Blogcast: 2011 Hall of Fame Induction

The latest class of inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI includes a long-time contributor to the WTA and eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi.

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Not Everyone Is a Comedian

To some people the jokes come easily. Timing, as they say, is everything -- and apparently at the Hit for Haiti exhibition in Indian Wells, the timing was all off.

When tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi took the court on Friday night with current superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, playful banter quickly devolved into personal jabs between the long-time rivals. Pete mocked his opponent's mannerisms and Agassi referenced a passage in his autobiography which depicted Sampras as a stingy tipper, an impersonation that seemed to genuinely irritate Pete. The former #1 has since apologized for his behavior, conceding that his "whole book is about living and learning, and I guess you never frickin' stop."

Now I know I've defended Andre's revelations in the past but this, though innocuous compared to others, still seems out of line -- especially at a charity event. It appeared from the start of the night that Agassi was trying not just to entertain, but to ruffle Pete's feathers. Sampras, once thought to be good friends with Andre, has said previously that he was disappointed in the comments Agassi had made in Open and was having none of it in the desert.

If not inappropriate, the goings on Friday were certainly awkward. And while Federer and Nadal tried to stay out of it like gentlemen, Agassi actually made himself look like kind of a jerk. Sure he was always the bad boy of tennis, but there was still something lovable about him. I'm less enamored now -- a feeling, ironically, I didn't have after his book was published. And I can't help but feel that, if he hates the sport so much, then why is he still on the court causing such trouble?

Of course I'll try to keep an open mind and reserve judgement on a man who has done a lot of good for the sport. But, come on -- when are these guys going to remember to play nice?!

And in case you haven't seen it yet, take a look for yourself. For what it's worth, my favorite moment comes 2:57 into the clip when Pete serves square into Andre's body and both Rafa and Roger double over in unison -- either in hysterics or in shame, who can tell?

Open and Shut?

As the ATP World Championships begin in London this week, I can't help but look back at the career of the winner here nearly twenty years ago, one who's been making news of a different kind in recent weeks.

Andre Agassi defeated Stefan Edberg at the Frankfurt tournament in 1990 when he was ranked fourth in the world. It was still pretty early in his career, when he'd only won a single Masters title (in Miami earlier that year), but he had already made the finals at both the French and U.S. Opens. He was still more than four years away from his #1 ranking and seven from his career low which was laced with depression, premature hair loss, an unhappy marriage and more than a few episodes of drug-use -- all detailed thoroughly, if you hadn't heard, in his new autobiography Open.

Now I haven't read the book, but I've read enough of the reviews and seen enough of the reaction. Martina Navratalova likened him to Roger Clemens, Marat Safin said he should return all his trophies. Andy Roddick, though, supported him as one of the great ambassadors of the sport and a few days ago, the ATP said it could not reopen the doping case against him.

All this comes during a year rife with accusations of or injunctions against drug use in the tennis world. Richard Gasquet was punished with what could have been a two-year ban after he tested positive for cocaine in March -- he was allowed to return to play in July after it was determined that a "contaminated kiss" was the actual culprit. Martina Hingis, whose own suspension ended in September, said she would not return to the sport. And now former top-twenty player Xavier Malisse and U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer face the prospect of sitting on the sidelines for twelve months for failing to report their whereabouts when the authorities were looking for them -- I'm still not sure I understand what they did wrong.

So what were the consequences?

Gasquet was ranked in the mid-twenties this past spring -- the once-formidable player has now fallen to #53. Hingis, who was in the middle of her first comeback in 2007, had climbed herself back to #18 in the world before permanently retiring. Wickmayer, after winning her second tour title and qualifying for Bali, had reached a career-high ranking -- one year off the circuit, she fears, could derail all the work she's done this year -- after all, not everyone can pull off a comeback of any significant magnitude.

For Agassi, of course, he presumably "got away with it". Twelve years after the fact, he's now remembered not for the slump of the late-nineties -- even if we didn't know what caused it at the time -- but for his resurrgence since. He won the career Grand Slam two years after hitting rock-bottom, regained his #1 ranking a day before his thirty-third birthday, married a fellow super star and started schools in Las Vegas to help the underprivileged. Drugs and baldness aside, turns out he's not that bad a guy.

Now of course I don't support the use of drugs, performance-enhancing or otherwise -- in or outside of sports. It does seem that officials are trying to retroactively make up for the oversight of Andre by being overly punitive now. Or maybe they're just trying to avoid the mistake they made back then. But what would the sport look like if Agassi hadn't played for those two years? What would he look like?

I don't know what the right answer is, don't know whether these players should be maligned or revered. But maybe you shouldn't be judged at your worst -- but by what you do after it.

