Andre Agassi
|
|
| ||
| Country: | United States | |
| Residence: | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | |
| Height: | 5'11" (180 cm) | |
| Weight: | 177 lbs. (80 kg) | |
| Plays: | Right | |
| Turned pro: | 1986 | |
| Highest singles ranking: | 1 (4/10/1995) | |
| Singles titles: | 59 | |
| Career Prize Money: | $29,874,275 | |
| Grand Slam Record Titles: 8 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | W (1995, '00, '01, '03) | |
| Roland Garros | W (1999) | |
| Wimbledon | W (1992) | |
| U.S. Open | W (1994, '99) | |
Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) is an American professional tennis player (1986-). He has fifty nine career singles titles including eight Grand Slam titles. As of 2005, he has won over $29 million in prize money. He is a former World No. 1 in the ATP rankings.
| Contents |
Background
Agassi, an ethnic Armenian & Assyrian, was born and raised in Las Vegas, and lives there when not on tour. His father, Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi, was a boxer for Iran in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics before emigrating to the U.S.
Tennis career
Mike Agassi was a tennis fanatic, to put it nicely, determined to turn at least one of his four children into a world-class player. He hung tennis balls over Andre's crib, and gave him a full-sized racket at age 2. Growing up, Andre and his siblings had to hit 3,000 balls every day, seven days a week. Mike had Andre practice with Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connors. Andre's sister, Rita, finally rebelled and moved in with, and later married, Pancho Gonzalez (their son, Skylar, played on Bishop-Gorman High School's tennis team). When he was 14, Andre was shipped off to teaching guru Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida, and turned pro when he was 16. He surpassed $2 million in career prize money in December 1988 after just 43 tournaments -- the quickest player in history to do so.
AgassiBackhand.gif
Few athletes have so completely overhauled their public persona. As a youngster, Agassi embraced a rebel image. He grew his hair to rock-star length, sported an earring, and wore colorful shirts that pushed tennis' still-strict sartorial boundaries. He boasted of a cheeseburger-heavy diet and endorsed the Canon Rebel camera. "Image is everything" was the ads's tag line, and it became Agassi's as well, but by November 1997, his ranking had plunged to 141.
Agassi rededicated himself to tennis: he shaved his balding head, began a rigorous conditioning program, and worked his way back to the ATP by playing Challenger Tournaments, a circuit for pros ranked 50th and lower. Perhaps most remarkably, he has emerged as a gracious and thoughtful athlete, something of an elder statesman. After winning a match, he bows and blows a two-handed kiss to the spectators on each side of the court, a gesture most take as a rather humble acknowledgment of their support for him and for tennis.
Agassi keeps in exceptional shape and can outlast most players over the course of a long match, even the best counterpunchers. He typically employs a baseline style of play, rarely serving-and-volleying. However, he often makes contact with the ball inside the baseline, unlike most baseliners, who make 4-8 feet behind the baseline their home. His serve is slightly above-average at best among the top players on the men's tour (due to his lack of speed but good placement), but his return-of-serve is his claim to fame. Most agree that Agassi is the best serve returner in the history of professional tennis. He was the target of one of the fastest serves recorded, a 149-mph (240 km/h) blast from Andy Roddick—and returned it into play.
Agassi is one of only five male players to have won all the Grand Slam tournaments in a career, along with Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Fred Perry. Even more impressive, he is the first male tennis player to win Grand Slams on four different surfaces. (The previous players had won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open on grass courts and Roland Garros on clay.) Agassi won the Australian Open on Rebound Ace, Roland Garros on clay, Wimbledon on grass, and the US Open on hard court.
He also became the first male tennis player to win all four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal. He won the tennis singles event at Atlanta in 1996. Agassi has represented the USA in Davis Cup play many times, compiling a lifetime record of 30-6 in 22 tries.
In 1992, Andre was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award.
