Andre Agassi often talks about process. Last night at the US Open, his match against Andrei Pavel was all about process. This is Agassi’s last tournament of his career. He’s chosen (arguably) tennis’ biggest stage to exit. But he’s not quite ready.
He dropped the first set in a tie breaker. And then he won the second set in a tie breaker. He got down two breaks in the third set and then process kicked in. He changed rackets to go up a pound in string tension and from that point on, he started running Pavel all over the court. Agassi came all the way back to win the third set and then the fourth.
This match wasn’t about wondering if he could win the tournament or even about whether he could beat Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. It was about the electricity of each moment. Some of those moments included such emotion that Agassi was near tears. Some of those moments included him skipping to his chair during change-overs after escaping big trouble. Some contained precious television shots of what matters most to him—his wife and children. And each moment contained the beautiful tension that comes from knowing that the inevitable is about to happen, but simply not wanting it to—not just yet.
Agassi lives to play another day—Wednesday probably, against a great player in Baghdatis. And tennis fans will get to relive it all again. And we’ll love every minute of it.
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