Andre Agassi -- 20 Years of Punishment

September 3, 2006 3:43 PM

20 Years of Punishment
Agassi's incredible journey ended today with his loss at the U.S. Open. A class act throughout the years.
posted by ericb (27 comments total)

posted by ericb at 3:45 PM on September 3, 2006

Wow.
posted by bob sarabia at 3:47 PM on September 3, 2006

Good guy. I've seen him play twice in the Mercedes Benz Championship at UCLA and he was excellent. I don't watch tennis too much but it was an unforgettable experience to see him play.
posted by sawthesign at 3:49 PM on September 3, 2006

Agassi gave until his body gave out.
posted by ericb at 4:02 PM on September 3, 2006

And let us not forget that Agassi and Sampras were made for each other.
posted by ericb at 4:04 PM on September 3, 2006

I grew to love agassi, love the subtlety of his game, the reinventions of himself, drop shots, Steffi.

That ovation was moving and so was his response (until he started talking. What was that? Was he too heavily medicated on painkillers? "The scoreboard doesn't say...that I found...you." eeeehhhh...)

I really liked Benjamin Becker's tribute. He's a class act too.
posted by Aghast. at 4:16 PM on September 3, 2006

Advantage: Agassi
posted by papakwanz at 4:25 PM on September 3, 2006

He's retiring just in time to promote the return of the Agassi Air Tech Challenge.
posted by furtive at 4:43 PM on September 3, 2006

I like Agassi as much as the next guy, but is this really the place to share in Agassi-fandom?
posted by Vindaloo at 4:56 PM on September 3, 2006

My hunch is that the crowds Stateside responded to his everyman persona. He wasn't particularly big, or naturally gifted, but he worked really hard for everything. How else you do explain guys in the Flushing stands high-fiving one another after a brutal point? They didn't have anything to do with his success, but they wanted to think that — with grit and hustle — they might do the same. So the average sportsfan wanted to be like Agassi.

The cool, effortless-appearing Sampras, with his build, and serve, and starlet girlfriend — shit, he even had better male-pattern-baldness — they just wanted to be him (but would never admit it).
posted by rob511 at 4:58 PM on September 3, 2006

If Agassi wasn't naturally gifted, who the fuck was?
posted by ZippityBuddha at 5:39 PM on September 3, 2006

They showed a video of Agassi with long hair. Man that shook my sense of perception. A great player and he put in a stupendous show in his last two matches.
posted by Atreides at 5:43 PM on September 3, 2006

There was a time when Ben Stiller was actually funny. I had forgotten about that.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:05 PM on September 3, 2006

That ovation was moving and so was his response (until he started talking. What was that? Was he too heavily medicated on painkillers? "The scoreboard doesn't say...that I found...you." eeeehhhh...)

He was trying not to cry. Cut the guy a break.
posted by MegoSteve at 6:12 PM on September 3, 2006

Agassi is a pretty impressive athlete - one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
posted by caddis at 6:13 PM on September 3, 2006

.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 6:32 PM on September 3, 2006

Did you spot the lede on CNN's front page?

A career for the ages came to a close Sunday when Andre Agassi lost to the 112th-ranked player in the world. Playing with the spirit of a champion but a creaky body that needed three injections, the end came with Agassi looking like what he'd become — a 36-year-old man with a bad back trying to play tennis.

Sometimes journalists disgust me.
posted by cribcage at 7:44 PM on September 3, 2006

Vindaloo, this is obviously not the place. You know, 20 years give or take, plus the innovations of the game from no-mans-land.

You know who else loved tennis?

YEAH, THATS RIGHT.
posted by isopraxis at 8:13 PM on September 3, 2006

.
posted by effwerd at 9:02 PM on September 3, 2006

.
posted by mrbill at 9:36 PM on September 3, 2006

I heard about the retirement plans on NPR on Friday - people were saying how Agassi saved tennis and reintroduced it into the mainstream.
posted by porpoise at 10:24 AM on September 4, 2006

My high school French teacher was a big fan and had posters of him in her classroom. This was early in his career when he had long hair.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:06 AM on September 4, 2006

I heard about the retirement plans on NPR on Friday

NPR: Agassi and a Wealth of Stories at U.S. Open; Agassi Not the Only Elder at U.S. Open; Agassi Retires from Tennis After U.S. Open Loss.
posted by ericb at 2:25 PM on September 4, 2006

I didn't even start watching Agassi until his shaven-headed days, so to see the old clips with his Braveheart-style hairdo was hilariously shocking.

It's really impossible not to admire Agassi both on and off the court. He's one of five men to win all four grand slams. He earned titles across three decades. He's already given around $60 million to charities and community causes. The list goes on and on.

He was an exceptional athlete and a model human being. I miss him already.
posted by quadog at 10:30 PM on September 4, 2006

Andre was one-of-a kind. A superb athlete and a person who did (and continues to do) so much for his community in helping underprivileged children. What a classy individual he is. Too bad there aren't more athletes like him.
posted by PsychoKitty at 11:26 PM on September 4, 2006

I can't help but feel partially responsible for his loss on Sunday, as I was rooting for Marcos Baghdatis in the 3rd and 4th sets, just so I could see more tennis, and perhaps another epic Agassi battle. What a thrill it was to be there, and I got everything I asked for, even though it meant his body couldn't hold up for the next one.
Good show, old man.
posted by hellbient at 8:07 AM on September 5, 2006

It's worth noting that Baghdatis was ranked 8th in ATP standings when Andre beat him. Andre always said he would compete as long as he could face the top players in the world. He stayed trued to his word and was a challenger up until the bitter end.
posted by quadog at 10:56 AM on September 5, 2006