Andre Agassi- Treasure What is Left

[jbdbackfan]

So often in my lifetime have I seen great players in all sporting events come and go. For me this is true in baseball and tennis. I'll keep this on the tennis subject.

I am only 18 years old, though I have been around to see a fair share of great athletes come and go. The problem I find sitting here is that now that I look back at Pete Sampras for example, sure I watched him play, but now that he is retired and gone, I guess I never really treasured the time he had left before his retirement, or really enjoyed and made effort to watch him in his final months.

The point I am making is simple. I think everyone needs to see Andre Agassi and enjoy his work in his final weeks left as a pro. Whether you like him or not, he is a legend that one day you may regret not seeing. I don't want anyone after the US Open this year to sit and think "O man I missed watching Agassi" or "I never got around to watching his last matches". He is one of the best, if not the best, player to ever pick up a racket, and as sad as it is to see him hang up his jersey and racket for the last time in September we should really enjoy what we got left to watch. I've learned my lesson of missing out on enjoying past players and watching their final action, and Andre Agassi is definately one player no one should not find the time to tune in and watch a master of our game for the last time.

 

[emcee]

Problem is that he's more like a counterpuncher now. I never got to see the AA that just wacked the ball really hard all the time. Seems to me that the younger Agassi would be more fun to watch.

Agassi is a class act, and sometimes he pulls out some amazing returns out of nowhere, but he really isn't that much fun to watch for me.

 

[LowProfile]

I definitely would not call Agassi a counterpuncher. He still slaps the ball as hard as he did in his youth, except now he has a game plan to go along with it. Agassi barely has to move from his spot at the center of the baseline because he's making his opponents run side to side with the angles that he can generate by taking the ball off the rise.

It's fun to watch his opponents scramble, but after about five minutes this becomes boring. I never liked watching Agassi play. Very boring style.

 

[Freedom]

Agassi hits the ball so ridiculously hard. I think he's very fun to watch. His shotmaking ability is crazy. The only player I really enjoy watching more than Agassi is Federer.

 

[Andy Hewitt]

Problem is that he's more like a counterpuncher now. I never got to see the AA that just wacked the ball really hard all the time. Seems to me that the younger Agassi would be more fun to watch.

Agassi is a class act, and sometimes he pulls out some amazing returns out of nowhere, but he really isn't that much fun to watch for me.

Are you kidding me? I saw that 1992 final like last week and he is hiting the ball so f'n hard now, i love it!

 

[ACS]

I think the view of the "early Agassi" just walloping everything is a bit overblown. While he would often go for broke on low-percentage shots, the majority of his rally shots were hit with a significant amount of topspin (off both wings). While his winners were probably bigger back then, I would guess that, shot for shot, Agassi probably hits harder now than in the early & mid 90s, on account of his typical rally shot being much flatter.

Another point is that when he came on the scene, Agassi hit harder off the ground than everybody else...Lendl was really the only guy that could match him for pace off the ground, and those two were way ahead of the average player. Now, everybody hits huge off the ground, so Agassi doesn't stand out as much as he used to. Even as late as 1999, I saw Agassi play in Montreal, and he seemed to hit about 15% harder off the ground than anybody else. I remember seeing a match between Courier and Wayne Ferreria (two guys who were seen as having big groundstrokes)...Agassi played then next match, and, even during the warm-up, you could see a definite difference in the pace with which he hit the ball. Nowadays, with guys like Federer, Nadal, Safin, Gonzales, etc, his pace doesn't stand out as much.

Regardless, I think the original poster was right on the money...enjoy Agassi while we still can...I don't think we'll see anyone like him again.

 

[tangerine]

Problem is that he's more like a counterpuncher now. I never got to see the AA that just wacked the ball really hard all the time. Seems to me that the younger Agassi would be more fun to watch.

The younger Agassi was a brainless ball-basher with a flair for the dramatic. Had the internet been around in those days, this board would be up in arms over his behavior, most people would probably have anti-Agassi screennames and signatures, and a new "Agassi sucks!" thread would be created every .087954 seconds. :twisted:

 

[Indiantwist]

Agassi is a Tennis legend. That sums it all. Watching a legend play is a great treasure.