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Andre,
at 33, has a plan-once again-to teach the young guns at the
Australian Open a lesson.
By Alix Ramsay
It is all so familiar now. As the new season begins, Andre
Agassi arrives in Australia in his freshly pressed shorts
ready to take on the world. He looks fitter and stronger than
ever thanks to a winter training schedule that would make
most of his rivals cry, and he believes that he is in with
a shout of the major honors.
Agassi is about to embark on his nineteenth year on the road
and, after this long in the business, you would have thought
he would have got it all down pat by now. A lifetime of chasing
little fluffy balls around a tennis court ought to have taught
the old boy a few shortcuts. Surely at this point he should
be riding around the circuit on cruise control, doing what
he does without thinking and certainly without worrying. And,
at the age of 33, you would have thought he would be starting
to take it easy. That, though, is not Agassi’s way.
When Agassi does something, he does it at full pelt. What
that something is has varied over the years, but he has always
devoted everything he has to it. There were times when he
was busy being a perfectly ordinary bloke —or as ordinary
as a stupendously rich young superstar can be—and he
did that to the very limit, too. And there have been times
when he has been a dedicated professional, a career move that
has brought him eight Grand Slam titles. The appearance may
have changed, but the philosophy remains the same: Decide
what you want to do and then do it with all your might.
Through the years he has presented us with many different
characters. We began with the brash, young kid with denim
shorts and bottle-blond locks, moved through to the shaven-headed
pirate with shirts that glowed in the dark and finally reached
the sober, devoted husband and father of two, the elder statesman
of the game.
Best not to mention the word “elder” around Agassi
these days. He is
perfectly aware that he is not getting any younger, but he
does sound a little tired when asked endless questions about
age, retirement and the increasing youth of his rivals.
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