<p>what more can i say? the guy is incredible.</p>
<p>i saw him lose to Benjamin Becker of Germany Sept 3, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 in the third round of the U.S. Open. it was heartbreaking to watch him not play how he usually does b/c of his back injury. i was like "move dammit". but they guy did more than enough for the sport.</p>
<p>he won 8 grand slams and is one of the few to win all four...us open, wimbledon, roland garros (french open), and australian open.</p>
<p>peace andre. i always like pete more, but you still kicked ass.</p>
<p>saw him win the US Open in '99 when he beat Todd Martin - it was awesome to watch him win (actually I sat right behind his coach at the time Brad Gilbert).</p>
<p>anyways, as you say - one of a very select group of people ever to win all four slams. even Sampras never did that.</p>
<p>since the Open Era <a href="when%20the%20Grand%20Slam%20events%20abandoned%20the%20longstanding%20rules%20of%20amateurism%20and%20allowed%20professionals%20to%20compete">i</a>* the only other person in men's tennis to achieve a Career Grand Slam <a href="Don%20Bulge%20and%20Fred%20Perry%20both%20achieved%20a%20career%20grand%20slam,%20however,%20this%20was%20in%20the%20pre-Open%20Era">i</a>*:</p>
<p>to give everyone an idea of just how "select" Agassi's accomplishments are, consider the following tennis greats who never achieved a Career Grand Slam:</p>
<p>Failed to win French Open:
- John Newcombe
- Jimmy Connors
- Boris Becker
- Stefan Edberg
- Pete Sampras
- Roger Federer</p>
<p>Failed to win Wimbledon:
- Guillermo Vilas
- Ivan Lendl
- Mats Wilander </p>
<p>Failed to win more than two Grand Slams:
- John McEnroe (never won Australian or French)
- Björn Borg (never won Australian or - incredibly - the US Open, though he was a runner-up FOUR TIMES!)</p>
<p>I mean, just look at that list, folks! It's a who's who of tennis legends: Sampras, McEnroe, Borg, Lendl, Connors, Becker, Edberg, etc.)</p>
<p>It is important to stress that Laver and the others completed the Grand Slam in the pre-open era...in other words, when there were just two surfaces, grass (Wimbeldon, Flushing Meadows and Australian) and clay (Roland Garros). Agassi is the only man to have done it on three distinctly different surfaces...four if you consider that the Australian is played on a rubbery surface. As far as I am concerned, he is the most versatile tennis player ever. McEnroe was the most gifted, Borg had nerves of steel and incredible endurance, Sampras was the most powerful, Lendl was the coolest, Connors was the most entertaining and Agassi was the most complete.</p>
<p>I actually met the guy in Florida in the summer of 1990 (between Winbledon and the US Open) and he was genuinely nice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Or perhaps Nadal ruins everything for Federer
[/quote]
yes. and i hope he continues to do so. because am a rafa fan. muahaha.</p>
<p>i personally find it just mindboggling how he was 35 last year (so damn old!) and still played a competitive match against Federer in the 2005 US Open. </p>
<p>Nadal lost to Mikhail Youzhny yesterday. it was 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1.</p>
<p>anyway, i feel like i have no one to cheer for now on the mens side, in general i mean. nadal entertaining and all, but i don't actually root for him all the time. and roddick annoys me. and federer's ridiculously great, but boring to watch and cheer for at time b/c he's just so good. all the guys i grew up watching are gone. i loved rafter and pete. come back guys, come back. i need a connection. haha. </p>
<p>at least i still have girls to cheer for on the WTA. i love davenport, so it sucks that she lost to henin hardenne yesterday. i don't really like henin hardenne. and amelie mauresmo is very talented. i hope she wins it all. she deserves it. but she better win the french next year. even with her 2 grand slams, people don't respect her as much as they should. she needs to win this one, and then stick it to everyone at roland garros.</p>
<p>I agree, today's women's tennis is more fun than men's. In the 80s and 90s, men's tennis had great personalities, like Jimmy, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Boom Boom, Edberg, Agassi etc... the women were also awesome. Navratilova is my all time favorite. Steffi is also awesome and Evert was great. Today women have some great players too, including Davenport, Mauresmo and Sharapova.</p>
<p>yeah...i mean, they're all grear obviously, but as far as me being a "fan" of a player, it's just not there on the mens side right now. </p>
<p>i used to love sabatini and gigi fernandez. remember the sabatweeny. yes. i actually always rooted against graf. great player though. her forehand was so effing lethal. seles was my girl. probably why i dislike graf in an indirect way. then came davenport who i love. and mauresmo is awesome. sharapove is also boring to watch b/c her game is sheer power (for the most part anyway) and her yelling gets annoying. davenport is def all power most of the time to, but she makes it look so easy. and her balls are just so flat and deep and heavy. ah, i would hate to play her.</p>
<p>but back to agassi. i wish i was 1/2 as fast as him.</p>
<p>Very true, the men's side is just very ho hum, but what can you do, though I have always been a Safin fan though I haven't seen him explode like he used to and that just plain upsets me. But yeah, the women's side has so many personalities to choose from, personal favs are Clijsters, Sharapova, Jankovic, and of course the Williams sisters, though I cannot begin to till you how much I dislike both Henin Hardenne and Federer's personalities, granted they're exceptional, but they make sure you know it, but oh well.</p>
<p>Federer seems like a nice guy and his talent is beyond contestation but he is boring. Tennis, like any sport, should have an element of entertainment. It is not only about talent but also about showmanship. It is scary that he has won 8 majors and he is just 25 years old. I think he has a realistic chance of breaking Sampras' record, and sooner than one might expect.</p>
<p>i hope not. sampras was the man. sampras didn't have such an exciting personality on the court, but he was humble and the people's champ, and you didn't have to be american to cheer for him.</p>
<p>federer is very talented, but boring and doesn't attempt to get the crowd involved at all. not that he has too. it's his carreer, not ours. but still, sampras would occasionally have an emotional burst or run into the crowd while going for some crazy shot. federer just annoys me sometimes b/c he doesn't seem to care about his audience that much, even after matches. he knows he's the best.</p>
<p>hardenne just ****es me off. ugh.</p>
<p>hass won today. poor blake is gonna lost to federer...most likely. even blake...i don't really like him like him. but he's at least on my good side, so i hope he wins...but he's not.</p>
<p>Yea Blake has never really been on my good side, but perhaps since it's either him or Federer I'd definitely pick Blake to hopefully win, but I'm expecting four sets to Federer :(</p>
<p>it's really a toss up as far as how many sets their will be. i still think federer will win, it's just whether blake plays ridiculously good or chokes. federer won't choke. </p>
<p>but i agree, i think it'll be in four. but i wouldn't be surprised if it ends in 3...or 5.</p>
<p>Agassi was/is the man...you couldn't dislike the guy. He is just personable during and after a match and you can't help rooting for him.
At the moment I am also liking that great Scot of a player, Andy Murray. :)</p>
<p>^^yeah i know. my friend told me he won. i wasn't able to watch the match and he was watching it and hass was winning 2 sets to none so he assumed hass would win and told me that he did. i hate my friend. haha. oh well. </p>
<p>eh, i don't really care about murray. his game isn't that exciting. decent player though.</p>
<p>i just need a guy who's good and i like to watch. i hear about the guys matches and i think "that should be a good match" and that's it. i hear about the women's matches and actually can't wait to see them. i just hate not having anyone to cheer for. i find myself cheering for whoever's losing just b/c they're losing.</p>