Viva Las Agassi

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsOur generation's most fulfilling player has sailed into the sunset, but it was a kind of poetic justice for him to lose to a certain B. Becker in his last ever match. Why do I say that? Let me explain.

Those who watched the game and read the papers will know Agassi lost to Benjamin Becker, not the more famous Boris, who himself retired from tennis in 1999. But it is Boris Becker who revealed something about Agassi's game in his recent autobiography. The two players clashed 14 times, and Agassi walked away the winner on 10 of those occasions. Agassi later told Becker there was a reason why he found it relatively easy to beat him: he could figure out where Becker's serve was headed depending on the direction his tongue was pointed at! (Becker fans would remember the German had a habit of sticking out his tongue while serving).

That's an important clue about Agassi's game, after all no one can develop into one of the best returner-of-serves the sport has ever had, on raw talent and timing alone. It also involved peering into the competitors mind, game and in Becker's case, his tongue!

Agassi's on-court intelligence wasn't just restricted to his returns. He also defined "percentage tennis" in every aspect of the game. This was also evident in his final match on Sunday. Not known for serving too many aces, Agassi slammed 21 of them, all because he knew he couldn't afford to get stuck in too many rallies. I've seen Agassi lose entire sets purposely after being broken, only to bounce back later in the match after having conserved his energy. Against Andy Roddick in the 2004 Cincinatti Masters, the Las Vegan seemed more puppeteer than a tennis player, as he made the younger American dance from one end of the court to another, only landing the killer blow once Roddick's energy was completely drained.

All of this meant Agassi probably brought more strategy into a match than any one player I've seen. Tennis is a sport where one can still be the winner despite losing more points than the loser. Even so, Agassi was one of the few players who brought a rare intelligence to tennis.

If sport mirrors everyday life, then there could have been few teachers better than Agassi. He taught me that there are second chances in life. Five of his eight Grand Slam singles titles came after the age of 29, after Agassi mounted a comeback from a relative slump. In the last year or so, Agassi needed to depend on cortisone injections just to play - but I personally hadn't seen him show much emotion on court, until Sunday when the tears just wouldn't dry up.

So it is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to Agassi. Don't be surprised though, if he turns up somewhere, playing mixed doubles with wife Steffi Graf. Highly unlikely though it is, I don't think one can fully discount that possibility - after all in 2004, he had made a bet with Steffi that she would have to play with him, if he won the Australian Open that year. History shows that he didn't win, but you never know what could happen in the future!
About the AuthorH R Venkatesh H R Venkatesh is News Editor-Anchor at CNN-IBN. He has just returned from the University of Oxford where he completed an M Sc in Contemporary India as...Read Morefirst published:September 05, 2006, 15:28 ISTlast updated:September 05, 2006, 15:28 IST
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