| | NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi stood still as Todd Martin's final backhand whistled into the net. He leaned back, raised his arms and screamed, "Yes!"
And then, teeth bared, he grinned for what seemed like the longest time. Or was that a grimace?
|  | | Andre Agassi waves to the crowd after defeating Todd Martin. |
Ever since No. 1 seed Pete Sampras and two-time defending champion Patrick Rafter withdrew from this U.S. Open with injuries, it has been Agassi's tournament to win. Or lose. Even as he was eliminating the Axel Pretzschs and the Nicolas Escudes of the world, there was a dark side to Agassi's countenance; his brown eyes revealed what looked to be a weary soul.
Expectations will do that to you, especially when they are your own.
"When you have seven guys to beat to win a tournament, to be quite honest, for the most part, it doesn't matter who they are," Agassi said Sunday night. "You've got to go out there and do it."
Earlier, Agassi did what was expected of him, winning the men's singles title against Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-7 (7-2), 6-3, 6-2, at the National Tennis Center. He is the only man to win two Grand Slams this year, including the French Open, and probably will finish the season as the No. 1-ranked player for the first time ever.
The final was not as easy for Agassi as had been predicted, though.
Martin, playing as well as he can play, fired 23 aces and managed to take two tie-breakers. But the pace of the match took a little more from him each set. It was not a coincidence that the games he won in Agassi's winning sets waned from four to three to two.
In retrospect, it is amazing that Martin, gray hair and all, is actually two months younger than Agassi.
Or is it even more hard to believe that Martin failed to break Agassi's serve over 51 games and two tiebreakers? Afterward, Agassi said he couldn't remember ever going five sets and not losing his serve at least once.
It was only two years ago that Agassi was ranked No. 141 in the world and scraping along playing Challenger events. Admittedly, he had lost the motivation to play tennis. It appeared the three Grand Slams he won between 1992-95 might be the only three on his career resume. What would he have said if someone told him he would regain the No. 1 ranking and win a pair of Grand Slams?
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“ |
Part of me is convinced that if it wasn't
for those valleys, these peaks wouldn't be this high. It's kind of how my
spirit has always worked. ” |
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— Andre Agassi |
"I'd tell them to stop smoking the crack pipe," Agassi said, slyly.
He gathered himself slowly last year. He failed to advance beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam, but the components of his well-balanced game began to return. Agassi got himself into the best shape of his life. He was divorced from Brooke Shields. He realized he wouldn't have many more chances to win Grand Slams.
"Part of me is convinced that if it wasn't for those valleys, these peaks wouldn't be this high," Agassi said. "It's kind of how my spirit has always worked.
"It's always incredible to kind of surprise yourself and to really find yourself in a place where you didn't expect you could be. There's another element of fulfillment in just asking yourself to step up to the plate in a way that you know you can."
At this year's French Open, Agassi won all seven of his matches. At Wimbledon, he made it all the way to the final before losing to Sampras in straight sets.
And that is what was so vaguely disappointing about the U.S. Open final, despite Martin's terrific effort. Privately, I am sure, Agassi wished it had been Sampras.
Three times, at this year's Wimbledon and two previous U.S. Opens, Sampras had beaten him in a Grand Slam final. Would it have been easier to feel the adrenaline jazzing his synapses at the prospect of another shot at Sampras, or find a way not to lose to Martin, perhaps the nicest guy in professional sports?
Martin's strategy was to force the issue with his serve, as dense and heavy as plutonium, and finish points quickly by coming to net. At 6-foot-6, he does not have the stamina and the foot speed to stay with someone as superbly conditioned as Agassi. The problem was, Agassi's service return, the best in the game, did not often allow it.
Only in the two tiebreakers did Martin summon the enthusiasm to rip and run to net. Those frames were decidedly one-sided.
By the fourth set, Martin was starting to lose his legs, and with them, his serve. Agassi started breaking more easily. In the last set, he twice sprinted to his sideline chair after holding serve, once right in front of Martin.
Clearly, there are still elements of the cocky 16-year-old who turned professional 13 years ago. At one point, Agassi was standing 10 feet in front of Martin with a volley on his racket. Martin ducked his head under the net, leaving only his racket above. Agassi missed the racket, but could have parted Martin's hair with the rocket he hit.
"I think," Martin said, "he was going for me."
The image that Agassi rode to fame and fortune, of course, is something altogether different.
"Somebody showed me a picture recently of when I was like 16 years old," Agassi said. "In the picture, (I) was asked, 'Who is this person?'
"I looked at it. I said, 'Wow, she's cute. She has a nice figure, very narrow hips, nice legs, long, good hair.' All of a sudden, I went, 'Wow, that was me.'
"I've changed a lot. I don't quite have the hair anymore." | |
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