Legendary Agassi Maintains His Optimism - 網球

Legendary Agassi Maintains His Optimism
January 18, 2006
By Matthew Cronin


Andre Agassi is an eternal optimist and why not, he consistently backs up his
claims with results.


The 35-year-old man who many thought would retire in 2004 is still kicking on
court and in his last major tournament, nearly knocked off the seemingly
impenetrable Roger Federer in the final of the US Open.


"I tell you what I do take pleasure in is accomplishing things that I
question myself," Agassi said. "I've been asked for a long time now, "When
are you going to stop? When are you going to stop?" Had I stopped, I wouldn't
be here. So for me, it's about pushing yourself and pushing yourself, and I
know there comes a time and place when you have to decide that that's it. I
don't know when that's going to be, and certainly don't even know what the
reasons are going to be for that."


The five-time SAP Open champ and Bay Area homeowner's body is certainly war
torn, but last year, Agassi somehow managed to play through a bad back and
hip that required three cortisone shots. But few athletes pay more close
attention to their bodies than Agassi does, and he rarely competes anymore
when he's 100 percent.


That's why he pulled out of the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai in November with
an ankle injury he sustained playing racket ball at home in Las Vegas and
also skipped the Australian Open.


He's way too smart to try and compete against the big boys when he's hobbled.
In order to impose his relentless baseline attack and wear his foe downs,
Agassi has to be comfortable and agile. If he's hobbling form sideline to
sideline, he gets down on himself. Grant Agassi his improvement in the areas
of court stewardship, consistency and with his serve while he's been a
30-something, but he's not as fast as he once was and doesn't whale his
groundstrokes like he used to. So good health is a premium.


"You always get excited more when you feel like you have more of a chance,"
he said. " Paris doesn't excite me at all anymore because I just associate it
with pain, meaning physical. So you're sort of glad to be a part of it, but
you're limited to how much you can really enjoy the experience when you're
surviving."


With each passing victory, Agassi gains more and more fans, even those whom
he plays against on the ATP Tour. The first time that SAP Open entrant James
Blake saw Agassi play, he was in fifth grade and Agassi still had a long,
frosty hairdo and was wearing pre-washed denim shorts. When he lost a classic
five-setter to Agassi in the US Open quarterfinals, Blake confronted a bald
legend with a tennis luminary wife, Steffi Graf, and two toddlers, Jaden and
Jaz.


"He's really a true gentleman, one of the friendliest guys in the locker
room," Blake said. "That's something that's impressive when you don't need to
do that because you're one of the legends of the sport. You've got everything
you can ever dream of, but he still knows how to treat people. And that's
something that I really admire. He's helped me with scouting reports, helped
me when I go out to Vegas, he hooks me up with hotels. He's just a great guy
that will help out young guys with anything, leading by example. He's someone
that you can tell your kids to look up to and be proud of it. That's kind of
the goal I have as a tennis player and a public figure. He's obviously had a
lot more success on the court. But he's also a great human being. I'm proud
to be a competitor with him."


As head of a very successful charitable foundation, Agassi is pleased when he
hears other players praise his character, but what he would really like to
accomplish in 2006 is to a consistent threat at every tournament he enters.
Winning a record-breaking sixth SAP Open title would surely please him.


"It's all a bit surreal," the eight-time Grand Slam titlist said of his
success. "I get out there and I try to work. I come off the court and many
times in my career I just feel like it's been a dream. It's all surprising to
me."

http://www.sapopentennis.com/news/news.asp?story_id=151

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