Goodbye Andre

vinuneuro · #1 09-03-2006, 04:55 PM

It was painful watching him out there today with his back problems, but he fought hard. Tennis has def been different because of him and the class that he brought to the game, and we'll def miss it. Adios Andre.

X5Flyboy · #2 09-04-2006, 02:40 AM

from brash kid to class act - Here is a true role model, TO & all the other loud-mouths should learn from - Andre reminds me of Arthur Ashe - We need more of these people

motordavid · #3 09-04-2006, 09:43 AM

One of the T greats is off into the sunset...

Connors, Mac, AA...
Hard to imagine everyone jumping up and down
about Roddick, et al, 10 yrs from now. Not based
on their tennis skill, but what they "brought".

motordavid · #4 09-04-2006, 12:54 PM

Here's a good art. from today's NewYawkTimes...
espc. the paragraph that begins below Becker's pic.

Players Salute a Champion and, for Many, an Idol ...

Andre Agassi could not stop his tears from flowing as he walked, head down, to the locker room for the last time.

Suzy Allman for The New York Times
After an emotional loss in the third round, Andre Agassi took a few moments to collect himself, then thanked the fans at the United States Open.

Benjamin Becker became the answer to a trivia question Sunday in sending Agassi into retirement.

When he opened the door, he raised his head to a sound that was even more overwhelming than the din created by more than 23,000 cheering fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The players who had packed the men’s locker room erupted in an ovation that lasted for at least two minutes and that reverberated in the hallways and, he said, in his heart.
“The greatest applause that any person will ever receive in their life is that which comes from their peers,” Agassi said later. “It’s not like we’re a company who’s working together to accomplish something. We’re people that succeed, in some cases, at the demise of the other. To have them applaud you is the ultimate compliment.”
Agassi, whose return of serve was his signature, returned the favor, thanking his colleagues for their applause and speaking before them only moments after giving an emotional speech on center court.
“He gave a 40-second speech, the gist of it was, to respect the game,” said Brad Gilbert, Agassi’s former coach. “Everybody just stood clapping and was choked up. He made a lot of us think about our role in the sport.”
Andy Murray, Gilbert’s new protégé, said he was thinking about that moment for the rest of the day. “I’m not going to lie, but I think 50 percent, 60 percent of the people in there were probably in tears and were holding it back,” he said. “I know I was.”
Andy Roddick went over and shook Agassi’s hand. “Thanks for teaching me,” Roddick said he told Agassi.
“He would call me before matches and give me strategy advice before I was playing people when I was 17, 18 years old,” Roddick said. “I don’t know many people who will take time out of their day for some little punk, trying to give them strategy.”
Roddick reflected on Agassi’s broader impact.
“Every player in the draw, with the exception of someone who is 33, probably idolized Andre at some point,” Roddick said. “It’s got to be similar to what the N.B.A. rookies were like playing Jordan in his last year, you know. I mean, he’s just revolutionized the sport.”
Rafael Nadal watched much of the match and slipped into the stadium for the final game. He stayed for the crowd’s standing ovation while Agassi sat crying in his chair. Nadal, seeded second, was about to play at Armstrong Stadium but did not want to miss the experience.
“I got pretty emotional,” Nadal said in Spanish. “I started to cry a bit. These are always emotional moments. They are beautiful to keep in your mind, and to be able to see them here in person, as I did, it’s a fortunate thing.
He later added: “Agassi was a reference point in world tennis. He was surely one of the most charismatic players and he’s someone who, by changing style and image, I believe, left his mark on the game.”
Martina Navratilova, 49, a four-time United States Open singles champion, did not want to miss the match either. She is still in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles draws.
“I just wanted to be part of the moment,” Navratilova said, ducking into the women’s locker room to prepare for her doubles match.
The one person most responsible for the moment wished, in a way, that he had not been part of it. Benjamin Becker, a 25-year-old qualifier from Germany, sent Agassi into retirement with his 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 victory. He said he felt more than a little uncomfortable in the locker room.
“It was kind of an awkward situation, too, me walking in,” Becker said, adding: “You don’t know how to react. I saw him there. I was getting ready to take a shower. Everybody was watching. I kind of just made my way towards my locker and sat down.”
When Agassi finished his speech to the players, he sat down and accepted congratulations.
“He was obviously upset,” Murray said. “Who wouldn’t be when you finish playing your last match? Especially one you know you can’t finish maybe how you would have liked.
“But the whole way he went about everything today was pretty special.”