his histrionics.
Tennis purists complained he was more style than substance, a fad that surely would pass. ''A haircut and a forehand,'' in the words of then-No. 1 Ivan Lendl.
Twenty U.S. Opens, four U.S. presidents, and a few reincarnations later, Agassi is perhaps tennis' most beloved legend, the consummate gentleman and among the most generous philanthropists in all of sport, raising more than $24 million for disadvantaged youth.
He is 35 and bald now, married to fellow legend Steffi Graf, and the doting father of two children. With the help of cortisone shots to ease his ailing back, he is still in the mix heading into the 2005 U.S. Open, which begins Monday.
His wife and his peers -- Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang -- are well into retirement. Agassi is still out there with his pigeon-toed shuffle, lethal forehand and lightning reflexes, grinding down opponents, giving no hint this could be his last Open.
''I've said for a long time that I'm going to play this sport as long and as hard as I can,'' he said at a news conference two weeks ago. ``I don't know how long that's going to be, but I'm going to give back every bit it's given to me, or at least retire knowing I couldn't do more. It would be great to win [the Open], but I have no interest in putting a nice little bow around my career and handing it over to anybody.''
He dresses conservatively these days, has transformed into a fitness freak, is fastidious about everything from his diet to his string tension and ends every match with respectful bows and heartfelt kisses for his fans. This is the same guy who once forgot to bow to the Dutchess of Kent on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
His faithful followers have been along for the ride as Agassi went from No. 1 to No. 141 to irrelevant and back to No. 1. They've been there for all the haircuts, his unlikely friendship with Barbra Streisand, his marriage to Brooke Shields and subsequent divorce, his sweet romance with Graf and the birth of their children.
''Andre did something so many professional athletes never do,'' TV commentator Mary Carillo said. ``He grew up. He became a grown-up. It's been fun to watch, because we all saw him as the young guy, dripping with talent and earrings, and then through his slump and the love affairs. This is his 20th Open, and he is still the biggest draw without question.''
`IT'S A GREAT STORY'
Patrick McEnroe, who played against Agassi and is now a CBS commentator, added: ``When you look at Andre now, the respected player and person he has become, it's hard to believe he's the same kid who used to brag about eating McDonald's, the guy who tanked matches, just relied on his talent and didn't get it. I don't know that anyone in sports has had such a turnaround as an athlete and a person. It's a great story.''
In 1997, Agassi married Shields, fell out of shape and slid to No. 141. He was written off at age 27. A year later he clawed back into the top 10, one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history. He won the French and U.S. Opens in 1999 and reached the final at Wimbledon.
''Andre had an epiphany in '97, and it changed everything for him,'' McEnroe said. 'I remember he lost to Gustavo Kuerten in Cincinnati in 42 minutes, and Brad Gilbert, who was his coach then, basically told him, `Either you recommit, or you're just cheating yourself.' ''
Andre took the advice and has never taken his talent for granted again.
Agassi's style of play has undergone a complete makeover from those denim days. Blessed with the ability to strike the ball and return serve better than just about anyone in the game, Agassi as a young man was known to bang from the baseline and hope for the best. He made errors, but that didn't seem to bother him.
Now he plays a wiser game and goes for the high-percentage shots.
''He has become the ultimate percentage player,'' McEnroe said. ``He is so consistent and plays so smart. He left so many things to chance early in his career, and now he leaves nothing to chance. Everything is calculated. Maybe his old style was a little more fun to watch, but when he's healthy he's still playing top 5 or 6 tennis.
``You take away Federer, who nobody can beat right now, and Andre is right there. You tell me he's going up against [Lleyton] Hewitt, [Andy] Roddick, [Marat] Safin or [Rafael] Nadal, and I'd say he's got almost a 50-50 shot.''
And as long as that's the case, Agassi says he'll keep playing.
He has won eight Grand Slam events, $30 million in prize money and is one of only five men to complete the career Grand Slam -- winning Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, French Open and Australian Open.
But he insists the sport never gets old, that he still finds inspiration every time he steps on the court.
''It's never old when people are taking a day of their lives to come watch you,'' he said.
He will quit only if he can't be at his best. And that has been an issue this season. Agassi suffers from a sciatic-nerve condition that forced him to limp through a first-round loss at the French Open and withdraw from Wimbledon. He came back to win in Los Angeles and reach the final in Montreal, where he gave young gun Nadal a tough match.
''As much as I want to get out there and do the best I can, you will not see me on the court anymore if I'm not 100 percent,'' Agassi said. ``If I have a little pain in my life; that's fine. I just don't want it on the tennis court, because I work too hard to get out there and feel helpless.''
Carillo said: ``Image used to be everything for Andre, now fitness is everything.''
THRIVES AT U.S. OPEN
Agassi hopes he can make it through another U.S. Open, where he tends to play some of his best tennis.
In his past six appearances he has won it once (in 1999), finished runner-up once (to Sampras in 2002), reached the semifinals once and the quarterfinals twice, most recently last year when he stretched eventual champion Roger Federer to five sets.
Agassi admits his body is tiring. He chooses his tournaments carefully and skips others, even if it means hefty fines. He is just trying to buy time.
''It's hard, and it's getting harder,'' he said. ``I mean, the standard of tennis is picking up. The pace of the ball, the violence of the movement, the wear and tear on the body, it's all -- it all builds up on you. It's no wonder why careers don't last as long as you would see in other sports.''
And that is what makes him the most compelling story at the Open this year.
''If Andre is still around the second week, what a great thing that will be to watch,'' Carillo said.
______________________________________
Andre Agassi forever 

Andre Agassi blows kisses to the adoring crowds after his victories.
• Then & now with Andre Agassi
• About the U.S. Open
SUNDAY FOCUS
Transformed and enduring
Andre Agassi has gone from young brat to beloved legend, and he remains a U.S. Open contender at age 35.
BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
[email protected]
Andre Agassi crashed the tennis establishment two decades ago, a bratty 16-year-old from Las Vegas who shunned country-club whites for denim shorts, neon spandex biking shorts and a bleached-blond mullet that was better suited for a Bon Jovi concert than the hallowed courts of Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
''Image is everything,'' he declared in Canon camera commercials. Nike anointed him the coolest thing in tennis. Never mind that he had poor work habits, a potty mouth and irritated opponents with his histrionics.
Tennis purists complained he was more style than substance, a fad that surely would pass. ''A haircut and a forehand,'' in the words of then-No. 1 Ivan Lendl.
Twenty U.S. Opens, four U.S. presidents, and a few reincarnations later, Agassi is perhaps tennis' most beloved legend, the consummate gentleman and among the most generous philanthropists in all of sport, raising more than $24 million for disadvantaged youth.
He is 35 and bald now, married to fellow legend Steffi Graf, and the doting father of two children. With the help of cortisone shots to ease his ailing back, he is still in the mix heading into the 2005 U.S. Open, which begins Monday.
His wife and his peers -- Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang -- are well into retirement. Agassi is still out there with his pigeon-toed shuffle, lethal forehand and lightning reflexes, grinding down opponents, giving no hint this could be his last Open.
''I've said for a long time that I'm going to play this sport as long and as hard as I can,'' he said at a news conference two weeks ago. ``I don't know how long that's going to be, but I'm going to give back every bit it's given to me, or at least retire knowing I couldn't do more. It would be great to win [the Open], but I have no interest in putting a nice little bow around my career and handing it over to anybody.''
He dresses conservatively these days, has transformed into a fitness freak, is fastidious about everything from his diet to his string tension and ends every match with respectful bows and heartfelt kisses for his fans. This is the same guy who once forgot to bow to the Dutchess of Kent on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
His faithful followers have been along for the ride as Agassi went from No. 1 to No. 141 to irrelevant and back to No. 1. They've been there for all the haircuts, his unlikely friendship with Barbra Streisand, his marriage to Brooke Shields and subsequent divorce, his sweet romance with Graf and the birth of their children.
