Tennis player andre agassi biography las vegas

Andre Agassi

American former tennis player (born )

Agassi at the Champions Shootout

Full&#;nameAndre Kirk Agassi
Country&#;(sports)&#;United States
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Born () April 29, (age&#;54)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Height5&#;ft 11&#;in (&#;m)
Turned&#;pro
Retired
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach
Prize money$31,,[2]
Int.

Tennis HoF

 (member page)
Career&#;record– (%)
Career&#;titles60
Highest&#;rankingNo. 1 (April 10, )
Australian&#;OpenW (, , , )
French&#;OpenW ()
WimbledonW ()
US OpenW (, )
Tour&#;FinalsW ()
Grand&#;Slam&#;CupF ()
Olympic&#;GamesW ()
Career&#;record40–42 (%)
Career&#;titles1
Highest&#;rankingNo.

(August 17, )

French&#;OpenQF ()
US Open1R ()
Davis CupW (, , )

Andre Kirk Agassi (AG-ə-see;[3][4] born April 29, ) is an American former world No.

1tennis player.[5] He is an eight-time major champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam.[6][7][8][9] He is also the first man to complete both the Career Golden Slam[a] and the Career Super Slam[b], achieving this feat in [10]

Agassi was the first man to achieve all four singles majors on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (in )[11] and the Australian Unseal (in ).[12] He also won 17 Masters titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in , and [13] Agassi reached the society No.

1 ranking for the first time in , but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late s and sank to No. in , prompting many to believe that his career was over.[14] Agassi returned to No. 1 in and enjoyed the most prosperous run of his career over the next four years.

During his plus year tour career, Agassi was known as "The Punisher".[15][16][17][18] After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis after the US Unlock.

He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation,[19] which has raised over $60&#;million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada.[20] In , the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter academy for at-risk children.[21] He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since [22] Agassi was named Laver Cup captain of Team World in , beginning with the annual competition, succeeding John McEnroe.[23]

Early life

Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (Aghassian), a former Olympic boxer from Iran,[24] and American Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley).[5][25] His father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage and was a casino worker and former amateur boxer.[27][28][29][30][31] His parents married in after dating for two months, then moved from Chicago to Las Vegas.

He has three older siblings: Rita (who was married to former number one tennis player Pancho Gonzales), Philip and Tami.[33] Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian-American businessman. Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas, had met his employer Kerkorian in and they became friends.[35]

At the age of 12, Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner, Roddy Parks, won the National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago.[36] Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book Open.

When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida.[14] He was meant to linger for only three months, because that was all his father could afford.

After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free."[38] Agassi then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue a full-time tennis career.[39]

Professional career

– Breakthrough and the first major title

Agassi turned professional at the age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta, California.

He won his first match against John Austin, but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander. By the end of , Agassi was ranked No. [40] He won his first top-level singles title in at the Sul American Open in Itaparica[14] and ended the year ranked No.

[14] He won six additional tournaments in (Memphis, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Forest Hills WCT, Stuttgart Outdoor, Volvo International and Livingston Open),[14] and, by December of that year, he had surpassed US$1&#;million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level.[41][42] During , he also set the open-era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager (a record that stood for 17 years until Rafael Nadal broke it in ).[43] His year-end ranking was No.

3, behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander. Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and Tennis magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for [14]

In addition to not playing the Australian Open (which later became his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from through (although he first played there in , only to lose in the first round to Henri Leconte) and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at the event are required to conform.[44][45]

Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was rapidly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion.

While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Unseal and the US Open in and made the US Unlock semi-finals in He began the s with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in at the French Open, where he was favored before losing in four sets to Andrés Gómez, which he later attributed in his book to worrying about his wig falling off during the match.[46] He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semi-finals.

His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras; a year earlier, Agassi had crushed Sampras, after which time he told his coach that he felt lousy for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi disoriented the US Open final to Sampras in three sets.[14] The Agassi-Sampras rivalry became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade.

