The Andre Agassi Pages |
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 Agassi comes from behind
for historic winANDRE AGASSI def. ANDREI MEDVEDEV 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Down two sets to none and looking nervous and cold on Center Court, Agassi seemed to be headed for a third loss in three French Open championship matches. Showing the mental and physical toughness he has throughout the tournament, however, Andre pulled back to play some scintillating tennis and pull off his biggest come-back ever. Agassi began attacking the net, hitting harder, and turned the match around to win his first French Open and become only the 5th player ever to win every Grand Slam. Agassi is the first man to accomplish the feat since Rod Laver last did it in 1969. Andre also holds the distinction of being the only man to ever win all four Grand Slams on 3 different surfaces. Medvedev, a good friend of Agassi's, paid a high compliment to Agassi, saying "I've lost to a great champion today." Agassi and Medvedev embraced after the match and again on the award stage, showing sportsmanship and spirit that had the crowd on its feet with deafening applause. Agassi's win will see him jump 10 spots in the rankings to number 4 in the world. Agassi faces Filippini, looks to enter semis Having beaten clay-king and defending champion Carlos Moya on Sunday, Agassi continues his remarkable run at the French Open this year against an opponent that should pose much less of a threat. Uruguayan Marcelo Filippini is playing his first grand slam quarterfinal match ever, and although the 31-year old did not drop a set in his first four matches in Paris, he should prove and easier opponent than Moya for the American 13th seed. While Agassi has shown better tennis in previous years, his mental composure has been phenomenal. He has come from behind in 3 out of his first 4 matches, and on Sunday, he rebounded from a set and two breaks down to defeat Moya in the sweltering Paris heat. Agassi, who has been accused of giving up when in such situations and being not fit enough to play long matches on clay, has shown both physical and mental toughness in his matches so far. A title here in Paris would mean Agassi completes a personal grand slam -- he would be the first man to have done so in a long, long time. If he enters the semis by defeating Filippini on Tuesday, a likely opponent will be Marcelo Rios -- a player who Agassi has had a lot of trouble with in the past and, incidentally, whose favorite surface is clay. Agassi cruises past Woodruff, enters round of 16 Agassi cruised comfortably into the 4th round, disposing of countryman Chris Woodruff in straight sets. Although his two previous wins had been difficult matches, in the third-round match today, Woodruff did not test Andre. Agassi played solid tennis to close out a much-needed straight sets win after taking 4 sets in his first-round encounter and going the distance in the second round. Andre's task now becomes a much harder and more interesting one: he faces the defending champion and one of the favorites this year, Carlos Moya, in the round of 16. If Andre manages to pull off the big win over Moya on clay, his chances for being the first player to win all the Slams will be greatly enhanced. Agassi comes from behind for 5-set win at French Open The scenario was one Agassi fans have seen way too many times at the French Open: Andre started out well but found himself losing control of the match against a clay court specialist. Agassi was down 2 sets to 1, 5 games to 4, and 0-30, two points away from another early exit at Roland Garros. But this time Agassi showed the composure of a veteran to pull back, hold his service, and win the second set 7-5. Although he is often criticized for his lack of fitness and his poor record when matches go 5 sets, Agassi ended the match playing solid tennis and Clement fell apart in the final set to give it 6-0. Agassi showed no signs of his lingering shoulder injury, hitting the ball well, moving well, and looking remarkably fit for a 29-year old pitted against a much younger opponent, a Frenchman who had the full support of the crowd, too. After a 3 hour, 20 minute match, Agassi looked healthy enough to play again. He has shown solid composure and good tennis in his first two matches in Paris. His next opponent is American Chris Woodruff, who beat Agassi here a few years ago, but Woodruff will have a difficult time contending with Andre if he continues to be this solid to escalate his level of play. Agassi wins first match at French Open Despite not looking his best on-court, Agassi had a successful comeback at the French Open after missing several weeks on the tour with an injured shoulder. Andre beat unseeded Argentinian Franco Squillari in 4-sets, ending the match with three straight aces. Other seeded players had a rough time, too, including Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who took 4 sets to beat Michael Chang, and Carlos Moya, a possible quarterfinal opponent of Agassi's, who took 5. Stay tuned for the latest. French Open underway, Agassi looks healthy Agassi was one of the earliest players to arrive in Paris and has been practicing, showing no signs of the shoulder injury which has spoiled most of his season thus far. While his record has been good when he is healthy enough to play (Agassi has already won a title this year), Agassi's road to the only Grand Slam that has eluded him will not be easy: he is in the same half of the draw as Carlos Moya and could face Cedric Pioline, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, as early as the second round. Early casualties at this year's French Open include Croat Goran Ivanisavic. Stay tuned for the latest. Agassi beats Becker to win first title of '99 Agassi, Shields file for divorce Agassi looks to win first title of the year Agassi enters Semi-Finals Agassi seeded 3rd in Salem Open This Week in
