Akit hozzám hasonlóan zavar, hogy egyesek öncélúan zárt topicot csinálnak és kiskirályt játszanak benne, azonkívül szereti Agassit vagy csak véleménye van róla, az ide bármikor írhat.
Amióta az eszemet tudom, azóta Agassi a kedvencem. A valaha volt egyik legnagyobb sportember. Nem ő a világ valaha volt legjobb, legeredményesebb teniszezője, de nála jobban senki sem szereti ezt a sportágat. Példakép lehet bárki számára.
A tenisztörténelem egyik legnagyszerübb menetelése volt az a két hét, amit a tavalyi US Openen bemutatott.
Nagyon remélem, idén már elkerülik a sérülések, s nyárra már ismét fel tudja majd venni a versenyt a Top 10-es ellenfelekkel.
Bár köztudott rólam,h nem vagyok Agassi-rajongó:),attól még ha vmi friss hírt találok róla,szivesen megosztom veletek.
Szal megérkezett Delraybe..
Agassi Hits The Beach
Andre Agassi hit the blue courts of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships Thursday, practicing under sunny skies as he prepared to begin his 2006 campaign next week.
Agassi heads a powerhouse line-up of superstars at the Delray Beach ITC, which includes James Blake, Robby Ginepri, Mardy Fish, Tommy Haas and defending champion Xavier Malisse.
The tournament gets underway with qualifying this Saturday and Sunday, which is free and open-to-the-public.
The Delray Beach International Tennis Championships snagged the biggest prize in its 14-year history earlier this month when Agassi requested a wild card to play in the tournament.
Agassi is the winner of eight Grand Slam singles titles and 60 ATP tournaments. He finished the 2005 season ranked No. 7 in the world * the 16th time in his career that he finished in the Top 10, tying him with Jimmy Connors for the top spot on that all-time list.
Fans across the world watched and cheered as the 35-year-old tennis icon made a spectacular run to the finals of the U.S. Open last fall, with consecutive five-set wins over Xavier Malisse, James Blake and Robby Ginepri.
You've met the international Andre. Now, meet the local who contributes in a big way to his community, to those who need him the most, the kids, the special kids, the at-risk kids. The fiery temperament on the courts of Agassi's early pro career has definitely mellowed. The complexity of his lifestyle also seems to have mellowed through the years. His devotion to the city of his birth grows and grows. His best friend since he was eleven years old, Perry Rogers, is still his best friend and business manager. The Andre Agassi ' s Charitable Foundation is providing educational and recreational assistance for children who were abused, abandoned or otherwise underprivileged. It has raised more than $14 million for at-risk youth. The Foundation continues to fund Child Haven for abused and neglected children, the only such Clark County refuge, and The Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club.
The Foundation also contributes to eleven other organizations that help to build the futures of Las Vegas kids. Were you aware of thisAndre Agassi? Were you aware of the other side of the international Las Vegan?
Las Vegas NativeAndre Kirk Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on the 29th of April, 1970. His parents are Mike and Elizabeth. One of four children, his sisters are Rita and Tami. His brother is Phillip. Mike, a noted boxer began Andre's tennis training as soon as he was old enough to effectively hold a racket. He practiced with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors before he was twelve. He was coached at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, and turned pro in 1986. He did not win his first title until the next year. Well we remember the flamboyant young Andre with the long, blond hair in his early appearances on television. He was already known for his powerful forearm and his aggressive style of play. It was thrilling to watch his daring shots. His success on the court brought him high in the rankings. He won Wimbledon in 1992 and played on the United States Davis Cup team of 1991 and 1992. He was very popular with the fans. After surgery, his 1993 tournament schedule was greatly reduced, and it looked as though he might disappear from the tennis scene. But he came back strong, and though unseeded, he won the 1994 U.S. Open, returned to the Davis Cup team and won the gold medal in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. We watched his hair thin and his temperament moderate. The television endorsements changed to presenting the 'new' Andre. He dated and married Brooke Shields. They divorced in 1999. A new romance with Steffi Graff surfaced. The present day Andre, the one that won the French Open and the U.S. Open of 1999 and the Australian Open of 2000, is a strong fan favorite once again. He is in the elite company of Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and Fred Perry, players who won the men's singles title of the four major tournaments. That's Andre Agassi, the international tennis champion. There's another whole side to this complicated and fascinating man.
Rebel-turned-ambassador just living in the moment. Published January 27, 2006
Andre Agassi still sees big moments waiting out there for him. That's why he's still playing tennis. It's what keeps him committed.
It's part of why, at 36, off an ankle injury, when people keep asking when he'll act his age, he's coming for the first time to a fun, little tournament in Delray Beach next week. To find a big moment.
"Of course, for me, a big moment has come to mean so many different things," he said.
And then he's off talking not so much about playing in the U.S. Open final last year, but how showing up on the court can impact kids at his charter school in the inner city of Las Vegas. And how his boy, now 4, can see another angle to him than just dad.
"I see the way it is with my wife," Agassi says of Steffi Graf. "She was one of the best athletes in the world. [Jaden, 4] doesn't even realize that."
Bjorn Borg quit at 26. Ivan Lendl did at 34. Pete Sampras, who was Agassi's contemporary, stopped at 32.
Agassi is still going.
He's still growing, too, in his third decade in the public eye. He's still out there running with the kids and making as much sense with his words as anyone in sports. A big moment? Of course it's changed for him. He's changed. His world has.
"If we're talking about winning a Grand Slam, I'd need a few things to fall my way," he said. "But I consider so many other things big. For me, playing in front of a small group of people, in a tough match, working hard at 36 -- I don't take those times for granted.
"I find myself getting to enjoy the icing on the cake quite often now. I'm at an age I can appreciate what these opportunities mean, and what I can do, and how many people benefit. There's a lot of wins out there for me, personally, regardless of the score."
One of the rewards of watching a player grow up, then age, is watching him or her become a better person. That's it. Just watching. Let's face it, what could Agassi or anyone else talk about at 17 with any sense of perspective? Hair?
Now he says how "I'd like to burn those pictures of me from back then" in the way lots of us would like to burn something from our teenage years. His life has undergone full rewrite that way. He has not just grown up. He's grown introspective.
He has gone full circle from rebel to statesman, from tennis brat to public icon, from heartthrob to a husband and father, as well as a tennis ambassador.
Sampras, for one, always needed a singular mindset to succeed in tennis. Agassi always went the other way. He kept trying on different thoughts at different ages until here, by now, he's a little bit of all of them. And a lot more interesting than most people in the spotlight.
Tiger Woods, at 30, offers little of himself beyond his swing. Michael Jordan never became much of a voice beyond the court.
Agassi can talk of the successes of his charter school, of 10 years of helping underprivileged kids, of how when "you see someone take ownership of their future it's the greatest feeling you can have."
He can talk of a resort he's building in the mountains of Idaho. "I'm looking forward to it as one of the greatest places of the world," he said.
Ultimately, he comes back to tennis, because it still defines him best. He missed the Australian Open because he wasn't ready. An ankle injury playing racquetball set him back. So Delray Beach will be his entry point into the season.
"The biggest question I have to answer at this point in my career is do I have game to compete with the rest of the world on a consistent basis," he said. "I still feel I can answer it, `Yes.' I still enjoy traveling the world and competing."
You don't need a record book to know Agassi. You don't need to know the eight Grand Slam titles, the 60 titles overall or the nearly $31 million in prize money. You just need to know he's 36 and not just still playing. He's still sure a big moment will find him every time out.