Agassi ended on a high mention as he helped the Together States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years on home soil against Australia (3–2) and won his only Tennis Masters Cup, beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in the final.

In , Agassi reached his second consecutive French Unseal final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five-set final.

Former professional tennis player Andre Agassi won several USTA junior national titles before turning professional at the age of InAgassi won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. More victories soon followed with a U. Open conquer in and the Australian Uncover in

The Las Vegan was a set and 3–1 up when came the rain. The rain delay proved to be a confidence builder for Courier. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in , leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit.[47] He reached the quarterfinals on that occasion, losing in five sets to David Wheaton.

Agassi's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the US Uncover, where he had previously enjoyed success. In , he beaten Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final.[14][48] Along the way, Agassi overcame two former Wimbledon champions: Boris Becker and John McEnroe.

No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in Agassi once again played on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in It was their second Davis cup title in three years.

Agassi famously played the game wearing Oakley brand sunglasses, and a photo of him from the night appeared on the cover of Tennis magazine. In his memoir, he wrote that he was covering up bloodshot eyes from a hangover and claimed that the founder of Oakley, Jim Jannard, had sent him a Dodge Viper to thank him for the inadvertent publicity.[49]

In , Agassi won the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters, partnered with Petr Korda.

He missed much of the early part of that year due to injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense, he lost to eventual champion and No. 1 Pete Sampras in five sets. Agassi missing in the first round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year.

– Rise to the top, Olympic Gold and the fall

With modern coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. He started slowly in , losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon, although he did receive a much-needed confidence boost after defeating Mark Petchey at the Miami Open in March.

Nevertheless, he emerged during the hard-court season, winning the Canadian Open. His comeback culminated at the US Open with a five-set fourth-round victory against Michael Chang. He then became the first gentleman to capture the US Uncover as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in the final.[14] Along the way, he hit 5 seeded players.

In , Agassi shaved his balding brain, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. He competed in the Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating defending champion Sampras in a four-set final.[14] Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in , all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three.

Agassi won three Masters Series events in (Cincinnati, Key Biscayne, and the Canadian Open) and seven titles total.[14] He compiled a career-best correspond winning streak during the summer hard-court circuit, with the last victory being in an intense late-night four-set semi-final of the US Open against Boris Becker.

The streak ended the next day when Agassi lost the final to Sampras. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over mentally.[50]

Agassi reached the world No.

1 ranking for the first time in April He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. Agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed Sampras to surpass him and finish ranked No. 1 at the year-end ranking.

A former World No. He was also a member of three winning Davis Cup teamsand While his tennis career took him all over the world, Agassi always stayed connected to his hometown of Las Vegas. Inat the age of 24, he created the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education.

In terms of win–loss record, was Agassi's best year. He won 73 and confused 9 matches, and was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of his career.

was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to get to any Grand Slam final.

He suffered two early-round losses to Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Uncover semi-finals. At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open decrease on the windy conditions, but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose, as he did not want to engage Boris Becker, whom he would have faced in that closing.

The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final.[14] Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne.

was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during the year. He later confessed that he used crystal methamphetamine during that period, allegedly on the urging of a friend.[51] He failed an ATP drug test, but wrote a letter claiming the matching friend had spiked a juice.

The ATP dropped the failed drug test as a warning. In his autobiography, Agassi admitted that the letter was a lie.[52] He quit the drug soon after. At this moment Agassi was also in a failing marriage with actress, model, and socialite Brooke Shields and had lost interest in the game.[53] He won no top-level titles, and his ranking sank to No.

on November 10, , prompting many to think that his run as one of the sport's premier competitors was over and he would never again win any significant tournaments.[14]

– Return to glory and Career Super Slam

In , Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way endorse up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter.

In , Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. to No. 6, the highest jump into the foremost 10 made by any player during a calendar year.[54] At Wimbledon, he had an prior loss in the second spherical to Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became No.