Agassi has earned over $25 Million throughout his career, second only to Pete Sampras. In addition to this, Agassi also earns over $25 Million a year through endorsements, the most by a tennis player and fourth in all sports (1st place is Tiger Woods at $70 Million/year).
As of 2005, Agassi is the oldest active singles player on the ATP Tour.
Famous matches
- French Open final 1990: lost to Andrés Gómez, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, in his first Grand Slam final.
- Wimbledon final 1992: defeated Goran Ivanisevic, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 for his first Grand Slam win and only Wimbledon championship.
- Wimbledon semi-final 1998: lost to Patrick Rafter, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, in a tense five-set match.
- French Open final 1999: defeated Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, in a spectacular come-from-behind victory to complete his career Grand Slam.
- U.S. Open final 1999: defeated Todd Martin 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, in another come-from-behind thriller.
- Australian Open 2000 Semi-final: defeated Pete Sampras, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, en route to his second Australian Open championship.
- U.S. Open 2001 Quarter-final: lost to Pete Sampras, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6, despite not losing a service game.
- U.S. Open 2002 Final: lost to Pete Sampras, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in what turned out to be Sampras' last competitive match.
- Australian Open 2005 4th Round: defeated Joachim Johansson 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 despite being aced 51 times, a world record.
Titles (60)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (8) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (1) |
| Olympic Gold (1) |
| ATP Masters Series (17) |
| ATP Tour (33) |
Singles (59)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | Nov 23, 1987 | Itaparica | Hard | Luiz Mattar (Brazil) | 7-6 6-2 |
| 2. | Feb 15, 1988 | Memphis, USA | Hard | Mikael Pernfors (Sweden) | 6-4 6-4 7-5 |
| 3. | Apr 25, 1988 | Charleston, USA | Clay | Jimmy Arias (USA) | 6-2 6-2 |
| 4. | May 2, 1988 | Forest Hills, USA | Clay | Slobodan Zivojinovic (Yugoslavia) | 7-5 7-6 7-5 |
| 5. | Jul 11, 1988 | Stuttgart Outdoors, Germany | Clay | Andres Gomez (Ecuador) | 6-4 6-2 |
| 6. | Jul 25, 1988 | Stratton, USA | Hard | Paul Annacone (USA) | 6-2 6-4 |
| 7. | Aug 15, 1988 | Livingston | Hard | Jeff Tarango (USA) | 6-2 6-4 |
| 8. | Oct 2, 1989 | Orlando, Florida, USA | Hard | Brad Gilbert (USA) | 6-2 6-1 |
| 9. | Feb 5, 1990 | San Francisco, USA | Carpet | Todd Witsken (USA) | 6-1 6-3 |
| 10. | Mar 12, 1990 | Key Biscayne, USA | Hard | Stefan Edberg (Sweden) | 6-1 6-4 6 6-2 |
| 11. | Jul 16, 1990 | Washington, USA | Hard | Jim Grabb (USA) | 6-1 6-4 |
| 12. | Nov 12, 1990 | Singles Championship, Frankfurt, Germany | Carpet | Stefan Edberg (Sweden) | 5-7 7-6 7-5 6-2 |
| 13. | 1991-04-01 | Orlando, USA | Hard | Derrick Rostagno (USA) | 6-2 1-6 6-3 |
| 14. | 1991-07-15 | Washington, USA | Hard | Petr Corda (Czechoslovakia) | 6-3 6-4 |
| 15. | 1992-04-27 | Atlanta, USA | Clay | Pete Sampras (USA) | 7-5 6-4 |
| 16. | 1992-06-22 | Wimbledon, London, Great Britain | Grass | Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) | 6-7 6-4 6-4 1-6 6-4 |
