What more can be said about Andre Agassi? He played another match last night at the U.S. Open for the ages—this time against 21 year-old Marcos Baghdatis, who was the eighth seed in the tournament. And reminiscent of last year when Agassi defeated James Blake in rather dramatic fashion, during which 20,000+ New Yorkers were up past midnight on a work night, Agassi and Baghdatis kept them up late again with a thrilling match that had a little of everything.
Agassi jumped out to a quick two set lead, but Baghdatis found a way to win the third set. After Agassi broke Baghdatis twice to open the fourth set to take a 4–0 lead, the match appeared to be over. But judging from what I saw last night, Baghdatis is cut from the same cloth that Agassi is cut from regarding his will to win. He doesn’t give up. He broke Agassi twice and won the fourth set. And the crowd got nervous. So did I.
The fifth set was something else. The crowd was going nuts through the entire set. Baghdatis started to cramp in both legs, and at times, he could barely stand. But he still found a way to hit winners and stay in the match. So, on one side of the net, we had an aging 36 year-old champion who had to go to the hospital after his first round match to get a cortisone shot just so he could play this match against Baghdatis. On the other side of the net, we had a 21 year-old up-and-comer who was more physically spent than his much older opponent, but he wouldn’t give up.
The slugged away from the baseline. They hit aces and winners. They pumped their fists. They ran down balls that neither had any right running down. And they electrified tennis fans by their all-out effort. In the end, Agassi prevailed 7–5 in the fifth set and he gave us the gift of getting to see him play at least one more time.
Next up is Benjamin Becker. He’s a 25 year-old qualifier who is currently ranked 112th in the world. Becker did knock off Sebastien Grosjean, the number thirty seed, but as long as Agassi’s back holds up, I can’t see Becker beating Agassi. If Agassi prevails, that’ll set the stage for a possible fourth round match up between Agassi and Andy Roddick. What a match that would be! If Agassi got by Roddick, he’d probably play Lleyton Hewitt or Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. And if you really want to dream, Agassi might face Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. And if he got by Nadal, he’d surely play Roger Federer again in a rematch of the U.S. Open final last year.
Regardless of how far he makes it, I’m savoring every moment he’s on the court, knowing that it could be his last.
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