just another two weeks in new york
today begins (if it stops raining) the 2006 u.s. open tennis grand slam. in other words, i will be finding it impossible to go into the cable-less store for the next 14 days.
there are so many stories this year: the usta center gets named after billie jean king. will anyone be able to stop roger federer? will jimmy connors cure roddick of whatever the hell is wrong with him? there are no american women in the top 10 for the first time ever. serena williams is a wild card?
while all this is intriguing, this year's tournament has one over-arching theme that puts the rest to shame...one only. the retirement of this man:
in my tennis life, agassi has always been there. while he was quickly replaced in my book by one mr. pete sampras as my favorite player, there has never been anything but utmost admiration and respect for andre. he is the reason i started to watch tennis in the first place, i took tennis lessons so i could be like him (a goal for which i am still awaiting the fruits,) and i always, ALWAYS enjoy watching him.
well, he is retiring. and every match he plays in this open could be his last.
i'm not naive enough to expect a sampras-like twilight run and for agassi to go out a champion. it would be amazing, but just not plausible. what i do expect is an emotional journey that hopefully extends beyond the first few rounds.
i was fortunate enough to get to see him play a couple of times. he's a living legend. he would have been a legend even had he NOT reinvented his game and stormed through the late years of his career instead of walking away.
it's weird to see the last of my tennis heroes retire. somehow, at the end of this tournament, the sport will seem different.
best of luck, andre. and thanks.
there are so many stories this year: the usta center gets named after billie jean king. will anyone be able to stop roger federer? will jimmy connors cure roddick of whatever the hell is wrong with him? there are no american women in the top 10 for the first time ever. serena williams is a wild card?
while all this is intriguing, this year's tournament has one over-arching theme that puts the rest to shame...one only. the retirement of this man:
in my tennis life, agassi has always been there. while he was quickly replaced in my book by one mr. pete sampras as my favorite player, there has never been anything but utmost admiration and respect for andre. he is the reason i started to watch tennis in the first place, i took tennis lessons so i could be like him (a goal for which i am still awaiting the fruits,) and i always, ALWAYS enjoy watching him.
well, he is retiring. and every match he plays in this open could be his last.
i'm not naive enough to expect a sampras-like twilight run and for agassi to go out a champion. it would be amazing, but just not plausible. what i do expect is an emotional journey that hopefully extends beyond the first few rounds.
i was fortunate enough to get to see him play a couple of times. he's a living legend. he would have been a legend even had he NOT reinvented his game and stormed through the late years of his career instead of walking away.
it's weird to see the last of my tennis heroes retire. somehow, at the end of this tournament, the sport will seem different.
best of luck, andre. and thanks.
posted by cade at 9:09 AM
4 Comments:
Eric,
I knew opening up the cadeland blogspot today that I would get a nice rememberance of Andre. Thanks for coming through.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he'll be back. There's no reason (that I know of) for him not to attempt another return. Look at Jordan, Sugar Ray Leonard, Navritilova (sp? who cares); even Andre himself...the list goes on.
He always was my favorite; here's to hoping he wins it all and truly does retire in glory.
um. wow.
what a match.
heeeeeeeeeeeee.....
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