The Sports Truth

He did it again. It took five sets, 3 hours 48 minutes, and a ton of physical and mental anguish, but Andre Agassi got it done. In a match he had wrapped up in the third and fourth sets, then appeared to have let slip away in the fifth, Agassi prevailed through sheer will.

He won because he would not let Marcus Baghdatis beat him. Because his body was the less weakened of the two, and because the New York crowd would not allow this legend to go quietly into the morning. Agassi had to prevail in this match somehow. He just had to.

He did, prolonging his career at least two more days, and one more match. The score of Agassi’s epic win over eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round of the U.S. Open last night reads 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5, although that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

Neither does what follows below, but here’s a quick rundown of the sequence of events transpiring at Arthur Ashe Stadium, August 31-September 1…

• Agassi takes the first set, 6-4, aided by a lengthy point in the eighth game in which Baghdatis took a spill and hurt his left wrist.
• Playing his prototypical game, using clean and efficient groundstrokes and just enough first serves Agassi conserves energy and rolls to another 6-4 set. John McEnroe uses both “tight” and “loose” to negatively describe Baghdatis, who is obviously off his game, either playing tentatively or going for way too much.
• Andre has a break point at 3-3 in the third set, prompting McEnroe and his announcing counterpart, Ted Robinson, to discuss how he was about to finish the Cyprus native off in an hour and a half.
• Baghdatis holds serve, then capitalizes on a rare weak service game from Agassi to break for a 5-3 advantage. He serves out the set handily and is right back in this thing. We learn that a person from Cyprus is called a “Cypriot!” Who knew?
• While he overcame whatever mental bloc afflicted him earlier, Baghdatis can’t stop spraying the ball. Clusters of unforced errors land him in an 0-4 hole to start the fourth set, as Agassi fans prematurely celebrate a second time.

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“He’s a punk, you’re a legend!”

It’s hard to believe that in 1988, those words and many more like them were bellowed by a U.S. Open crowd desperate to spur an aging Jimmy Connors on. His opponent in that year’s quarterfinal? None other than Andre Agassi.

In both 1988 and 1989, these legends of different generations clashed in the round of eight. While Agassi took both matches, it certainly wasn’t thanks to the New York fans. Even in the twilight of his career, Connors captivated them as he always did. The long-haired teen upstart in the far court may as well have been invisible. A deafening roar followed every point Connors won.

Fast forward to Monday night, when a 36-year-old Agassi labored through a four-set first-round victory over Andrei Pavel. Having announced that this year’s Open will be has last competitive tournament, the two-time champion carried the entire tennis world on his racket until after midnight.

When Pavel took the first set in a tie-break, the air of a funeral wafted through Arthur Ashe Stadium. But Andre somehow battled back.

He trailed 4-0 in the second set tie-break before slugging his way to a 10-8 victory to square the match. After quickly falling behind 4-0 in the third set, the best returner in tennis history showed why he’s been lauded as such, breaking Pavel twice to force another tie-break, which he won, 8-6.

Only then, after three grueling sets and hours, did his Romanian foe crumble, both physically and mentally. Agassi closed it out, 6-2, flashing an exhausted, exuberant smile. Sure, it was just a first round match, of which he’d won 16 at Flushing Meadows prior to this week. But he clearly savored the moment.

Monday night, Agassi showed us three things:

1. In his 21st consecutive U.S. Open, he’s still in tremendous physical condition, and has plenty of good tennis left in him.
2. Showing the strain of a bad back and the general wear and tear of two decades on tour, he is incapable of stringing together six more wins in the next week and a half, especially since most (if not all) would have to come against better players than Pavel.
3. He’s picked the right time to pack it in.

Very few athletes leave when they’re on top. Most try to hang on way too long. Andre won’t go out the way Pete Sampras did, winning the 2002 U.S. Open final (against Agassi, no less) in what would be his final match. But the Las Vegas native will come pretty close.

Having seen him play at the U.S. Open in both 1990 and 2005 (!), I observed no decline in his level of play. He made the final just last year, pushing Roger Federer as hard as anyone could for four sets. Even as his game declines due to injuries and fatigue in 2006, he’s capable of hanging with the top dogs — just not beating them.

Agassi has given his entire life to tennis and knows better than to tarnish his legacy by not giving way to the next generation of champions and the right time. There’s also nothing left for him to accomplish. As an eight-time Grand Slam winner and one of five players to win all four majors, he’s cemented himself among the sport’s all time greats.

But he’s so much more than that. He has everything, yet is more polite, and displays more humility, than the average man on the street. Agassi has given more back, through his charity work, than just about anyone. He’s a testament to hard work, perseverance and generosity. He’s a terrific ambassador to tennis, to sports, to America, to humanity.

Andre Agassi won’t win the 2006 U.S. Open, but he’s already won our respect and hearts. Don’t expect us to let him go out quietly.