New York – If Andre Agassi keeps this up, it’s going to be absolutely exhausting. For him, for his opponent, for his fans, for everyone at the U.S. Open.
Knowing each time he steps on the court could be his last match as a pro, Agassi clearly does not want to go gently, and he kept overcoming deficits Monday night, pushing his 36-year-old body around Arthur Ashe Stadium for 3 1/2 hours.
Eventually, Agassi managed to win the first match of his final tournament, coming back to beat Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-2 before an Open-record night session crowd of 23,736.
Agassi’s eyes welled up with tears as he served out the final point after midnight.
“I want to be here real bad, for the whole two weeks,” Agassi told the crowd during a postmatch interview. “I really want to leave my best stuff on the court….I’m very proud of this day, and I’m glad it gets to happen again.”
There were moments, though, when it looked as if Agassi would be bidding adieu for good. After he lost the first set, for example.
And especially when he fell behind 4-0 in the third set, causing his wife, former star Steffi Graf, to pace a bit.
“I thought,” Pavel said, “‘I have him.”‘
Yet that’s when Agassi found the energy and shots to reverse things. Coincidence or not, he went on a five-game run shortly after motioning to his coach, Darren Cahill, to bring him more tightly strung rackets. It also was around that time that Pavel – a 32-year-old ranked 77th who hadn’t played a hard-court match since March – was visited by a trainer because of stomach cramps and diarrhea.
Agassi got to a third tiebreaker, then dominated the final set.
It was a fitting way to cap a day that celebrated three of the sport’s most significant figures. Before Agassi’s match, the U.S.Tennis Association rededicated its facility, naming it the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. And Jimmy Connors was on the scene, too, coaching Andy Roddick and soaking in the adoration.
Roddick enlisted Connors last month, after a third-round exit at Wimbledon, and the partnership appears to be paying off, so far.
Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, began this year’s last major by beating Florent Serra of France 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.
Roddick, who ended a 10-month title drought after teaming with Connors, joined four other past Open champions who reached the second round: Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Svetlana Kuznetsova … and, of course, Agassi – bad back, 9-7 record this year, and all.
Next for Agassi is a match against eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis, a 21-year-old player who reached the Australian Open final and Wimbledon semifinals this year. He should be a sterner test than Pavel.
Agassi won the Open in 1994 and 1999, part of his collection of eight Grand Slam titles, and was the runner-up four times, including last year. When Agassi won that first U.S. Open championship, his blond hair was long and tucked under a ballcap, his shirt was a loud purple, and he wore a pinkie ring and dangling earring.
Hard to believe that same person was under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday. Look at Agassi now: shaved head, country-club- ready white outfit, and a beaded necklace that reads, “Daddy Rocks,” made by his son. Both of Agassi’s children were in the stands; in the fourth set, Graf was using a video camera, just like any parent on an outing with the kids.
“He’s the man right now,” Pavel said. “I wish him well. I hope he can go all the way. He deserves it.”
