Andre Agassi- A True Legend
As Agassi battles it out on US open courts for one last time, I am sure all tennis fans without exception would salute this legend for his never say die attitude and playing the game in the right spirit with a big mischievous smart smile all the time. At 36 with 60 singles titles, 8 grand slam championships including all the four majors (one of the few to achieve the feat in the modern era) and 20 years into the professional circuit he still plays the five setters to the last point and more surprisingly wins most of them.
Retiring with grace at your peak is an art and very few sports men and women have perfected them and Andre's wife Graf, one of my all time favorites with 22 grand slam titles is a perfect example. She retired when she was at her peak in 1999. Andre also could have retired during the last year's memorable run to the US open final but seems to have reserved his best for one last hurrah at the coveted title. Given the state of his body and the excruciating pain killers for his back problems which he has been taking through out the year he might not go all the way but as and when he gets defeated he will go down in the history books as an undisputed champion and arguably one of the all time greats ever. His return of service is probably the best ever the game has seen in the last 40 years or so eclispsing even the great Jimmy Connors of the whirlwind 70's and 80's
As usual the Indian tennis challenge is fizzling out fast with the exit of Sania, Mahesh with only Leander left in the doubles version. Sania mania seems to be fast fading after all the hype and may she will end up as yet another Indian tennis player who also played the grand slams without going through qualification rounds!
RK
As Agassi battles it out on US open courts for one last time, I am sure all tennis fans without exception would salute this legend for his never say die attitude and playing the game in the right spirit with a big mischievous smart smile all the time. At 36 with 60 singles titles, 8 grand slam championships including all the four majors (one of the few to achieve the feat in the modern era) and 20 years into the professional circuit he still plays the five setters to the last point and more surprisingly wins most of them.
Retiring with grace at your peak is an art and very few sports men and women have perfected them and Andre's wife Graf, one of my all time favorites with 22 grand slam titles is a perfect example. She retired when she was at her peak in 1999. Andre also could have retired during the last year's memorable run to the US open final but seems to have reserved his best for one last hurrah at the coveted title. Given the state of his body and the excruciating pain killers for his back problems which he has been taking through out the year he might not go all the way but as and when he gets defeated he will go down in the history books as an undisputed champion and arguably one of the all time greats ever. His return of service is probably the best ever the game has seen in the last 40 years or so eclispsing even the great Jimmy Connors of the whirlwind 70's and 80's
As usual the Indian tennis challenge is fizzling out fast with the exit of Sania, Mahesh with only Leander left in the doubles version. Sania mania seems to be fast fading after all the hype and may she will end up as yet another Indian tennis player who also played the grand slams without going through qualification rounds!
RK
posted by RK at 2:59 PM
1 Comments:
He brought style to the sport.And beneath that panache, lies a hard-working true champion.
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