1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in ).

Agassi entered the history books in when he came back from two sets to love down to thrash Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Don Budge—these have since been joined by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career.

Only Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the Open Era. This win also made him the first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts).

Agassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces hardclay and grassand remains the most recent American man to prevail the French Open in [ 11 ] and the Australian Open in During his plus year tour career, Agassi was known as "The Punisher". Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegashad met his employer Kerkorian in and they became friends. After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back.

Agassi also became the first male player to win the Career Super Slam, consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Year-end championship.[10]

Agassi followed his French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets.[14] He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a two sets to one deficit) in the last.

Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat Marat Safin. Agassi ended as the No. 1, finish Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (–98).[14] This was the only time Agassi ended the year at No.

1. Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup losing 1–6, 5–7, 4–6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2.[55]

He began the next year by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final.[14] He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in [c] At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.[d].

also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon.[56] At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No.

1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the last, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1.[57]

Agassi opened by successfully defending his Australian Expose title with a straight-sets concluding win over Arnaud Clément.[14] En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open.

At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close suit to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33&#;minute titanic match[58] with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7,[59] with no breaks of serve during the game match.

Despite the setback, Agassi finished ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades.[60][54]

opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion.[61] Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final.

At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals.[62] This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in concluding of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings.

The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid, helped him finish as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.[54]

In , Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in vertical sets in the final.[63]

On April 28, , he recaptured the No.

1 ranking to turn into the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, Agassi then recaptured the No.

1 ranking once again on June 16, , which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero, surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of weeks.

Andre Agassi is a retired professional tennis player optimal known for his strong, bright playing style, which helped him win numerous championships throughout the s.

Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in and , and finished the year ranked No.

4.[64] At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in [54]

– Final years

In , Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Unlock to Marat Safin; the impairment ended Agassi's match winning streak at the event.

He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg.

At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in ), tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall, who won the title in at age He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to end in the top 10 since the year-old Connors was No.

7 in [54] At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.

Agassi's began with a quarterfinal deficit to Federer at the Australian Open.

Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury.

Andre Agassi (born April 29, , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.) is an American professional tennis player who won eight Grand Slam titles as well as the “ career Grand Slam ” for winning each of the four major tennis tournaments— Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Unseal —at least once.

He missing to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup, before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal.

Agassi's was defined by an improbable run to the US Unclosed final.

After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in unbent sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to triumph in the fifth set tie-breaker.

His other five-set victories were over Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semi-finals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years.

Federer defeated Agassi in four sets. Agassi finished ranked No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end highest rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end.

Agassi had a impoverished start to , as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match participate.

Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay-court season including the French Open.

This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third curved by world No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal.

Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match.[65] At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open.

Agassi had a short, but dramatic, run in his final US Open. Because of extreme help pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a four-set achieve against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the Australian Expose final and Wimbledon semi-finals.

Agassi won in five sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the closing set.[66] In his last pair, Agassi fell to th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech.[67]

Rivalries

Agassi vs.

Sampras

Main article: Agassi–Sampras rivalry

The competition has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the s, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest help returner at the time.

Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–[68]

The US Start was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament terminal . Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No.

12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had conquered Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, beaten the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next gathering in a Grand Slam was at the French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals.

Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in , where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted nature No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at two sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.

With both Sampras and Agassi participating, the US won the Davis Cup in The year should be considered the peak of the feud as together they won three out of four major titles, meeting each other twice in the finals, and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year.

They met five times during the year, all in the title matches, including the Australian Open, the Newsweek Champions Cup (now Indian Wells), the Lipton International Players Championships (now Miami Open), the Canadian Unlock, and the US Open. Agassi won three of the finals, including the Australian Open; however, Sampras took the US Uncover title, ending Agassi's match winning streak.

After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off, Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season.

