Tennis: Agassi's career comes to a close

Andre Agassi waves goodbye to the crowds in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Picture / Reuters

NEW YORK - Andre Agassi's remarkable tennis career ended in the US Open here today when he lost to big-serving German qualifier Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-7 6-4 7-5.

Suffering from severe back pain and unable to draw strength from the wildly partisan crowd, the 36-year-old Agassi sobbed uncontrollably after a prolonged standing ovation following his third-round defeat.

"The scoreboard said I lost today but the scoreboard doesn't say what I've found," Agassi told the capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"You have willed me to succeed."

Agassi, one of only five men to win all four grand slams, was unable to deliver his best performance due to severe back pain that forced him to take several cortisone injections over the past week.

He had trouble bending, reaching and backpedaling, problems that allowed the 25-year-old Becker to take control of the match early.

Agassi double-faulted to lose the first set to the 2004 collegiate single champion at Baylor University.

But Agassi refused to quit, winning the second-set tiebreaker 7-4 to give the partisan crowd hope that the Las Vegas native was ready to stage another miracle fightback.

Becker, however, also refused to yield and used his 27 aces and 82 winners to send Agassi into retirement.

"He's one of a kind," Becker said of Agassi.

"For me, it was a great honour to play him. I wish him all the best. He's going to be very happy in life."

Becker, ranked 122th in the world, appeared to tire in the third and fourth sets but found another gear to subdue Agassi, who blasted 21 aces and 37 winners for the match.

While Agassi is undoubtedly the most popular player of his generation with the fans, he is also highly regarded by his fellow players and they gave him a retirement send-off straight from the heart.

"When I went into the locker room afterwards, they all were standing and applauding me," said Agassi.

"The greatest applause that any person will ever receive in their life is that which comes from their peers.

"It's not like we're a company working together to accomplish something... To have them applaud you is the ultimate compliment."

"The part that makes this so good over the years is the fact that it will come to an end and a goodbye makes you really take in what you get to share and experience.

"The pain of the goodbye really lifts the joy of the experience. I'm very much at peace with that."

As a teenager who courted controversy with a seeming lack of respect for authority and a unique sense of fashion that had traditionalists tearing their hair out, Agassi's transition to caring, elder statesman has been something to behold.

He said he had enjoyed that evolution most of all.

When he fell to number 141 in the world rankings in November 1996, it took a change of lifestyle and outlook for Agassi to come back to the top.

"My motivation was just wanting it to be on my terms," Agassi said.

"I didn't know I would be able to get back to the top. I knew that I would try to get the most out of myself every day from that day forward. That was my commitment. That never stopped. That's probably something I take the most pride in."

Agassi also paid tribute to the effect his wife and former world number one Steffi Graf had in his ability to stay at or close to the top well into his thirties.

"Overall, she's been the reason why I've been able to do this over the last six years," he said. "Certainly since we had children. She's given me a lot. When I met her, I think I went 27-1 in Grand Slam matches."

Having begun his career at the US Open in 1996, it was fitting that Agassi should say goodbye there.

"That's what I planned on," he said.

"This is the place that's given me the most over the years, that has touched me in a way that I haven't experienced anywhere else."

Agassi will be able to spend more time running his charity to help at-risk children but he hinted he would stay close to tennis.

"I hope I can be involved in this game in a way that makes a difference to it."

What other players think:

Serena Williams:

"He's had just such a positive influence I think on players' attitudes."

"He's also had a great style. I think the game is going to miss him more than probably they miss anyone."

Lleyton Hewitt:

"He's one of the best that I've ever played against."

"He's definitely the best ball-striker that I've ever played against, the cleanest hitter of the ball."

Andy Roddick:

"He's obviously one of the best ever."

"I think what makes him so different is his crossover appeal.

"He was able to take tennis to a totally different demographic, create interest in tennis at all times."

Rafael Nadal:

"He's a legend of tennis."

"He is one of the more charismatic players in the world. He deserves respect and admiration from everybody, no? He plays a lot of years and (at an) unbelievable level. That's very, very difficult."

James Blake:

"We all owe a little debt of gratitude for what he's done for the sport because he's transcended the sport to become an international superstar, more so than any other tennis player over the last 20 years."

"That's helped the exposure, and we all appreciate that."

ANDRE AGASSI'S CAREER

Born: April 29, 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Turned professional: 1986

* Won his first title as a wildcard in Itaparica in 1987. A year later, he won six titles from seven finals and reached both the French and US Open semi-finals.

* In 1992 he won his first grand slam at Wimbledon, defeating Goran Ivanisevic in five sets, and led the US to the Davis Cup title.

* Ranked world number one for the first time in April 1995, the same year that he won a career-high seven titles in a season, including first Australian Open crown.

* Agassi took Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

* Agassi ended 1999 as world number one, winning the French and US Opens after falling at one stage to 141st. He also became the fifth man - along with Don Budge, Rod Laver, Fred Perry and Roy Emerson - to win all four grand slam titles in his career.

* In 2001 he married former women's number one Steffi Graf in October, days before the birth of their son Jaden Gil.

* Agassi became the first overseas player to win four men's singles titles at the Australian Open after defeating Schuettler in 2003. The same year he played his 1,000th professional match at the Stella Artois Championships while his daughter Jaz Elle was born in October.

* Agassi announced in June this year that he would retire after the US Open. After pulling off another miraculous victory in beating eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis in five epic sets, Agassi finally said farewell after losing in four sets to German Benjamin Becker in the third round of the US Open.

- REUTERS