| 17. | 1992-07-20 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Ivan Lendl (USA) | 3-6 6-2 6-0 |
| 18. | 1993-02-01 | San Francisco, USA | Hard | Brad Gilbert (USA) | 6-2 6-7 6-2 |
| 19. | 1993-02-22 | Scottsdale, USA | Hard | Marcos Ondruska (Russia) | 6-2 3-6 6-3 |
| 20. | 1994-02-21 | Scottsdale, USA | Hard | Luiz Mattar (Brazil) | 6-4 6-3 |
| 21. | 1994-07-25 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Jason Stoltenberg (Australia) | 6-4 6-4 |
| 22. | 1994-08-29 | US Open, New York, USA | Hard | Michael Stich (Germany) | 6-1 7-6 7-5 |
| 23. | 1994-10-17 | Vienna, Austria | Carpet | Michael Stich (Germany) | 7-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 |
| 24. | 1994-10-31 | Paris, France | Carpet | Marc Rosset (Switzerland) | 6-3 6-3 4-6 7-5 |
| 25. | 1995-01-16 | Australian Open, Australia | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA) | 4-6 6-1 7-6 6-4 |
| 26. | 1995-02-06 | San Jose | Hard | Michael Chang (USA) | 6-2 1-6 6-3 |
| 27. | 1995-03-13 | Key Biscayne | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA) | 3-6 6-2 7-6 |
| 28. | 1995-07-17 | Washington | Hard | Stefan Edberg(Sweden) | 6-4 2-6 7-5 |
| 29. | 1995-07-24 | Montreal | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA) | 3-6 6-2 6-3 |
| 30. | 1995-08-07 | Cincinnati | Hard | Michael Chang (USA) | 7-5 6-2 |
| 31. | 1995-08-14 | New Haven | Hard | Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) | 3-6 7-6 6-3 |
| 32. | 1996-03-18 | Key Biscayne | Hard | Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) | 3-0 40-0 |
| 33. | 1996-07-22 | The Olympics, Atlanta, USA | Hard | Sergi Bruguera (Spain) | 6-2 6-3 6-1 |
| 34. | 1996-08-05 | Cincinnati | Hard | Michael Chang (USA) | 7-6 6-4 |
| 35. | 1998-02-09 | San Jose | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA) | 6-2 6-4 |
| 36. | 1998-03-02 | Scottsdale | Hard | Jason Stoltenberg (Australia) | 6-4 7-6 |
| 37. | 1998-07-20 | Washington | Hard | Scott Draper (Australia) | 6-2 6-0 |
| 38. | 1998-07-27 | Los Angeles | Hard | Tim Henman (UK) | 6-4 6-4 |
| 39. | 1998-10-19 | Ostrava | Carpet | Jan Kroslak (Slovakia) | 6-2 3-6 6-3 |
| 40. | 1999-04-05 | Hong Kong | Hard | Boris Becker (Germany) | 6-7 6-4 6-4 |
| 41. | 1999-05-24 | Roland Garros | Clay | Andrei Medvedev (Ukraine) | 1-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 |
| 42. | 1999-08-16 | Washington | Hard | Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) | 7-6 6-1 |
| 43. | 1999-08-30 | US Open | Hard | Todd Martin (USA) | 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-3 6-2 |
| 44. | 1999-11-01 | Paris | Carpet | Marat Safin (Russia) | 7-6 6-2 4-6 6-4 |
| 45. | 2000-01-17 | Australian Open | Hard | Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) | 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 |
| 46. | 2001-01-15 | Australian Open | Hard | Arnaud Clement (France) | 6-4 6-2 6-2 |
| 47. | 2001-03-12 | Indian Wells | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA) | 7-6 7-5 6-1 |
| 48. | 2001-03-19 | Key Biscayne | Hard | Jan-Michael Gambill (USA) | 7-6 6-1 6-0 |
| 49. | 2001-07-23 | Los Angeles | Hard | Pete Sampras (USA | 6-4 6-2 |
| 50. | 2002-03-04 | Scottsdale | Hard | Juan Balcells (Spain) | 6-2 7-6 |
| 51. | 2002-03-18 | Key Biscayne | Hard | Roger Federer (Switzerland) | 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-4 |