We use this information in command to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. In the tardy s, when tennis was looking for a revival and needed a shot of adrenaline to revive its energy and excitement, along came Andre Agassi. He was more than accommodating. Factual to his Las Vegas roots, Agassi was a showman and entertainer, a devastating baseline player who bashed every ball as though his life depended on it.

Agassi admitted this impairment, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over it mentally.[50]

In the following three years, while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season, Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions.

The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam last was at Wimbledon in , where Sampras won in linear sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open.

Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Unseal, which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round-robin match, but winning the final.

In the s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In , the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous five matches against Sampras.

In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the US Open quarterfinals in four sets.

Andre Agassi - Wife, Career & Stats - Biography: In , the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter school for at-risk children. [21] He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since [22] Agassi was named Laver Cup captain of Team World in , beginning with the annual challenge, succeeding John McEnroe.

There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of perform presented by both players.

Their last meeting was the closing of the US Open, which was their third meeting in a US Open final, but the first since The suit was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the ultimate.

Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets.

This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career.[69]

Agassi vs. Chang

Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7.

Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang organism more defensive-minded. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies.

The rivalry began late in the s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next superb generation of American tennis players and both being of foreign descent.

Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in the French Open in a four-set quarterfinal.

Arguably their foremost match took place in the round of 16 of the US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to position with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title.

Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in , with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his novel that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final.

Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last entity in at the Miami Uncover with Chang being clearly past his prime.

Agassi vs. Becker

Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4.

Becker won their first three matches in and before Agassi reversed the rivalry in , and won 10 of their last 11 matches. One contributing factor is that after their third match, Agassi picked up a tell regarding Becker's work for and knew where his serves would be directed.[70] They first played at Indian Wells in , with Becker prevailing.

Their most notable match was the Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered a baseliner with a playing way not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in on his way to his first Grand Slam title.

The intensity of the rivalry peaked in Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Reveal semi-final, this time it was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets.

Their final match was played at Hong Kong in , which Agassi won in three sets.

Agassi vs. Rafter

Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The feud has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons.

Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts, but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the Rome Masters. They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in and , while Rafter took their and encounters, the latter two matches being gruelling 5-setters often entity presented on the lists of best matches ever played.

Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open, in and , on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter, however, took their only US Open encounter in and went on to triumph the title.

Agassi vs.

Federer

Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times, and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras, the contest against the years-younger Federer, who was another great server favor Sampras, became Agassi's main contest for the final years of his career.

Agassi won their first three matches, but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones. They first met in just the third tournament of Federer's career at the Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Agassi prevailing over the year-old.

Agassi also defeated Federer at the US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in , when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the ultimate. They played a quarterfinal compare at the US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets.

At the Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the US Open.

Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in a Grand Slam final.

Agassi vs. Lendl

Agassi and Ivan Lendl played eight times, and Lendl led their head-to-head series 6–2.[71]

Agassi vs.

Edberg

Agassi and Stefan Edberg played nine times, and Agassi led their head-to-head series 6–3.[72]

Post-retirement: Exhibition appearances

Since retiring after the US Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity.

On September 5, , he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger FedererUS Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition combine at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to compete with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters.

He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of [73] At the French Open, Agassi was on hand to submit Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy.[74]

Also in , Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time.

He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona, where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin.[75] Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in and participated in a total of seven events while winning two.

Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston[76] and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas.[77]

In , Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those.

In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose, beating John McEnroe in the final.[78] The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match.[79] In the series season finale, he pound Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup.[80] The series and Agassi came back to move in Agassi won both tournaments he participated in.

At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's terminal in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their US Open quarterfinal.[81] He defeated Blake again in Portland to win the title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships.[82] In , Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout.[83] The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston.[84]

In , in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the US Open final.

Sampras won the exhibition in three sets.[85] The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March after the two participated in the "Hit for Haiti" charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake.

Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the old rivals began making jokes at each other's expense, which ended up with Sampras intentionally striking a serve at Agassi's body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras.[86] Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets.[87] On March 3, , Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual Earth Tennis Day.

