Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassiis an American retired professional tennis player and former World No. 1, who was one of the game's most dominant players from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi had been called the greatest service returner in the history of the game. Described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history", Agassi...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth29 April 1970
CityLas Vegas, NV
CountryUnited States of America
Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.
Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work
Pretty amazing. I don't know if I can put in context how this compares with some of my greatest experiences on the tennis court, but I know it's right up there, because this is what you work so hard for.
I've said before, I don't know how I'm going to go out, ... I know one thing, if I'm out there playing well and giving something back to the sport, it's going to be hard not to give it more.
Ivo, it's so hard to break him. One or two points can decide the match. It was good to close that one out, this was getting tougher.
This is what you work so hard for. This means as much to me as being in the finals.... There are few moments that can be this special.
I know it's right up there because this is what you work so hard for,
I need to work, and this is my work, ... I'm a tennis player, and I'll do it as hard as I can as long as I can, from how I see it right now.
He's writing checks that you only hope his body can cash. He plays very hard every single point.
He can keep his spin, but I'd rather take away his speed ? or make him right-handed. Any one of those things would change the dynamics dramatically. I'd first go speed, (and) then I'd go right-handed; then I'd go spin. On clay it's different. Spin would probably be right up there with the speed. On hard court, I can take the ball early and I didn't have much issue with that, but I did have issue with his ability to use his speed to get a hold of a point; and then he wouldn't let go of it once he had it.
If I feel that sharp pain on the court, it's impossible to play. That's what happened in Paris. I couldn't do anything. But normally the pain I live with is just during the cool down, the recovery. I don't mind a little pain in the evening after a hard day's work, to be quite honest, as long as I can go back out there the next day and be fully ready to go.
They were tough, tough conditions out there. It's too hard for me to move in those conditions. I wasn't penetrating and I wasn't reacting very well. It was a difficult day.
It's very sticky. It stops and everything else moves, ... It's hard to have confidence. Then when you try a little bit, it's still painful...I was just getting worse. It's not ready.
As much as I want to get out there and do the best I can, you will not see me on the court anymore if I'm not 100 percent. If I have a little pain in my life; that's fine. I just don't want it on the tennis court, because I work too hard to get out there and feel helpless.