Tennis: Agassi makes Hall of Fame speech love letter to game

The long hair is long gone, the denim shorts have faded to memory, and there was Andre Agassi accepting induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame yesterday with an overdue affection for the sport he once resented and a rejection of the "image is everything" attitude that helped propel him to stardom.

In a tender tribute to family and philanthropy, Agassi was introduced by a student at the charter school he opened in Las Vegas and joined on centre court by his wife, fellow Hall of Famer Steffi Graf.

Gone was the self-styled, long-haired rebel who rose to No 1 in the world but, it now seems, did not enjoy a single moment of it.

Instead, Agassi turned his speech into a love letter of sorts for tennis and even the father who pushed him - not always gently - to play, commanding him, at the age of 5, to some day win Wimbledon.

"I fell in love with tennis far too late in my life. But the reason I have everything I hold dear is because tennis has loved me back," Agassi said.

"If we're lucky in life, we get a few moments where we don't have to wonder if we made our parents proud. I want to thank tennis for giving me those moments."

Sprinkling his comments with gratitude for fellow Hall of Famers Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe and "the woman who still takes my breath away every day, Stefanie Graf", Agassi also recounted a meeting with Nelson Mandela in which the former South African President told him, "You must live carefully."

"I didn't always live carefully. I didn't always pay tennis the respect it deserved," Agassi admitted. "I didn't know myself, and I didn't realise that my troubles were of my own making."

Also inducted into the tennis shrine was contributor Fern "Peachy" Kellmeyer. The first woman to play on a men's US university college team, she fought the system that prohibited athletic scholarships for women.

She played in the US Open at 15 and was the first employee of the WTA, sticking around for 38 years as it grew from a tour with US$309,000 ($368,700) in total purses to one that paid out more than US$89 million.

Agassi has helped to raise US$150 million for education reform with his foundation. An eight-time Grand Slam champion and 1996 Olympic gold medallist who was No 1 in the world for 101 straight weeks, Agassi plummeted to No 141 in the rankings and by 1997 was using crystal methamphetamine "a lot".

Deciding to rebuild his career, he turned to tennis' minor circuit and in 1999 he won his second US Open, finished second at Wimbledon and won his only French Open to complete the career Grand Slam.

He reached No 1 again in 2003 at the age of 33 and held it for 12 more weeks.

"Rock bottom's an interesting place. I moved in and spent some time there," Agassi said.

"Going from 141 in the world back to No 1 was not an accomplishment, it was the reflection of an accomplishment. It was a symptom of good choices."

At the end of his speech, he turned to his own children and the others in the crowd and told them to look at the nurses and teachers who "win their own personal Grand Slams".

"They know already what it took me decades to find out: to shine in secret, and to give when there's no one applauding," he said. "It's not too late to be inspired. It's not too late to change. It's not too late."

- AP