ATP News : 2006


Agassi Announces Retirement this year After US Open

Andre Agassi, who announced his retirement at a Wimbledon press conference Saturday, has bridged several tennis generations during his illustrious 20 years on the ATP circuit


When the 36-year-old Las Vegas native began his ATP career in 1986, Ivan Lendl was in his prime and John McEnroe wasn’t far from it. Agassi’s star was still rising when Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker reached their peaks in the late 1980s-early ‘90s.

Then Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang came to define a tennis era of their own. And after the others retired, Agassi continued to soldier on, playing well into the period marked by Roger Federer’s greatness.

In his press conference, Agassi announced that he will retire after the US Open. Before then, of course, he will play at Wimbledon, which begins Monday.

Along the way of his journey, Agassi picked up eight major titles and became only the fifth man in tennis history to win all four Grand Slams. He joined Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson in that exclusive club. And Agassi did it his own way.

The first major he won – Wimbledon in 1992 – was the one least expected from him, given his baseline style of play. And it wasn’t a straight line up for the man who was pushed to be a tennis champion almost from birth by a loving yet demanding father.

Agassi, beset by injuries, loss of confidence and listing motivation, fell to No. 141 in the world in November of 1997. He then played two Challenger events (a level below ATP tournaments) to begin his path back to the top of the rankings.

And just as Agassi’s game grew, so did his personality. He began his ATP career promoting the image of a Vegas showman. He had long dyed hair and wore funky tennis clothes. He starred in TV ads proclaiming that “Image is Everything” and that his diet of choice was donuts.

But by last year he had become perhaps the most philanthropic athlete in history, donating millions of dollars to help underprivileged children in his hometown of Las Vegas, even building his own school there.




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