Uneasy Rhetoric

I know that’s not the way to report a tennis score, but in this case, I’m putting the loser’s numbers first.

When Andre Agassi first hit the tennis scene, I was like a lot of others — I didn’t like him very much, I didn’t like the “all about image” attitude that commentators have mentioned quite a bit lately. In fact, I had stopped paying much attention to men’s tennis.

But when he came back on the scene, more serious, more focused, and with more heart, I became a fan. I usually watch tennis just to see who will win, to watch the great players play. But if Agassi were on the court, I would be rooting for him. In part it was because he was my age and he had managed to do something I hadn’t: figure “it” out, whatever “it” was, and focus on it.

Because this was his last U.S. Open, I managed to watch all three of his matches; I’ve watched more tennis this US Open than I’ve watched during any grand slam in probably eight or nine years. I sat on the edge of my seat when he beat Pavel, I found myself endlessly frustrated as he took five long sets to take out Baghdatis (despite the young player’s cramping), and I winced as he quickly lost his service game, got broken by Benjamin Becker, and lost.

Now, he’ll get to spend more time with his foundation, his family, and one of the world’s greatest women tennis players.