[Experimentee]

He says in his interviews one of his biggest regrets is not playing the Aus Open before 95. And of course the first time he played the AO, he won it. The surface suits him so much and i think his Slam total would definitely be in the double figures had he played before 95. I wonder why a top player would intentionally miss a Grand Slam for 9 years since he turned pro? Anyone know why he did this?

 

[Chloe le Bopper]

I think that he was too lazy to make the flight, and didn't consider it as "important" as the other slams

I don't know the exact reason, but judging by his excellent reasons for skipping Wimbledon so many times when younger, I assume it's something like that.

 

[Sjengster]

It's true, Agassi did have a somewhat erratic temperament when he was younger and made a lot of pretty rash decisions. I shouldn't worry about him skipping the AO though, as it wasn't just Australia that got the brush off - he once famously claimed that "there's only one thing worse than spending a night in Europe - spending two"

He mentioned this in a recent interview and observed how much he'd matured and begun to appreciate Europe more since being married to Steffi; in fact he even confessed a secret likeness for soccer - what a thought!

Some journalists had a theory that Agassi skipped Wimbledon often not because of the clothing rule that stopped him wearing his usual outfits, which is surely the most pathetic excuse for missing a Grand Slam imaginable, but because he harboured a secret fear of failure on grass and thought he wouldn't be able to live up to expectations on it.

Good job he realised in time that he was actually pretty good at Wimbledon, wasn't it?

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

He was scared of Edberg

Stefan was always in SF/Finals of the Aus Open for about 9 yrs running.

 

[irma]

I read that he didn't want to leave his mommy alone for so long

 

[Sjengster]

Ha ha. Mature reasoning.

 

[maratski]

lol @ irma

 

[Jackie]

Like many of the players, he couldn't be bothered flying to Australia...and the men's AO tournament used to be in December, so everyone was burnt out and/or wanted time off for Christmas

 

[irma]

it was not in december when andre played. it went to january again in 87 and that was exactly the time when andre started out on the pro tour

 

[Jackie]

it was not in december when andre played. it went to january again in 87 and that was exactly the time when andre started out on the pro tour

Yeah, I know. I was just pointing out why others didn't play earlier...and the prize money was pretty bad by comparison to the other slams for a while