''Andre did something so many professional athletes never do,'' TV commentator Mary Carillo said. ``He grew up. He became a grown-up. It's been fun to watch, because we all saw him as the young guy, dripping with talent and earrings, and then through his slump and the love affairs. This is his 20th Open, and he is still the biggest draw without question.''
`IT'S A GREAT STORY'
Patrick McEnroe, who played against Agassi and is now a CBS commentator, added: ``When you look at Andre now, the respected player and person he has become, it's hard to believe he's the same kid who used to brag about eating McDonald's, the guy who tanked matches, just relied on his talent and didn't get it. I don't know that anyone in sports has had such a turnaround as an athlete and a person. It's a great story.''
In 1997, Agassi married Shields, fell out of shape and slid to No. 141. He was written off at age 27. A year later he clawed back into the top 10, one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history. He won the French and U.S. Opens in 1999 and reached the final at Wimbledon.
''Andre had an epiphany in '97, and it changed everything for him,'' McEnroe said. 'I remember he lost to Gustavo Kuerten in Cincinnati in 42 minutes, and Brad Gilbert, who was his coach then, basically told him, `Either you recommit, or you're just cheating yourself.' ''
Andre took the advice and has never taken his talent for granted again.
Agassi's style of play has undergone a complete makeover from those denim days. Blessed with the ability to strike the ball and return serve better than just about anyone in the game, Agassi as a young man was known to bang from the baseline and hope for the best. He made errors, but that didn't seem to bother him.
Now he plays a wiser game and goes for the high-percentage shots.
''He has become the ultimate percentage player,'' McEnroe said. ``He is so consistent and plays so smart. He left so many things to chance early in his career, and now he leaves nothing to chance. Everything is calculated. Maybe his old style was a little more fun to watch, but when he's healthy he's still playing top 5 or 6 tennis.
``You take away Federer, who nobody can beat right now, and Andre is right there. You tell me he's going up against [Lleyton] Hewitt, [Andy] Roddick, [Marat] Safin or [Rafael] Nadal, and I'd say he's got almost a 50-50 shot.''
And as long as that's the case, Agassi says he'll keep playing.
He has won eight Grand Slam events, $30 million in prize money and is one of only five men to complete the career Grand Slam -- winning Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, French Open and Australian Open.
But he insists the sport never gets old, that he still finds inspiration every time he steps on the court.
''It's never old when people are taking a day of their lives to come watch you,'' he said.
He will quit only if he can't be at his best. And that has been an issue this season. Agassi suffers from a sciatic-nerve condition that forced him to limp through a first-round loss at the French Open and withdraw from Wimbledon. He came back to win in Los Angeles and reach the final in Montreal, where he gave young gun Nadal a tough match.
''As much as I want to get out there and do the best I can, you will not see me on the court anymore if I'm not 100 percent,'' Agassi said. ``If I have a little pain in my life; that's fine. I just don't want it on the tennis court, because I work too hard to get out there and feel helpless.''
Carillo said: ``Image used to be everything for Andre, now fitness is everything.''
THRIVES AT U.S. OPEN
Agassi hopes he can make it through another U.S. Open, where he tends to play some of his best tennis.
In his past six appearances he has won it once (in 1999), finished runner-up once (to Sampras in 2002), reached the semifinals once and the quarterfinals twice, most recently last year when he stretched eventual champion Roger Federer to five sets.
Agassi admits his body is tiring. He chooses his tournaments carefully and skips others, even if it means hefty fines. He is just trying to buy time.
''It's hard, and it's getting harder,'' he said. ``I mean, the standard of tennis is picking up. The pace of the ball, the violence of the movement, the wear and tear on the body, it's all -- it all builds up on you. It's no wonder why careers don't last as long as you would see in other sports.''
And that is what makes him the most compelling story at the Open this year.
''If Andre is still around the second week, what a great thing that will be to watch,'' Carillo said.
______________________________________