the last hurrah
i wish i was there in new york, in queens, in flushing meadows at the arthur ashe stadium at 8:30 pm eastern time on august 28, 2006. i wish i was there as one of the thousands of spectators who witnessed andre agassi won his first match in his last us open. i wish i was there to witness the last hurrah of this amazing tennis player.
this tennis player who always displayed brilliance and genius on the tennis court but an even greater gift off the court. this player who despite his rebellious early years and an "image is everything" persona is now one of the greatest if not the greatest ambassador of the game. well... i know i am gushing and all, but i just can't help but be effusive when talking about mr. agassi. he is without a doubt my favorite sports person ever. i have lots of sports idols but andre has always been my number one fave.
i still remember when i first took notice of andre. it was in 1990, in the college library in vet med. i was reading the "daily inquirer" sports section and the article was about his finals match with pete sampras. i asked my classmate sonnie f. who he wants to win between andre and pete. and he said he likes pete because agassi is all show and no substance. and just to be contrary i picked andre (or maybe because i didn't like pete from just his picture in the paper.) well, sonnie was right, pete won and from then on i rooted for andre. i guess am just a sucker for the underdog. an underdog who wore hot pink shirts, dyed his thinning hair, and wore bandanna.
i admit that am never one of his really faithful fans. i just saw several fans in the match last night with a banner saying "21 years of cheering for andre." wow! that's fandom to an art if not obsession. but as my friends can attest i've been a rabid fan since 1995. another year when he lost to pete in the us open. what is it with andre losing and my compulsion to root for him? while 1995 was a great year for him, he won his first australian open in his first try down under, 1996 and 1997 were bad years for him. he fell off the tennis charts and went down to rank 141. but then 1998 came and andre had his spectacular comeback. he won several events but unfortunately can only reach the quarters of the grand slams.
and then 1999, the fairy tale year. 1999 was the year of the career grand slam. 1999 was french open (where i watched squatting on my computer chair coz it seems to be the only position for me where andre wins his shots). french open 1999 was like a dream (icing and cherry on top was that it was Steffi's final slam too!). finals of wimbledon and of course sampras was there to spoil the back- to-back french and wimbledon slams. but then that summer he won his 2nd US Open, was the year-end number one and of course, it was also the year of steffi. so, yes indeed, 1999 was a great year.
in 2000 he won his 2nd australian open after an epic semifinals match with sampras. that was one of the greatest matches i've seen. the fourth-set tiebreaker was a gem. my vhs tape of that match was so overused and replaying that tie-break repeatedly was also the reason why my recorder broke down, but watching that match over and over was all worth the price of a new vhs player.
he won two more australian open after 2000. he reached the us open in 2002 and 2005, but thanks to sampras (again!) and roger he never won his third us open.
and now at 36 years old he is saying goodbye. i think even the most jaded of tennis fans will feel the loss of andre profoundly. he may not be everybody's favorite tennis player but i think he has touched the heart and soul of every tennis fan. and i know that he will be missed a whole damn lot.
i will surely miss those blazing returns, those punishing ground strokes and the two-handed backhand. i will miss the goose steps, the ritual of picking up three balls before service, the changing of the rackets for every new balls, shots of steffi and jaden and jaz, and well, even the "snot rockets." but most of all i will miss the eyes. i will miss his expressive brown eyes. for andre, the eyes are truly the mirror of his soul. his eyes always tell if he is going to win the match or lost it. his eyes always have it and i will miss them most.... waaaah!!!
this tennis player who always displayed brilliance and genius on the tennis court but an even greater gift off the court. this player who despite his rebellious early years and an "image is everything" persona is now one of the greatest if not the greatest ambassador of the game. well... i know i am gushing and all, but i just can't help but be effusive when talking about mr. agassi. he is without a doubt my favorite sports person ever. i have lots of sports idols but andre has always been my number one fave.
i still remember when i first took notice of andre. it was in 1990, in the college library in vet med. i was reading the "daily inquirer" sports section and the article was about his finals match with pete sampras. i asked my classmate sonnie f. who he wants to win between andre and pete. and he said he likes pete because agassi is all show and no substance. and just to be contrary i picked andre (or maybe because i didn't like pete from just his picture in the paper.) well, sonnie was right, pete won and from then on i rooted for andre. i guess am just a sucker for the underdog. an underdog who wore hot pink shirts, dyed his thinning hair, and wore bandanna.
i admit that am never one of his really faithful fans. i just saw several fans in the match last night with a banner saying "21 years of cheering for andre." wow! that's fandom to an art if not obsession. but as my friends can attest i've been a rabid fan since 1995. another year when he lost to pete in the us open. what is it with andre losing and my compulsion to root for him? while 1995 was a great year for him, he won his first australian open in his first try down under, 1996 and 1997 were bad years for him. he fell off the tennis charts and went down to rank 141. but then 1998 came and andre had his spectacular comeback. he won several events but unfortunately can only reach the quarters of the grand slams.
and then 1999, the fairy tale year. 1999 was the year of the career grand slam. 1999 was french open (where i watched squatting on my computer chair coz it seems to be the only position for me where andre wins his shots). french open 1999 was like a dream (icing and cherry on top was that it was Steffi's final slam too!). finals of wimbledon and of course sampras was there to spoil the back- to-back french and wimbledon slams. but then that summer he won his 2nd US Open, was the year-end number one and of course, it was also the year of steffi. so, yes indeed, 1999 was a great year.
in 2000 he won his 2nd australian open after an epic semifinals match with sampras. that was one of the greatest matches i've seen. the fourth-set tiebreaker was a gem. my vhs tape of that match was so overused and replaying that tie-break repeatedly was also the reason why my recorder broke down, but watching that match over and over was all worth the price of a new vhs player.
he won two more australian open after 2000. he reached the us open in 2002 and 2005, but thanks to sampras (again!) and roger he never won his third us open.
and now at 36 years old he is saying goodbye. i think even the most jaded of tennis fans will feel the loss of andre profoundly. he may not be everybody's favorite tennis player but i think he has touched the heart and soul of every tennis fan. and i know that he will be missed a whole damn lot.
i will surely miss those blazing returns, those punishing ground strokes and the two-handed backhand. i will miss the goose steps, the ritual of picking up three balls before service, the changing of the rackets for every new balls, shots of steffi and jaden and jaz, and well, even the "snot rockets." but most of all i will miss the eyes. i will miss his expressive brown eyes. for andre, the eyes are truly the mirror of his soul. his eyes always tell if he is going to win the match or lost it. his eyes always have it and i will miss them most.... waaaah!!!