Maybe I am really out of line with this thread, but I couldn't stop myself from posting.

On Sunday, Andre Agassi finally said goodbye to the fans and to the sport he loved. With a loss to Benjamin Becker, he left professional tennis for good.


This is a really beautiful quote from an article published on the U.S. Open website.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the match today, but I did catch a glimpse of Agassi's speech. And just that glimpse made my eyes water. Andre was and always will be a legend of tennis.

So why did I start this thread? To hear you reflections. On the match, if you have seen it, or simply on the fact that Andre Agassi has finally left professional tennis. How did you feel? What was going through your mind when you saw him leave?

Gosh, I hope I'm not the only tennis fan here..

I can't say that I'm a tennis fan, but as a sport fan, I am little sad that he is quitting. It's always a sad thing that one of ''legends'' leaves arena because that leaves an empty spot in sport for a short time at least.

Bluezz, you're not the only tennis fan here. In an environment full of soccer fans, I like tennis. When everyone in my office tuned to the Tour de France, I was looking at Wimbledon. Nobody here even cared about Wimbledon!

I always loved looking at Agassi. He is such a great sportsman. I didn't see his last match, but I read about it and heard about it. Those who smirk at him for crying are pitiful creatures that do not understand emotion. I know people like that -- they're cold and calculated and they won't ever be caught admitting that their feelings can be hurt, and they confuse this attitude with strength. Agassi cried not because he was weak, but because he was suddenly faced with the final curtain, sooner than he expected I'm sure. When the moment arrives, you can have planned a thousand times what to do, and it can still catch you unawares.

Perhaps he doesn't have to disappear entirely. There are roles for veteran tennis players. He could stay involved ... I hope that he does.

Another tennis fan! (Though slightly dormant these days, sadly... No time to watch telly)

I am very sorry indeed that I missed that. I'm 18 years old, and for as long as I can remember, he's been on the scene. I still remember his long hair, colourful T-shirts when everyone else wore white... He's a legend in his own time.

He was the only man who could really challenge Pete Sampras for a long time. I remember their rivalry especially well. He's always a been a wonderful sportsman - the best return of serve in the game. I have a special respect for tennis champions. I played tennis very seriously when I was younger, and the pressure of competitive tennis is enormous. On the level that I competed it was already pretty tough, so I can only try to imagine what the professional circuit must be like. He was a real champ - you could never relax while he had a glimmer of a chance, and I have infinite respect for that.

As for his emotional reaction - gosh, if that isn't justified, very few happy tears in this world are (not talking about the sad ones though). I would probably have sat with eyes streaming too, if I had been watching. It's a moment, it's history, it's the end of something big in his life, it's the end of an era. That's worth a tear or two.

No doubt Agassi has been a champion.
Like Capricorn, I've been a compulsive player in my green days (from 10 to 18 years old). I grew up playing with dozens of older male cousins that made my game very hard and it was frustrating playing with other girls...The tough game was just starting to come out from women like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. I adored Jimmy Connors.

But, about 25 years ago being a champion was a totally different thing. The game wasn't a show made of outfits and outbursts like it is now. Women players were dressed very properly....and champions like McEnroe were still able to shock the audience with their tempers...(but I did really like the Williamses outfits... ). There has been a moment in which I turned my back to the tennis show. A similar thing happened to soccer, when sport societies started to pay enormous wages to the players. In some ways, this has ruined the game.

Anyway...goodbye Andre!!

Witchmom )O(

I have never been a tennis fan, and have never understood the game at all..but I did know some of the players by name but i knew more about Andre Agassi. When I read this thread it was a real shock and very sad news to me. I remember we used to have a picture of him in our living room in my old house. That doesn't make me know him but i've seen him play and from what i have seen and heard, i'm sure he's one of the best ever players tennis has ever seen. In some weird way, apparently I looked like him when i was small. hmm..well he has played long and proven to the entire world that he is a champion, a fabulous player.



Good bye and Good Luck to Andre.

Unless I'm mistaken, Agassi does have a Boys and Girls club organization, or something to that extent, and he works hard to raise money for children. So there is no chance he will disappear completely. And from what I understood from his press conference, he doesn't rule out the option of someday playing in a veteran's tournament. He loves tennis, I'm sure he would never completely abandon the sport.

What amazes me about Agassi is his determination. With the almost anbearable pain in his back (at one point he actually had to inject hormones into his spine to lessen the pain), for him to win even two matches against such tough opponents is incredible. I would've never been able to do that.

