Andre Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970) is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is one of five male players to have won all four Grand Slam singles events. He has won the Tennis Masters Cup, been part of a winning Davis Cup team, and has won an Olympic gold medal. He won 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments, more than any other player. TENNIS Magazine has named him the 7th greatest male player from 1965 through 2005.
Because of sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement), and a bone spur that interferes with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the U.S. Open. Agassi is married to Steffi Graf and has two children. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children.

1986-1993: Image is everything
Agassi turned professional in 1986 and won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at Itaparica. He ended the year ranked #25. He won six further tournaments in 1988, and, by December of that year, he had surpassed U.S. $2 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments – the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. His year-end ranking was #3, behind Ivan Lendl at #2 and Mats Wilander at #1.
As a young up-and-coming player, Agassi embraced a rebel image. He grew his hair to rocker length, sported an earring, and wore colorful shirts that pushed tennis' still-strict sartorial boundaries. He boasted of a cheeseburger diet and endorsed the Canon "Rebel" camera. "Image is everything" was the ad's line, and it became Agassi's as well.
In addition to not playing the Australian Open (which would later become his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at the event are required to conform. Many observers at the time speculated that Agassi's real motivation was that his strong baseline game would not be well suited to Wimbledon's grass court surface.
Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semifinals of both the French Open and the U.S. Open in 1988, and the U.S. Open again in 1989. He began the 1990s, however, with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he lost in four sets to Andrés Gómez. His second Grand Slam final was against Pete Sampras at the U.S. Open. The last time Agassi had played Sampras, he won 6–1, 6–1. After that match, he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it. Looking at the draw, Agassi was happy that he did not have to face Lendl or McEnroe in the final, and he planned to make Sampras hit more balls than he could handle. Despite being the favorite in the match, he lost to Sampras 6–4, 6–3, 6–2. The rivalry between these two American players became the dominant rivalry in tennis over the rest of the decade. Also in 1990, Agassi helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years.
In 1991, Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five set final. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991, leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He went on to reach the quarterfinals on that occasion.
To the surprise of many, Agassi's Grand Slam breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the U.S. Open where he had enjoyed so much success. In 1992, he defeated Goran Ivanišević in a five set final. Along the way, Agassi dispatched two former Wimbledon champions in Boris Becker and John McEnroe. No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later, on slower, higher bouncing grass better suited for baseline play. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992.
Agassi once again was a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years.
1993 saw Agassi win the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters, partnered with Petr Korda. Agassi missed much of the early part of this year with injury troubles and struggled at the major events. After a first-round exit at the U.S. Open, he had wrist surgery late in the year.

1994-1997: Rivalry and injury
Agassi started slowly in 1994, losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, Agassi emerged during the hard court season, winning the Canada Masters event. His comeback culminated in his becoming the first man to capture the U.S. Open as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in the final. Agassi's run included a 5 set fourth-round victory against compatriot Michael Chang.
In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. Agassi attended the Australian Open for the first time and won it in his first attempt, beating Sampras in a four set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three of the five. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 - the Cincinnati Masters, the Miami Masters, and the Canada Masters, and seven titles total. Agassi compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hardcourt circuit, which ended when he lost in a hugely anticipated U.S. Open final to Sampras.
Agassi reached the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held the No. 1 ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. In terms of win/loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 72 matches and lost only 10. This was a higher winning percentage than Sampras’ best season, 1994, in which he won 77 matches and lost 12. Agassi was also once again a key player on the United States Davis Cup winning team - the third and final Davis Cup title of Agassi's career.
1996 was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam finals. He suffered two surprise early round losses at the hands of compatriots Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively. The clear high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final 6–2, 6–3, 6–1. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles at the Cincinnati Masters and the Miami Masters.
1997 was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches on the year. He won no top-level titles and his ranking sank to World No. 141 in November. Agassi was also subject to intense publicity surrounding his high-profile and turbulent marriage to actress Brooke Shields (a marriage that ended in divorce).