The Stuff of Fairy Tales

Year in and year out it seems we get to this part of the tennis season and are left singing the same song. Like the Valiant Little Tailor, Roger Federer had swatted away one opponent after another in his effort to accomplish what few others could. He may be credited with being the king of the All England Club, but us locals knew that it was really New York that was Roger's castle.

That is, until tonight.

It had been 2,200 days since the current #1 has lost at Flushing Meadows -- in 2003 Argentine David Nalbandian eliminated Fed in the round of sixteen. This year one of Nalbandian's young countrymen became the unlikely hero that would end Roger's quest for a sixteenth Major title.

His task would be a formidable one -- five different opponents, each champions in their own right, had taken their swipe at Roger and the best any of them could do was to take a set off him. Let's take a look back.

2004: Lleyton Hewitt (6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0)

The Australian was ranked fifth in the world at that point, and was coming off one of his most prolific years. He'd won titles in Sydney, Rotterdam, Washington and Long Island and hadn't dropped a set on the way to his third Slam final -- he'd won both of his other attempts.

Roger, for his part, had struggled a bit more. He'd dropped a set in the second round to Marcos Baghdatis and was pushed to the limit by Andre Agassi in the quarters. But he'd already won two Majors that year -- Australia and his second Wimbledon -- as well as six other titles.

In his first U.S. Open final, Roger began to show signs of the greatness he would only develop further as time progressed. He bageled Lleyton in the first set, got pushed to a tiebreak in the second, but retorted with another 6-0 immediately after. The entire match took 109 minutes, an impressive start to what would become an even more impressive run.

2005: Andre Agassi (6-3, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1)

The next year Roger faced heavy crowd favorite Agassi, who was thirty-five at the time and, though we didn't know it yet, a year from retirement. Ranked seventh in the world, the Nevada native had spent ages on the court already that fortnight -- more than fourteen and a half hours, with his last three matches each taking the full five sets to decide.

Roger, on the other hand, had just reiterated his win over Lleyton in the semis and came to the finals only having dropped two tight sets. Against Agassi, he surprisingly succumbed a bit, losing serve twice in the second before rallying in the third set tiebreak. He finished off the last Grand Slam winner, 6-1 in the fourth to claim his sixth Major crown.

2006: Andy Roddick (6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1)

In 2006 Andy Roddick was not having his best run. The former #1 had seen his ranking drop to the lowest it had been in four years. He'd only won a single title in Cincinnati, his least productive year since turning pro. But somehow in New York he seemed to regain his composure, surviving a scare from then-unknown Fernando Verdasco and battling past a persistent Mikhail Youzhny to reach his fourth Major final.

Unfortunately he was meeting the man who'd denied him his two previous attempts at his first Wimbledon title. By this time, we all knew Federer was a force unlike many others. At twenty-five he'd already racked up forty titles -- eight big ones. In New York that year he was nearly perfect, losing only one tiebreak at nine to James Blake, the newly instated best American tennis player.

He was similarly relentless against Roddick, firing off seventeen aces against the otherwise big server. He only ceded his game twice while breaking his opponent six times. Like with Agassi the year before, Federer came back after losing the second set and steamrolled over his opponent in the fourth, winning at 6-1.

2007: Novak Djokovic (7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4)

I admit I'd forgotten that Nole had made the finals at the Open during his break-out year. The Serb burst on the scene winning four titles before coming to New York and entertained a legion of fans with his impressions of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. He'd climbed to a #3 ranking, and despite some rough rounds had made it to his first championship match at a Slam.

Surprisingly, Roger faced the tougher draw that year, meeting #5 Roddick in the quarters and #4 Nikolay Davydenko in the semis. Even still he'd again only dropped one set -- to an upstart American named John Isner in the third round. In the final, Novak stayed close to start, forcing two tiebreaks, both of which he lost. But again Roger doubled his opponents on aces and scored the critical break point in the third set to secure his fourth straight title in New York.

2008: Andy Murray (6-2, 7-5, 6-2)

Last year was a whole different story. Though I began 2008 with the fear that Roger was just about to roll to his record fifteenth Grand Slam, thus dethroning my dear Pete Sampras, suddenly I found myself wondering if Federer would even win a title at all. He'd fallen to eventual winner Djokovic, who was out for revenge at the Australian Open, and suffered two brutal losses to Rafael Nadal at the French and Wimbledon finals. He lost his #1 ranking and was beaten by players like James Blake, Ivo Karlovic and Gilles Simon.

Murray on the other hand was riding a wave of momentum that culminated in a stunning victory over Nadal in the semifinals. Pundits were beginning to predict he might win his very first Major in the rain-delayed Monday night match.

Somehow, though, that didn't happen. As he usually does, Roger pulled out his best magic in the final and in less than two hours had won this match too, his thirteenth major, and put himself back on course for what turned out to be a pretty great 2009.

Juan Martin Del Potro (6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 2-6!)