| 52. | 2002-05-06 | Rome | Clay | Tommy Haas (Germany) | 6-3 6-3 6-0 |
| 53. | 2002-07-22 | Los Angeles, USA | Hard | Jan-Michael Gambill (USA) | 6-2 6-4 |
| 54. | 2002-10-14 | Madrid, Spain | Hard | Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) | W/O |
| 55. | 2003-01-13 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia | Hard | Rainer Schuettler (Germany) | 6-2 6-2 6-1 |
| 56. | 2003-02-10 | San Jose, USA | Hard | Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) | 6-3 6-1 |
| 57. | 2003-03-17 | Key Biscayne | Hard | Carlos Moyà (Spain) | 6-3 6-3 |
| 58. | 2003-04-21 | Houston, USA | Clay | Andy Roddick (USA) | 3-6 6-3 6-4 |
| 59. | 2004-08-02 | Cincinnati, USA | Hard | Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) | 6-3 3-6 6-2 |
Performance timeline
| Tournament | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | QF | SF | W | - | W | W | 4r | 4r | - | SF | W | - | - | - | - | - |
| Roland Garros | 1r | 1r | QF | QF | QF | 2r | W | 1r | - | 2r | QF | 2r | - | SF | F | F |
| Wimbledon | - | - | 4r | 2r | SF | SF | F | 2r | - | 1r | SF | 4r | QF | W | QF | - |
| US Open | QF | SF | F | QF | 2r | W | 4r | 4r | SF | F | W | 1r | QF | 1r | F | |
| Grand Slam W-L | 4-2 | 9-3 | 19-3 | 11-3 | 20-3 | 14-3 | 23-2 | 7-4 | 3-1 | 11-4 | 22-3 | 11-2 | 4-2 | 16-2 | 10-3 | 12-2 |
| Tournaments Won | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Hardcourt W-L | 9-3 | 37-10 | 32-6 | 36-7 | 35-10 | 25-9 | 41-9 | 47-10 | 11-10 | 34-7 | 53-3 | 29-6 | 27-8 | 19-7 | 17-7 | 26-5 |
| Tournament | 1989 | 1988 | 1987 | 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | - | - | - | - |
| Roland Garros | 3r | SF | 2r | - |
| Wimbledon | - | - | 1r | - |
| US Open | SF | SF | 1r | 1r |
| Grand Slam W-L | 7-2 | 10-2 | 1-3 | 0-1 |
| Tournaments Won | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Hardcourt W-L | 20-6 | 33-6 | 21-10 | 4-5 |
Doubles (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | 1993-8-16 | Cincinnati | Hard | Petr Korda (CZE) | Stefan Edberg (Sweden), Henrik Holm (Sweden) | 7-6 6-4 |
Personal life
After a four-year courtship, Agassi married Brooke Shields in a lavish ceremony on April 19, 1997. That February, they had filed suit against The National Enquirer claiming it printed "false and fabricated" statements: Brooke was undergoing counseling, binge-eating and taking pills; Agassi "lashed into" Brooke and he and Brooke's mother "tangled like wildcats" when she demanded a prenup. The case was dismissed, but the headlines were indicative of the union. Agassi filed for divorce, which was granted on April 9, 1999.
By the time the divorce was final, Agassi was dating Steffi Graf. With only their mothers as witnesses, they were married at his home on October 22, 2001. Their son, Jaden Gil, was born 6 weeks prematurely on October 26. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born on October 3, 2003.
External links
- Profile on atptennis.com (http://www.atptennis.com/en/players/playerprofiles/default2.asp?playersearch=Agassi,+A)
- Andre Agassi Foundation (http://www.agassifoundation.org/)
Template:Tennis World Number Ones (men)bg:Андре Агаси da:Andre Agassi de:Andre Agassi es:Andre Agassi fr:Andre Agassi it:Andre Agassi he:אנדרה אגסי nl:André Agassi ja:アンドレ・アガシ no:Andre Agassi pl:rishi bajaj sv:Andre Agassi