1998-2005: Elder statesman of the game
In 1998, Agassi rededicated himself to tennis. He began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments (a circuit for professional players ranked outside the world's top 50). Perhaps most remarkably, the one-time rebel emerged as a gracious and thoughtful athlete, admired by younger players. After winning matches, he bowed and blew two-handed kisses to spectators on each side of the court, a gesture seen as a rather humble acknowledgement of their support for him and for tennis. He played some classic matches in this period, most notably against his old rival Pete Sampras and popular Australian Patrick Rafter.
In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from World No. 141 at the start of the year to World No. 6 at the end of it, making it the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a single calendar year. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Miami Masters, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became World No. 1 as a result of winning that tournament.
Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, thereby becoming only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, and Don Budge) to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. He is however, the only male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts), a tribute to his adaptability, as the other four men won their Grand Slam titles on clay and grass courts. Agassi also became the first male tennis player to win the Career Golden Slam.
He followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras 6–3, 6–4, 7–5. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the U.S. Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a 2 sets to 1 deficit) in the final. Agassi ended 1999 as the World No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–1998). This was the only time Agassi ended the year at number one.
Agassi began 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semifinal and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. At the time, Agassi was also only the third player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.
2000 also saw Agassi reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever played at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin 6–3, 6–3 in the semifinals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest World No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi eventually lost to Gustavo Kuerten 6–4, 6–4, 6–4. This loss allowed Kuerten to be crowned year-end World No. 1. Agassi finished 2000 ranked World No. 6, becoming the only male tennis player to have been ranked in the Top 10 in three different decades (1980’s - finishing No. 3 & 7 in 1988 and 1989; 1990’s - No. 4 in 1990, No. 10 in 1991, No. 9 in 1992, No. 2 in 1994 & 1995, No. 8 in 1996, No. 6 in 1998, and No. 1 in 1999; 2000’s - No. 6 in 2000, No. 3 in 2001, No. 2 in 2002, No. 4 in 2003, No. 8 in 2004, and No.7 in 2005).
Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément. Enroute, he beat a cramping Rafter (7–5, 2–6, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3) in front of a sell out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semifinals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. At the U.S. Open, Agassi lost in the quarterfinals to Sampras 6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 7–6, with no breaks of serve during the entire match.
2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. The last duel between Agassi and Sampras came in the final of the U.S. Open. The battle saw Sampras emerge victorious in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match proved to be the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's U.S. Open finish, along with his victories at the Miami Masters, Rome Masters, and Madrid Masters, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.
In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final. In March, he won his sixth career and third consecutive Miami Masters, in the process surpassing wife Steffi Graf who was a 5-time winner of the event. The final was his 18th straight win in that tournament, which broke the previous record of 17 set by Sampras from 1993–1995. (Agassi's winning streak continued to 20 after winning his first two matches at the 2004 Miami Masters before bowing to Agustin Calleri.) With the victory, Agassi became the youngest (19 years old) and oldest (32) winner of the Miami Masters. In May, he recaptured the World No. 1 ranking after a quarterfinal victory over Xavier Malisse at the Queen's Club Championships to become the oldest top ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. He held the No. 1 ranking on that occasion for 14 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from many events. He did manage to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero and surrendered his World No. 1 ranking to Ferrero. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer and finished the year ranked World No. 4.
In 2004, the 34-year-old Agassi won the Cincinnati Masters to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament -- all except Monte Carlo and Hamburg. He became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), surpassed only by Ken Rosewall who won the title in 1970 at age 35.
Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the finals of the Rogers Cup before falling to World No. 2 Rafael Nadal.
Still, Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the U.S. Open final. After beating Razvan Sabau and Ivo Karlovic in straight sets and Tomas Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to win 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6(6). His other five-set victims were Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semifinals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive U.S. Open title and his fifth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets, although Agassi gave him a scare when Agassi was up a break in the third set after splitting the first two sets.
Before the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Agassi rolled his ankle in a racquetball accident and tore several ligaments. He was unable to walk for weeks. He nevertheless committed to the tournament, in which he was seeded third, and played Nikolay Davydenko in his first round robin match. Agassi's movement was noticeably hindered, particularly on his backhand return of serve, and he lost in straight sets. He then withdrew from the tournament, to the criticism of the tournament director who had already dealt with several other withdrawals.
Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end top 10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end. In 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.

2006: The end of an era
Agassi had a poor start to 2006. He was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay court season, including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time.
Agassi returned for the grass court season, playing a tune-up and then Wimbledon. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the U.S. Open. He was defeated in the third round by world #2 (and eventual finalist) Rafael Nadal, 7–6(5), 6–2, 6–4. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match.
Agassi played only two events during the summer hardcourt season, with his best result being a quarterfinal loss in the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile 6–4, 3–6, 7–5. As a result, he was unseeded at the U.S. Open.
Agassi had a short but dramatic run in his final U.S. Open. Due to extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a tough four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced #8 seed Marcos Baghdatis, who had earlier in 2006 advanced to the Australian Open finals and Wimbledon semifinals, in the second round. Agassi, nevertheless, won 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 5–7, 7–5 as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set.
In his last match, Agassi was in obvious pain on court and fell to 112th ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received an 8 minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a memorable retirement speech.
Agassi earned more than US$30 million in prize-money throughout his career, third only to Sampras and Federer. In addition, Agassi earned over US$25 million a year through endorsements, the most by any tennis player, during his career and fourth in all sports at the time.

Retirement
Since retiring after the 2006 U.S. Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, Agassi was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer 2007 U.S. Open quarterfinal.

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