When Andre Agassi scampered home to his first major title in 18 months, over 16 years ago, it was something of a temporal coup for him, because most critics had placed his tennis career — or, whatever remained of it — on the back-burner.
Maybe, the worse for Agassi wasn’t over. It all depended on how well he’d handle himself in the days, and months, ahead. On the strength of his performance, consistency, and the will to win — all over again, or whatever there was to it. He did not have it easy. But, he also had nothing to lose — because, he was already in the dumps, written off by many a cognoscente of the sport. The equation provided him some advantage. It had the ‘hakuna matata’ wherewithal to propel his career yet again for the good of his game, or not at all.
Agassi always played the classy tennis he was known for — albeit Pete Sampras, who pined for his worthy rival’s return, often found him more than a tad hot to handle, at times. How things change — for the better, or worse.
To go back a bit in time: Agassi at 26, or 28, was certainly not what he was at 21, a genius with a terrific hunger to win and thrill people who believed in him. He was always complex and controversial — and, he often needed a mirror. A mirror that reflected only one image: his own. There was, simply no way, otherwise, for him to preen and get his big mane in place, or tug his fluorescent Lycra underwear, or ‘tend’ to his navel which was as noticeable as his flamboyant image.
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