Hong Kong Agassi ready for Open BMW Open, Munich May 3, 1998 Sweden's Thomas Enqvist beat Agassi in a thrilling final on Sunday afternoon at the BMW Open in Munich. Here is the story from CNN/SI. It was Agassi's 4th final appearance in 1998, but he failed to win his 3rd title of the year. However, he has shown impressive form on the European dirt this week, which has boosted his chances of a good French Open showing this month. The first two sets between Agassi and Enqvist could have gone either way, and the two players split them with brilliant winners at the end of each one. Agassi failed to regain control after Enqvist won the second-set tiebreak, however, and after about two and a quarter hours of play, the Swede won his third victory over Agassi to claim the title. Enqvist now leads Andre 3-2 in their lifetime head-to-heads. Agassi has decided not to playin Hamburg this coming week, but is still considering an appearance in Rome before entering the French Open. May 2, 1998 Andre Agassi is into his first clay court final in a long time, and he's looking better than he has looked on the court all year long. One day after he routed the second seed Bjorkman in less than an hour, he defeated Spaniard Blanco in straight sets. He is now into his fourth final of 1998, and faces Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in the finals on Sunday. Here is the story. However, in other news, Andre decided not to use his wild card into the tournament in Hamburg next week. He said he may play Rome before the French, but nothing was decided yet. If Andre keeps playing the way he has this weekend, he will be a favorite for capturing the French this month. His ATP Tour record this year is an impressive 30-wins 6-losses, making him the player with the highest number of wins in 98. He is currently ranked fifth in the prize-money list, but will likely move even higher after this weekend. (05/01/98) Andre Agassi was unstoppable on Friday afternoon. He thrashed the second seed, Jonas Bjorkman, in their quarterfinal match at theBMW Open in Munich, Germany. Agassi is now into the semifinals, and looks to be in good shape to win his first clay court tournament in a long time. In other news, Andre has accepted a wild card into the clay court tourney in Hamburg, Germany next week. It will be his third clay court tournament in as many weeks, as he prepares for the French Open later this month. Last year Andre played in only one clay court tournament during the whole season. If he has a good showing this week and next week in Hamburg, he could be a strong contender for the French Open, the only Grand Slam that has eluded him so far. (04/29/98) Andre Agassi, the eigth seed, finally looks within striking distance of a clay court title. He was absolutely flawless in a straight-set 6-1, 6-4 victory over German Rainer Schuttler. Agassi is now into the quarterfinals of the $500,000 BMW Open in Munich, Germany. (04/28/98) It took three sets, but Andre Agassi won his opening match at the $500,000 BMW Open, and he can now celebrate his birthday on Wednesday in style. The BMW Open is a Mercedes Super 9 event being played this week in Munich, Germany. It is one of the 5 pilot tournaments this year in which the ATP tour is allowing coaching during matches - something that has been strictly forbidden in past years. Andre and Brad Gilbert took advantage of that rule on Wednesday when Brad came down to talk to Andre during a changeover. Meanwhile, Mark Woodforde won his first set against Agassi on Tuesday when he took the second set 6-3, but the American then took over to win the third set 6-3 and cruise into the second round. Conditions were far from ideal, and it took Andre just over an hour and a half to seal the victory. Here is the story from CNNSI. Agassi plays his second round match on Thursday. Bookmark this page, and see you then. (Click Here to Search Yahoo! News on the latest Agassi Stories now.)(04/27/98) Andre Agassi will try to leave his second round defeat at the hand of Pete Sampras last week behind on Monday, when he starts off at the BMW Open, his second clay-court tourney of 98. Andre is the 8th seed, and faces unseed Australian Todd Woodbridge in his opening round. Sampras opted to play in Atlanta this week, rather than to stay in Europe, but Andre will face lots of competition from the likes of Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten and other European clay-court specialists like Bruguera. Andre started off 1998 brilliantly but has somewhat slowed down in the last few weeks. This week in Munich is an opportunity for him to get back on track, and winning the tournament would boost his rankings and be an ideal way for him to go into the French Open. What about Woodbridge? Well, in their four previous meetings, he has failed to win a set against Agassi. They played earlier this year in Indian Wells, and thrice on clay (including two meetings at the French), and Agassi has managed to handily win each time. (04/25/98) Agassi's start to the clay-court season was far from ideal. He lost to Pete Sampras in a match reminescent of their rivalry days a few years ago which knocked him out of the Monte Carlo Open in only the second round. Although he made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles competition in Monte Carlo with Petr Korda, their opponents Dosodel and Olhovskiy were given a walk-over to the semi-finals. Coming up this week for Agassi is the BMW Open in Germany, where he will hopefully have a good showing leading up the French Open in May. In other tennis news, Sampras will regain the number 1 ranking on Monday from Marcelo Rios, who decided not to play this week due to an injury. Got any predictions on how you thing Agassi will do this week in Germany? Well Sign my Guestbook and let us know. Monte Carlo Open, Monaco (04/23/98) Andre Agassi may be out of the singles competition in the Monte Carlo Open, but alongside parter Petr Korda, he has made it into the quarterfinals of the doubles competition in Monaco. This is one of Agassi's rare ventures into the doubles draw, but he and Korda, who entered the doubles on a wildcard, had no trouble dismissing the 3rd seeds Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Daniel Vacek in straight sets on Thursday 7-5, 6-0. Meanwhile, Pete Sampras, who defeated Agassi in the second round, suffered and embarassing 6-1, 6-1 loss to Fabrice Santoro on Thursday, hurting his chances of regaining the number 1 ranking this season. (04/22/98) Pete Sampras, playing his first clay-court