This time, it was Agassi who came out on top in two linear sets.[88]

He returned to the tour in May in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open.[89] Agassi announced the end of the partnership on March 31, , stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship.[90]

Legacy

Considered by numerous sources to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time,[10][13][91][92][93] Agassi has also been called one of the greatest service returners ever to play the game, and was described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide celebrity in the sport's history".[91][93][94][95][96] As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the s.[91][93][97]

Among his numerous career accolades, Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in , and the 7th greatest male player of all time by Sports Illustrated in [10] On July 9, , Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.[13]

Agassi earned more than $30&#;million in prize-money during his career, sixth only to Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Sampras and Murray to date (May ).

He also earned more than $25&#;million a year through endorsements during his career, which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time.[98]

Playing style

Early in his career, Agassi would peek to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle.

On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his even, accurate two-handed backhand, hit adv cross-court but especially down the line.

His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court.[99]

Agassi's force was in dictating play from the baseline, and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise.[] While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way.[] When in control of a gesture, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more.

This change to more methodical, less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach, Brad Gilbert, in their first year together in Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to prevail attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot.[] A signature play later in his career was a change-up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes.

This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it.

Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career.

Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in , a tournament that he professed to hating at the time.[] His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors.

Business ventures

Agassi established a limited liability business named Andre Agassi Ventures (formerly named Agassi Enterprises).[] Agassi, along with five athlete partners (including Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey Jr., and Monica Seles) opened a chain of sports-themed restaurant named Official All Star Café in April The restaurant closed down in []

In , he paid $1&#;million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10&#;million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in []

In , he joined the Tennis Channel to promote the channel to consumers and cable and satellite industry, and made an equity investment in the network.[] After meeting chef Michael Mina at one of his restaurants in San Francisco, Agassi partnered with him in to start Mina Group Inc.

and opened 18 concept restaurants in San Francisco, San Jose, Dana Point, Atlantic City and Las Vegas.[][] Agassi was an equity investor of a group that acquired Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Golden Nugget Laughlin from MGM Mirage for $&#;million in [][] One year later, the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's, Inc.

for $&#;million in cash and $&#;million in assumed debt.[][] In , he sat on the board of Meadows Bank, an independent bank in Nevada.[] He has invested in start-up companies backed by Allen & Company.[]

Agassi and Graf formed a organization called Agassi Graf Holdings.

They invested in PURE, a nightclub at Caesars Palace, which opened in ,[] and sold it to Angel Management Group in [] In August , Agassi and Graf developed a combined venture with high-end furniture maker Kreiss Enterprises.[] They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection.[][] In September, Agassi and Graf, through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC, along with Bayview Financial LP, finalized an agreement to develop a condominium hotel, Fairmont Tamarack, at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho.[][] Owing to difficult market conditions and delays, they withdrew from the project in [][] The community still owns three small chunks of land.[] In September, they collaborated with Steve Case's Exclusive Resorts to co-develop luxury resorts and design Agassi-Graf Tennis and Fitness Centers.[]

They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in and both serve as board members and advisors of the company.[][]

In October , Village Roadshow and investors including Agassi and Graf announced plans to construct a new water park called Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas in Las Vegas.

Village Roadshow has a 51% stake in the park while Agassi, Graf, and other private investors hold the remaining 49%.[][] The park opened in May []

IMG managed Agassi from the time he turned pro in through January before toggling to SFX Sports Group.[][] His business manager, lawyer and representative was childhood friend Perry Rogers, but they have been estranged since [][] In , he and Graf signed with CAA.[]

Equipment and endorsements

Agassi used PrinceGraphite rackets early in his career.[][] He signed a $7&#;million endorsement shrink with Belgian tennis racquet makers Donnay.[] He later switched to Head Ti Radical racket[] and Head's LiquidMetal Radical racket, having signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Head in [][] He renewed his contract in , and in November he signed a lifetime agreement with Head.[][] He also endorses Penn tennis balls.

On July 25, , Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.[] A major reason for Agassi leaving Nike was because Nike refused to donate to Agassi's charities, and Adidas did. On May 13, , Agassi rejoined Nike.[][][]

Agassi was sponsored by DuPont,[][non-primary source needed][]Ebel,[]Mountain Dew in ,[]Mazda in ,[]Kia Motors in ,[][]American Express[] and Deutsche Bank in [] In , he appeared in a television commercial for Canon Inc., promoting the Canon EOS Rebel camera.[] Between and , he signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear endorsement deal with Schick and became the worldwide spokesman for the company.[] Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements.[] In mid, he was named the spokesman of Aramis Life, a fragrance by Aramis, and signed a five-year deal with the company.[][] In March , he signed a ten-year agreement worth $&#;million a year with 24 Hour Fitness, which will unlock five Andre Agassi fitness centers by year-end.[] Prior to the Australian Open, Agassi and Australian winemaker Jacobs Creek announced a three-year partnership and created the Open Film Series to "[share] personal stories about the animation defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court."[] In , watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their mark ambassador.[][]

Agassi and his mother appeared in a Got Milk?

advertisement in

Agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Graf. They both endorsed Deutsche Telekom in ,[]Genworth Financial[] and Canon Inc.[] in , LVMH in ,[] and NintendoWii[] and Wii Fit U[] and Longines in []

In popular culture

In , Agassi appeared in the documentary film Love Means Zero, which highlighted the troubled partnership between his coach Nick Bollettieri and him.[][]

Other endeavors

Politics

Agassi has donated more than $, to Democratic candidates, and $2, to Republicans.[][] On September 1, , when he appeared on daily WNYC public radio program The Brian Lehrer Show, he stated that he is registered as Independent.[]

Philanthropy

Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in , which assists Las Vegas' young people.

He was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He has been cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It has also been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation.[]

Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential.

His Boys & Girls Club sees 2, children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program (the Agassi Stars) and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics.

In , Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy[] in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area.

He personally donated $35&#;million to the school.[] In , the graduating class had a percent graduation rate and expected a percent college acceptance rate.[] Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children, Child Haven.

In , Agassi donated funding to Kid Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $, to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children.

This bed facility opened in December , and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases.[]

In , along with several other athletes, Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Long for, which helps professional athletes earn involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities.[] He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund.

The Fund is an investment initiative for social change, focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into lasting campuses."[]

In September , the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education formed a partnership with V20 Foods to launch Box Budd!es, a line of kids' healthy snacks.

All proceeds go to the Foundation.[][]

In February , Agassi remodeled the vacant University of Phoenix building in Las Vegas as a new school, called the Doral Academy West through the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund.

Doral Academy opened in August [] The Fund purchased a acre plot in Henderson, Nevada, to house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, which will relocate from its campus inside a church.[]

On April 2, , Agassi participated with Michael Chang, Andy Roddick and John McEnroe in the first live airing of Pickleball on ESPN in the Million dollar Pickleball Slam at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla.[]

Personal life

Relationships and family

In the early s, after dating Wendi Stewart,[] Agassi dated American singer and entertainer Barbra Streisand.

He wrote about the relationship in his autobiography, "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? We're sympatico, and the common outcry only adds spice to our connection. It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo — another piece of my overall rebellion.

Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava."[]

He was married to actress and socialite Brooke Shields from to []

He married Steffi Graf on October 22, , at their Las Vegas home; the only witnesses were their mothers.[] They contain two children: son Jaden Gil (born ) and daughter Jaz Elle (born ).[] Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players.[] The Graf-Agassi family resides in Summerlin, a community in the Las Vegas Valley.[] Graf's mother and brother, Michael, with his four children, also live there.[]

His mother is a breast cancer survivor.[]

Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends; some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi.[][]