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
He kept raising his game, ... He had me under a lot of pressure. He went through a stretch there where I was lucky if every third point I was in the point. I mean, he was hitting ace after ace.
The challenge is real simple. Most people have weaknesses and most people only have one great shot. Federer doesn't have weaknesses and has a few great shots. So that equates to a problem. You hit it in that corner and that corner and that corner and that corner, over and over again, and you beat him. But you got to do it.
He was really hitting the ball clean and big and making me feel like I was a step behind on all of my shots, ... ... It was quality tennis and the tennis stayed pretty high throughout.
If I was coaching him, I'd fine him $100 every time he hit a groundstroke, ... In his most difficult moments, he was more awkward than I anticipated.
The ball never came in my range today. I didn't play badly but it certainly wasn't good enough. I needed to settle down, but as soon as I tried to get a rally going, he would take his chances and hit some good passing shots. You've got to credit him with that.
I was a bit discouraged there in the fourth. He went through a stretch there where I was lucky if every third point, I was in the point. He was hitting ace after ace. I just needed a chance, and I didn't get that till the fifth.
The third and fourth set, I felt I was a bit living on the edge with my serve. He was getting a lot of good swings at it, had me under a lot of pressure. But the fifth, I had a few good easy hold games and started to relax a little bit more and hit my spots a little bit better, so that helped me to relax on my return games, as well.
I couldn't really hit balls for a month at least due to my ankle. You come back, try to get ready in a hurry and you force it and things just don't respond if you try to do it too soon.
I thought maybe if I tape it and I support it maybe I could push through, ... But the foot went to the outside and down. So on the outside three ligaments were gone and on the inside I had the compression of the bone hitting bone, so I have a bone bruise on the inside.
Oh, how do you find words for what this means? This has been some of the greatest memories I've ever had on the court, ... I'll have these memories the rest of my life. Being in the finals at 35 just means you're going to have to put up with me a lot longer.
It took me a while after Paris to get healed up, a lot longer than I anticipated,
His serve was more awkward than I anticipated. If you don't get a good return, he immediately gets on the offense. That's the sign of a great player.
In the middle to late part of the third set, the sciatic nerve in my back started to get inflamed and it sent pain down my right leg and it got worse by the minute,
It's just been terrible this year for the number of players who haven't been ready to play here,