[BAMJ6]

Well at 35, he's still playing tennis at a level of which only happens while someone is in his mid to late 20's. So i thought about it and well i think he "lost" around 5 years worth of Grand Slams and only now he's almost done making up for it. Here were his "losses"

the 1988-90 Wimbledons he didn't take
the Australian Opens from 1987-94
1993 (Wasn't tennis hungry after the 92 Wimbledon win, got too busy getting fat and having a normal life according to The Agassi Story)
1997 Rock Bottom, where he nearly retired

That's a lot of years/slams he missed, that if played, he could have been at 10+ slams already and he'd be inducted alongside Courier in the HOF this year.

 

[disturb3d]

He missed a total of 17 slams.
Needing to win 30% of the missed slams in order to equal Sampras' record.

In any critic's opinion, that record should be Andre's.

 

[NYCtennisfan]

There have been very few players in the history of the game who can go away for a year, not care about the game and then come back and win, win big and become #1. Itis just a testament to the guy's ball striking talent. He could stop caring, go away, and then make up his mind to play and climb back up the rankings. Take a look at all the players for whatever reason who tumble in the rankings. They harldy ever come back.

 

[megadeth]

aren't you supposed to be retired first before you can be inducted?

andre said that those roller coaster years were in a way a blessing in disguise because it gave him longevity.

so he may have be still under pete's shadow in terms of number of titles won and number of slams, but andre's fixed on being a tennis immortal for winning almost all titles worth winning - all slams, olympics, 7 out of 9 masters. so it doesn't matter if he wasn't the one to break emerson's record, he's a more complete package compared to pete

plus, his longevity was good for the game. he inspired even lance armstrong, andre's a great ambassador for tennis, etc.

one more thing, it gives you a sense of pride that you're the last one standing from your generation and still competitive don't you think?

 

[TheMightyFed]

he inspired even lance armstrong

Lance was also well inspired by his doctors, especially Dr. Ferrari :devil: