I guess it was June 1992. I was only seven then. We had only one TV channel at that time, the Doordarshan. It was the final of the Wimbledon that year, between Goran Ivanisevic, one of the best serve and volleyers tennis has ever seen and Andre Agassi. It was from that time that I became a fan of Agassi. Guess it was more to do with his style- the trademark ponytail and his charisma rather than his play because not many seven year olds can understand the game completely and I was one among those many. It was a closely fought match and I remember jumping and clapping with joy when he won the match and and just lay there on the grass tears streaming from his eyes.
Agassi is rated as one the best baseliners and the best returner of serve ever by many tennis critics. He is one among only five players to have won all the four grand slams and the only one to win them on three different surfaces showing his versatility. He won eight grand slams and seventeen masters titles. These figures alone are enough to make anyone like a sportsman. But the main reason my respect for him grew was because he won more than half his titles making a comeback after having lost his focus in sport. We all face ups and downs in life and that is what his career graph also shows- When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Whenever I saw him playing, I saw it from the eyes of a seven year old who never wanted his hero to get bashed up. At that time I forgot about my love and admiration of the game and only wanted Agassi to win. The only reason I dislike Pete Sampras and Roger Federer is that if they hadn’t been there, he would’ve won more grand slam titles. People may think that I’m fickle minded but if they think like a seven year old I’m sure they will understand. When he lost his final match at the Flushing Meadows, most of the spectators in the stadium wept. Among the many persons who were saddened at his retirement was a twenty two year old but I think the main reason for me being sad was not the retirement of my hero but the retirement of the seven year old child within me.
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2 comments:
Well I wouldnt call you fickle-minded , thats how I felt when Steffi Graff retired. And I no longer follow the F1 races coz ...Schumi is not there.Well do you still watch 'em or not?Neways Rafael Nadal won the French Open yesterday ....HOWZZAT??!!
Yeah, after Schumi has retired , my interest in F1 has also decreased. I’ve not followed the races this year but it’s more because of the fact that I've had a very tight academic schedule, the other contributory fact being that I have no personal favourite.
Nadal played the French Open very well . He was unbelievable and played at a level which only Nadal can on clay. To be fair to Federer , he did try his best but Nadal was unstoppable. Hope he repeats the feat at Wimbledon…. Vamos Rafa!!!
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