Of all the points of interest that we can find in the trajectory of Andre Agassi, today I want to talk about one of the sweetest, possibly its most special title. It happened 25 years ago on the slopes of Roland Garros, a tournament where he aimed to leave his mark from the beginning and which, however, was about to leave him with an incurable wound forever. He needed to lose two finals, travel through the desert and fall out of love with the circuit to then come back stronger, with the right team and willing to reap the fruits that were still left to be gleaned. In Paris he was the juiciest of all, an emotion that he throbs just by seeing the images.
“If there was any year where I could win Roland Garros, it was undoubtedly 1999”, Agassi himself acknowledged years later about the quote in question. “I played in the final in 1990 and 1991, being a favorite in both, but in 1999 I was already 29 years old, it was different. Two years before I had fallen from No. 1 to No. 140 in the ranking, but I managed to climb all that mountain. However, at that time clay court was very difficult for me, I was on the verge of not playing the tournament due to a pain in my shoulder, but my coach convinced me to play,” adds the one from Las Vegas about how he rebuilt his career. in 1998 to return to compete for major tournaments the following season.
The funny thing is that that clay court tour, it’s not that it was bad, it’s that it was almost non-existent. Agassi made his eleventh appearance at Roland Garros, being #14 in the world ranking and having won only two matches on clay that season, both in Rome. “I didn’t have an easy draw, I had some complicated duels, but once again I made it to the final… and once again, being the favorite. It’s more, The pressure was much greater in 1999 because he had already won the other three Grand Slams, so this was like a last chance. He would never be so close again,” the American firmly emphasizes.
A PENDING ACCOUNT
It was in Paris where they reached their first Grand Slam finals, but they would lose both the 1990 (Andrés Gómez) and 1991 (Jim Courier) finals. After winning Wimbledon (1992), the US Open (1994), the Open the Australia (1995), los Olympic Games (1996) and the ATP Finals (1990), the record required Agassi to continue buying packs until he found the missing card, a tournament to which he always attended with that backpack on his shoulders. “It was the only Slam that he had never won, the same one that he should have won ten years ago,” Andre commented with his sense of humor.
Except for a couple of quiet evenings, most of the matches he played in that edition were dramatic, duels that advanced to a fourth or fifth set, not to mention what happened in the final. With Andrey Medvedev On the other side of the net – a good player on clay who was looking at his first Grand Slam final – the context and the poster pointed to the American as the anticipated champion, but all predictions evaporated when he saw him lose both matches. first sets of the final. “I knew Andrei and his type of game very well, I also knew that two months ago he was about to leave tennis, the thing is that I went into that game very nervous, the night before was bad, This made me move very slowly, so everything around me happened very quickly. He was a very dangerous opponent on clay, especially in wet conditions, a robust player with a great serve and good backhand. “He controlled the ball well and moved quite well for his height,” the Nevadan analyzes his opponent.
“I wasn’t moving, I wasn’t playing well, until the rain came and the game stopped. There I had the opportunity to think, talk to my coach and restart everything from scratch,” Agassi confesses about the support he received in the locker room from Brad Gilbert, the man who resurrected him as an athlete. “At 4-4 in the third I made two double faults at 30-15. I got 30-40, I missed the first serve, so I thought I was going to commit the third double in a row. But no, I got an aggressive serve, moved forward and ended up with a dropshot into the net. Then I got psyched to win four points and get back into the game. From there, I only had to improve as the games went by.”
Ninety minutes later and with a legendary score (1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4), Agassi became the fifth player of the history in completes the Career Grand Slam after Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver y Roy Emerson, although he would be the first to achieve it on three different surfaces. He also became the third player in the Open Era to come back from two sets down in a Grand Slam final, after Björn Borg (1974) e Ivan Lendl (1984) achieved it in this same tournament decades ago. But the numbers only serve to consult them in the books, what is really difficult to show is Andre’s look after the final match point.
“There is no way to explain what it feels like in a moment like that, there comes a moment where you think you are not capable of achieving it, so once you achieve it you end up being surprised by something so big,” admits a man who won absolutely everything . “After that last point I was shocked, it was all over, the weight of having to win eight games instead of seven had finally been lifted from me. I had become Roland Garros champion and the feeling was incredible. After that inexplicable emotion, the next thing I noticed was joy, the pride of having gotten there,” says Gilbert’s pupil, who managed to extract the best version of him from the moment they began to work hand in hand.
CLOSE THE CIRCLE
Everyone smiled at that outcome, even his opponent, although it would take him a few months to recognize it. “Of course he knew his story, of course he knew how much he wanted to win Roland Garros. He needed it in some way, so I’m happy for him,” declared good old Medvedev, who had the worst part of the plan. That triumph transported Agassi back to heaven, a place he knew perfectly well and from which he fell due to lack of oxygen. Luckily he was an intelligent guy and, in that same fall, he left pennies along the way, in case in the future the stars aligned again and he had the opportunity to climb that abyss for the second time. And so he did it, it cost him some years of trouble, but he did it.
A month and a half later, Agassi would make the final at Wimbledon, win the US Open, finish runner-up in the ATP Finals and finish the season as No. 1 in the world, an achievement that would only occur in that 1999 season. A momentum that would later be maintained. during a five-year period full of new successes, but none tasted as sweet as the fact of putting his name in gold letters on the Philippe Chatrier. “If we talk about achievements, I would say it is the best moment I have ever had on a tennis court.. That feeling will accompany me for the rest of my life, it was what helped me have hope every time I thought I couldn’t achieve something,” concludes the champion.
2024-05-24 07:25:30
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