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Ageless Agassi reaches millennium match
London, June 09: Though he was born in Las Vegas, the real journey started at the US Open, a 16-year-old Andre Agassi losing -- strange, but true -- to a Briton, Jeremy Bates, in his first ever grand slam match.
London, June 09: Though he was born in Las Vegas, the real journey started at the US Open, a 16-year-old Andre Agassi losing -- strange, but true -- to a Briton, Jeremy Bates, in his first ever grand slam match.
Agassi checked out 2,816 dollars richer for his first taste of the big time and could scarcely have imagined that, 17 years later, he would go into his 1000th top class match as a multiple slam winner and perhaps the greatest player the modern game has seen.
Agassi's opening match on Wednesday as he returns to Queens Club after a three-year absence will see him play that millennium match against either Wimbledon semi-finalist Vladimir Voltchkov or Australian Peter Luczak.
The American star, who won the 1999 French Open to become the first man ever to win all four crowns on three different surfaces, has proved emphatically that turning 30 does not mark the end of the road for a true champion.
The real beginning, in fact, came even before La Quinta, with a four-year-old Agassi hitting for fun with greats such as Bjorn Borg, Ilie Nastase and Harold Solomon.
Agassi's 765 wins to date leave him sixth on the all-time list of open era match winners in men's tennis.
It may be asking too much to catch up with Jimmy Connors, who won a staggering 1155 of the 1425 matches he played, while Ivan Lendl also broke through the 1000 win barrier, emerging victorious in 1068 of 1310 contests.
Bureau Report
Agassi's opening match on Wednesday as he returns to Queens Club after a three-year absence will see him play that millennium match against either Wimbledon semi-finalist Vladimir Voltchkov or Australian Peter Luczak.
The American star, who won the 1999 French Open to become the first man ever to win all four crowns on three different surfaces, has proved emphatically that turning 30 does not mark the end of the road for a true champion.
The real beginning, in fact, came even before La Quinta, with a four-year-old Agassi hitting for fun with greats such as Bjorn Borg, Ilie Nastase and Harold Solomon.
Agassi's 765 wins to date leave him sixth on the all-time list of open era match winners in men's tennis.
It may be asking too much to catch up with Jimmy Connors, who won a staggering 1155 of the 1425 matches he played, while Ivan Lendl also broke through the 1000 win barrier, emerging victorious in 1068 of 1310 contests.
Bureau Report