And I agree completely with what you said, Bumblebee, about Andre crying. Something he knew for twente-one years was finally coming to an end; I would be surprised if he didn't show that type of emotion.
If I were to watch the match, I'm sure tears would be rolling down my cheeks when Andre said his goodbyes

Tennis is one of the few games that allows a contender to crawl back to victory from within an inch of defeat. The scoring system is simple, yet amazing. Of course it's hard to win if you're two sets to nil and five games to nil down, but it's possible. I have seen Jimmy Connors win from a position like that, and it was unforgettable. A talent matched with fighting spirit can go far and keep going for a long time against much younger opponents. Talents without fighting spirits disappear quickly from the circuit.

I was at dinner out yesterday with my parents and some of our common friends (my parents are only 20 years older than me...). One of their friends (around 55 years old) is an excellent tennis player and we discussed a lot. We agreed on the fact that in the past, before the I'm-the-youngest-player-in-the-world phase, tennis was played with longer, more "artistic" games....Now, the style seems to be much more violent, much more on the side "Here I come, I'm dangerous, I'll kick you out in a minute or two". What do you think about? Do you agree? do you see any difference in elegance and fair play between the players of the past and the present ones? I see that people that recently seemed talented, especially girls like Sanchez, or Sabatini, had a shorter career than I expected.

Witchmom )O(

These days, the amount of power you can put into your service seems to be a much greater factor than in the old days of Connors and Borg. It's true that the faster you can serve and return, the less need for elegance there is -- a shame. Players like Henman are at a disadvantage and the public is cheated out of brilliant tennis. But how could you impose a speed restriction on a serve? Any strategy that keeps the ball on the right side of the line is legitimate.

I loved Yannick Noah's style. I was so sorry that he dropped out before reaching the top, but he simply didn't want to give up other things in his life for tennis.

The money has changed things too. Ambitious parents have always had the power to drive their children into stardom, but now the tennis pros are getting younger and younger. You can't blame them of course.

I wish I could go back in time and see one of the great Guillermo Vilas matches again, or Jimmy Connors in a Flushing Meadows final. But time moves on and those who do not move with it are living in the past.

Well, as I said, any strategy that wins you the game and stays within the rules is legitimate. If you have a weapon that can win you the game, you'd be a fool not to use it.

It is no wonder that the careers are getting shorter, if the new weapons place much greater strain on the body. The number of players who have to leave the circuit because of injury is growing. But there are no prizes in the game for staying healthy.

Of course, looking back over the years, tennis grew into a much more intense and demanding sport. It was an inevitable change, though. New players come along and have to play harder to defeat the standing champions. Then even newer players arrive and need to do the same in order to win. And so it goes.. Over the years, the standards have grown incredibly, but if you want to be on top - you have to submit to them. This, of course, takes a toll on the health of the players.

However, I do not agree with the statement that the public is cheated out of good tennisplay. For me, seeing the incredible intensity of the sport that is present today is much more exciting than a slower, a bit more graceful game.

Hello all! I'm glad to find a good tennis thread. I wil start of by saying that I do play, actually I play varsity for my school. I'm a huge supported of the sport and have been glued tot he television watching the French Open. To put in my "two cents" about Agassi, I feel the sport has lost a great asset and he will undoubtably be missed by millions. I watched his goodbye and he had me in tears. I've been watching him since I was just 6 years old.
To add along with your conversation regarding the change over the years I would agree that it has immensly. I love how Bluezz stated:

I feel the same way. I love intensity an adrenaline, so the change has become somewhat intriguing to me, but I understand why it upsets others. It is a shame for fans such as my grandmother who has a hard time watching it now compared to 'way back when' (as she puts it).
I was thinking about how much mentality goes into a good game of tennis which led me to a question... Do you agree that tennis could be considered a mental sport almost as much as a physical sport?

I have never been a tennis fan actually but Agassi is probably one of my favourite athletes. Not only he is really good at what he is (was) doing, but also, he is a very nice person, which is very important.
It is really hard watching these figures leave their fields of experties; the athletes to come are getting more and more arrogant and they don't have the proffesionalism these guys used to. Eg, i know this cause my brother is a fan, in Formula One, now that Schumacher left, the games suck. It is all about the points, the drivers are really boring and there isn't really that much of a competition. And Alonso for example, is a git at times and i am wondering if this guy deserves winning all that money when he accuses his team of not being supportive to him and stuff.
So, i feel really sad when i see people, great atheltes and personalities quitting what they used to do. I hope there will be some other people to live up to our expectations.