match of the year, beat Agassi in straights sets on Wednesday afternoon in the second
round of the Monte Carlo Open in Monaco. It was the twenty-second meeting beetween the
American pair, and the 2nd of 1998. Agassi and Sampras have now split their two meetings
this year, while Sampras now leads the all-time head-to-head by 13-9. It was the first
time Sampras defeated Agassi on clay, and by doing so, he gave his chances of reclaiming
his number 1 ranking this week a huge boost. (4/20/98) On Wednesday, all eyes in the tennis world will be watching Americans Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras play for a place in the third round of the Monte Carlo Open in Monaco. Agassi was flawless on Tuesday in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Todd Martin which took only 55 minutes. Agassi's ease in dismantling his fellow American was all the more impressive after considering the fact that Martin was coming off a tournament win in Barcelona last week, while it was Agassi's first clay-court match in almost a year. In their previous meeting this year, Agassi defeated Pete Sampras easily in the finals of the Sybase Open to begin a comeback that has seen Andre rise from the 100's in the rankings to number 22 - his present ranking. While ranking favors Sampras in the meeting, Agassi has clearly been playing better this year and certainly has a game more suited to the slow, red clay surface. In fact, Sampras has never even won a set against Agassi on clay, let alone threatened to win a match.Defeating Sampras would be an ideal start to Andre's clay-court season. Sign my Guestbook with predictions and comments, and check back for the result of that match. Here is a story on the clash, and here is another. (4/20/98) In his first clay-court match of the year, Andre Agassi won impressively and easily against fellow American Todd Martin. Agassi defeated Martin 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the $2.2 million Monte Carlo Open. Despite the fact that he had just come off a clay-court tournament win, Martin could to nothing to stop the 22nd-ranked Agassi. Click here to read the story. Andre now faces Pete Sampras in round 2, a match that could prove to be crucial to the success of both Andre and Pete for the duration of the clay-court season. Here is the draw for the Monte Carlo Open, which boasts an impressive field of players including Sampras, Agassi, and Boris Becker. Davis Cup Yevgeny Kafelnikov gave Russian supporters hope by crushing Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 in the first reverse-singles match of the USA-Russia Davis Cup tie on Monday. Here is the story. Then Jim Courier saved the day for the Americans by beating Marat Safin in a tought five-setter to give the US a 3-2 win over the Russians, despite Kafelnikov's brilliant play this weekend. Agassi failed to break Bill Tilden's record of straight Davis Cup victories, but neverthe less he evened the record at 16 straight wins. He lost his first match since 1990 against a red-hot Kafelnikov. Agassi never found his rhythm, while Kafelnikov was in his groove from the first point. Agassi tossed his racket in disgust at the end of the match, and later took all the blame for his play. Agassi's Davis Cup record is now 25-5. Scroll down to read about Agassi's clay-court agenda from now until the French Open. Davis Cup Go to the Davis Cup site to get tons of information on all the ties, all the players, and even to view NETCAM to watch the matches live, or hear them in realtime using Shockwave. Here is Agassi's player profile from the site. An article on the US Davis cup team facing Russia, and Agassi's role. Lipton Championships Rios defeats Agassi in finals of Lipton Championships,
becomes new world #1 Marcelo Rios, playing the best tennis of his career, easily dismissed Agassi in straight sets last Sunday afternoon to win the Lipton Championships. Here is the story. Rios is now the #1 player on the ATP Tour, while Agassi's ranking has risen to #22. Sunday afternoon, Rios and Agassi battled it out from the baseline from the first point, but Rios clearly gave Andre more than he could handle in the end. Agassi was down 3-0 and then 4-1 in the first set before getting his game together and breaking back in order to tie the match at 5-5. Rios then played a tenative 11th game, but managed to hold serve, putting the pressure on Andre, who would serve to stay in the first set. Andre was unable to hold, and it was all downhill from there. Rios his solid groundstrokes, passing shots, and winners to handily claim the 2nd and 3rd sets, along with the championship. Go here to
hear what Agassi has said over the week at the Lipton in his interviews. For a more
comprehensive list of over 50 Agassi interviews, go here. Andre spent Monday night at Miami's South Beach All Star Cafe hosting a party. Click here to read all about it, or click here to watch streaming video from the event... |
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