Agassi to retire after this year’s U.S. Open!

[Global Warming]

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/asiaxnyf18609032112.hmedium.jpg
Andre Agassi intends to play in four hard-court events in the United States between Wimbledon and the Open, in what will amount to a farewell tour for one of the most popular and successful tennis players in history.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13520961/

Sad news for the tennis world but it is probably time for him to hang it up.

[yg60m]

A great champion !! I admire what he did to come back at the top :clap: Moreover, he bought a Vector so he can't be a bad guy :wink:

[blinkmeat]

I will alwyas remember him as thus:

http://news.softpedia.com/images/news2/Andre-Agassi-And-Steffi-Graf-To-Own-A-Hotel-In-Idaho-2.jpg

[No.1]

He is a legend.

I was shocked when he cut off his hair. :shock:

But its time he left - getting beaten by Henman at Queens last week was embarrasing

[TT]

Well, I guess the time has come and indeed it's more and more difficult for him, but sad to know he is about to leave the courts

[No.1]

Well, I guess the time has come and indeed it's more and more difficult for him, but sad to know he is about to leave the courts

Hopefully he will return for some of the great exhibition matches :bah:

[Global Warming]

He is the only male pro tennis player I know...so him retiring will mean my tennis knowlege will just decrease.

You have never heard of Roger Federer?? :o

[No.1]

He is the only male pro tennis player I know...so him retiring will mean my tennis knowlege will just decrease.

To 0% it seems, lol.

[Global Warming]

He is a legend.

I was shocked when he cut off his hair. :shock:

But its time he left - getting beaten by Henman at Queens last week was embarrasing

Well I dont think that was embarassing it was Agassi's first game in like 4 months due to his back problems. Plus Agassi still made the 26th seed, Henman didnt make it.

[No.1]

He is a legend.

I was shocked when he cut off his hair. :shock:

But its time he left - getting beaten by Henman at Queens last week was embarrasing

Well I dont think that was embarassing it was Agassi's first game in like 4 months due to his back problems. Plus Agassi still made the 26th seed, Henman didnt make it.

Oh yah - i agree with that. Agassi had only played like 8 games this year, and so he was obviously rusty.

My main point really, is that i dislike Henman in the extreme :P He's an underachieving cock - and the fact that the whole of the UK gets behind him at Wimbledon every year to see him crash out is really annoying (especially when the commentators are the BBC's John Lloyd etc. who commentate with such bias it's unbelievable).

[bmagni]

Why is he even playing again ?? being beaten last year made it clear enough that new generation are already there... still I think he will perform great at the US open

[Global Warming]

Here is a nice article about Agassi by Bud Collins.-


"LONDON - Some feel that earlier this month in Paris Rafael Nadal took a little zing out of Wimbledon by putting an end to Roger Federer’s dream of a Grand Slam.

But with the annoucement today by Andre Agassi that he will end his magnificent career after this summer's U.S. Open, this Wimbledon will no doubt have a special feel to it.

Calling it a career
All eyes will be on Agassi. It was a sad note for countless of us when Father Timeless told us this would be his last Wimbledon.

This is the last time around at the All-England Club for Agassi -- the 14th at Wimbledon for him -- at in his words, “the place where it all began for me.”

Agassi acknowledged that the clock is now ticking too fast for him. What he meant about his “beginning” was his Wimbledon championship of 1992.

Said Agassi, “that allowed me to grow and become the player and person that I am today. I could never have dreamed I'd have the opportunity to win those championships (his eight majors), and learn to respect this, the greatest tournament in our sport.”

Adding the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1999, the Australian Open in 1995, 2000-'01, '03 and the French of 1999 to Wimbledon, Agassi became only the fifth guy to hold all four majors, following Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson.

Agassi's departing crack at a major will be the U.S. Open two months hence, the finish of one of the greatest careers.

“I look forward to ending (his career) on my home turf, New York, then embracing the future,” he said.

Agassi is the most popular and respected American male in the game since Arthur Ashe. He is to be admired for so much in such a long and outstanding career.

Given his demanding training regimen, competitive drive, shotmaking verve and experience, it can't be said that he doesn't still have a competitive level of play that makes no opponent want to take him on.

He still strikes the ball well enough that one can't claim his ability there has slipped, and that it provides any sort of opening for an opponent.

Agassi's return of serve is his stroke of genius, and it remains brilliant.

Plus, his experience makes him a tremendously smart player on the court, one seeking out the flaws of an opponent, and then punishing him for them.

But it became clear to him that he can't count on his back holding up, and that has led him to work hard to get back to Wimbledon for one last fortnight, and to end his career on his own terms. "

More - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13521358/