This year Roger faced the latest prince trying to slay the giant. Or, more accurately, the latest giant trying to slay the prince. After a rough start Roger had reached a slew of milestones in 2009, acheiving a career Grand Slam, surpassing Pete Sampras's Major record, becoming a father. When he made it to the finals in New York, he was the clear favorite.

But Juan Martin -- who hadn't won a single one of their previous six matches -- played the tournament of his life, beating Rafa in the semis without losing serve once. Tonight he rebounded from almost going two breaks down in the first set to take the second in a tiebreak. He even grabbed an early lead in the third, getting so far under Federer's skin that Roger cursed at the chair umpire during a change over.

Amazingly, though, the big man regrouped after again giving up a break lead in the fourth to force the first five-set U.S. Open final since 1999, and it was the gangly Argentine who took the first break of the deciding set. After another half hour of play DelPo found himself with a handful of championship points -- the third of which he converted to win his first Grand Slam trophy at the ripe old age of twenty.



It was a startling outcome, like Shrek felling the dragon -- albeit a much more attractive Shrek and a very talented and deserving dragon. Juan Martin had played spectacular tennis for most of the summer, but looked exhausted in his defeat by Andy Murray in Montreal, causing most commentators to speculate over his fitness here. But he proved to be not only more resilient than his detractors posited, but more mature than his age suggested. With so many opportunities for him to fold and go quietly into the night, Juan Martin Del Potro ended the five-year reign of Roger Federer in New York in such spectacular fashion that only a Major's finale deserves.

This year's U.S. Open will be remembered for many things -- good, bad and ugly -- but hopefully for most, it will be remembered for its ability to make dreams come true for the biggest underdog.

So dust of your racquets, people! Next year, it could be you!

Doing Their Dirty Work

As much as I love a really good fight on the battlefield, I have a tendency -- for my favorites -- to root for an easy road to victory.

Don't get me wrong -- I love the excitement of overtime or extra innings and a fifth set with match points on either side of the net. But, like a protective mother, I often hope that my team is never in danger of losing.

Take, for example, Wimbledon, 1995.

My all-time favorite Pete Sampras, ranked and seeded #2 in the world, was out for his third straight title in England. But in his way was top dog and long-time rival Andre Agassi. Though at that point, Pete had the slight 8-7 record against his friend, Andre was playing some of the best tennis of his life -- having beaten Sampras in the finals at Melbourne and Miami earlier that year.



Their matches were always phenomenal and put on a show unlike many others. Even still I was worried that Andre's hard hitting and obvious tenacity would be too much for Pete, who had already lost sets to unknown players like Karsten Braasch and Shuzo Matsuoka during the tournament. Sampras had a lot on the line at Wimbledon and Agassi was a huge threat. So I prayed for someone else to clear the way for him and get rid of Agassi before Pete had to face him.

And that's just what Boris Becker did.

In one of the best matches I've ever seen, the fourth-seeded German took Agassi to four sets in their semifinal match, out-aced him twenty-two to four, and scored the upset in just under three hours. But just as I expected Becker wasn't able to maintain his dominance when he met Pete in the finals. After getting Andre out of the way, he made it pretty easy for Pete to, well, three-peat.



Okay, maybe the world was denied a great matchup in the final, but I didn't care. The win put Pete on his way to acheiving tennis history -- a legend that has endured to this day.

I wonder if that's how Roger Federer and Dinara Safina feel this year.

Now I've been as loud as anyone hoping for another Roger-Rafa Slam final, but Federer had to know that if he was going to win the French Open, someone else would have to take out Rafael Nadal. They've met here four times before and Federer has only taken three sets -- none of them in the same match.



Of course I wondered whether winning here would mean as much if he didn't get to face Nadal. Assuming Roger even makes the final, we probably won't get the championship match we've become accustomed to here. But hell, the road to a record-tying fourteen Majors and a career Grand Slam -- something Pete never acheived -- must seem a lot less bumpy now that Robin Soderling was able to do what Federer seemingly could not.

Dinara Safina is on the same boat, though her goal is ever-so-slightly less lofty. She's been to two Grand Slam finals, but never won a title. She claimed the world #1 ranking even though she'd lost her last three matches to the woman she took it from, Serena Williams . She's won eleven Tour titles, just a third of her biggest rival's. Of course she's been successful -- she's just looking to prove herself on a bigger scale.

So Dinara has to be happy that she won't have to meet her nemesis in Paris -- countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova took care of that for her in the quarterfinals. Even though she earned two titles on clay in the weeks leading up to Roland Garros, the prospect of her first Grand Slam championship is probably a lot brighter today.



In any case, Roger and Dinara certainly owe a big debt of gratitude to their fellow competitors in Paris -- it could have been a lot harder for them to acheive their ends here. And while the matchups may not be what we wished to see, I'm hoping that they all put on a show that is deserving of the title!