Tennis’ greatest male players of all times: (Part Six) Andre Agassi – Tennis Special
Very few tennis professionals will be seen in the past who literally revolutionise the sport with their own particular style of play. Such players stand out from the bunch of conventional players and make their own legacy, setting
an example for others to follow. We shall review the glorious career of one of the most beloved and entertaining tennis icon, whose presence on the courts is still missed by many fans. He was the man who brought new dimensions in the sport and added new flavours
and colours to it, something very few players have done in the past. We will look at another former world number one American legend in this edition of our series.
Andre Agassi – the United States of America
In the early 90’s, the legendary American tennis ace, Andre Kirk Agassi, was the only dominant power in the world of professional tennis. Admired by his fancy looks and attire, Agassi is remembered for his on-court, as well as
off-court activities. He stepped into the professional tennis circuit in 1986 as one of the most flamboyant player and kept lunging hurdles with excellence to claim the world number one spot after almost 10 years, in 1995. The crafty American holds the record
of being the top ranked male tennis player at the age of 34 in his career.
His baseline game play is considered to be one of the best of all times, as he turned the traditional tennis methods upside down and introduced a whole new vision of new belligerent tennis of the 21st century. Agassi’s
skills of hitting the ball on the rise and adding immense topspin on his strokes, coupled with timely and precise drop shots, were absolutely awe aspiring for his rivals and tennis viewers at the same time. The right-handed legend possessed complete control
over his shot making and his ‘on the line’ winners were frequent enough to frustrate his opponents.
Agassi has registered such feats in the history of tennis books that every player can only dream off. The American tennis icon featured 15 Grand Slam titles and stood victorious in eight of them, winning the coveted Major trophy
on all the four venues to complete his Career Grand Slam. 17 ATP Masters Series championship titles are also associated to Agassi’s name, while he also assisted his side to take home the glorious Davis Cup gold on two different occurrences. His Olympic gold
medal victory in 1996 completed his collection of coveted titles, a feat rarely achieved by any other tennis legend.
Another incident which took his fame to a new level was his marriage to the legendary female German tennis star, Steffi Graf. However, Agassi’s career took a major slump in late 90’s and he fell as low as world number 141 in 1997.
The legend restored his glory in 1999 by reclaiming the world number one spot and completing his Career Grand Slam by winning his only French Open title. He had 59 ATP titles in his bag by the time he retired from the professional tennis in 2006.
Many tennis critics rate Agassi as the All-time Greatest player of tennis but I will rather disagree. No doubt he falls in the category of legendary hall of famers and the one to be remembered for ever, but there are a number of
other tennis players who have a lot more titles in their bag than he secured in his entire career. Agassi is one of the Greatest of All Times player but he is not the only one to hold this title.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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