Adieu to the kid from Las Vegas

Ander Agassi retired yesterday after a stellar career of 21 years. He bid a tearful farewell to tennis after losing in the 3rd round of the US open.

I remember the day when my brother got this huge poster of Agassi to put in his room and I was looking at this guy with long hair and wearing multi coloured neon clothing and now today Agassi at the age of 36, bald and in nearly all white attire retired as one the greatest players of the game. Agassi had the sweetest return of serve ever and his ability to take on the big servers from two feet inside the baseline had never been done and still never has in way he did it.

He won all four Grand Slam singles events during his career plus the Masters, the Davis Cup, and an Olympic gold medal. He is one of the only 5 players to win all the grand slams. One of the things that stand out about his career is in 1997 dropping from being ranked number 1 in the world to number 141 and then coming back. He never quit upon reaching 141. He went and played tournaments where even ball boys were not there and finally was number 1 again in 1999. He will remain one of my favorite players ever even more than Sampras.

On Sunday he was clearly in a lot of pain because of this chronic back problem and many times just stood straight letting the balls whiz by. His back had seized up completely after the match with Baghdatis in the 2nd round but with the help of some non-steroidal injections he managed to show up for this match.

Here is what he had to say at the end...

"The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard didn't say is what it is I have found," Agassi said speaking to the crowd "You have pulled for me on the court and also in life. . . . You have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments. . . . You have given me your shoulders to stand on, to reach for my dreams -- dreams I could have never reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I have found you, and I will take you, and the memory of you, with me for the rest of my life."

On thinking about quitting while playing through a lot of pain.

"If I wanted to quit, I would have done that a long time ago. I didn't come here to quit."

"I didn't want it to be tainted with a lack of desire or preparation, for me, it was never about winning and stopping. It was always about getting the most out of myself for as long as possible."