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Agassi still has knack for comeback, Sampras?

June 3, 2002

Five years ago, when Agassi was nursing injuries and going through some personal issues, his ranking plummeted to No. 141 and he found himself scrambling on the challenger's tour. Almost every pundit wrote his tennis obituary. Agassi, himself, harbored doubts that he would ever claw his way back to the top.

The notion that he would reach five more Grand Slam finals and win four of them would have sounded ludicrous. Just as ludicrous as the notion now that Agassi might somehow win another half-dozen and catch Pete Sampras for the all-time total.

Sampras, at 30, hasn't won a tournament, much less a major, since he captured his seventh Wimbledon two years ago. Jim Courier retired to the broadcast booth in 2000. Michael Chang is still on the tour but struggling, winning only one match in 10 this year and coming close to fading from the top 100. Of the quartet of American men who dominated men's tennis since the late '80s, only Agassi is chasing the top ranking.

Maybe Agassi is lasting longer because he took time off earlier. Because he wasn't so consumed by the sport and the pursuit of records the way Sampras was. Because when Agassi decided to whip himself into shape, he did it with a degree of ferocity few others matched.

Or maybe Agassi stayed so competitive because of his basic skills, because his style is as conducive to clay as it is to grass and hardcourts.

That doesn't mean that the tennis world has heard the last from Sampras.

"Pete's game relies more on his serve," Gilbert said. "If he turned it around next week, it wouldn't surprise me. All he has to do is look at Andre and say, OK, at 30, he's not done. He could say, 'If Andre's 32 and winning, that's an example for me.' Hey, it wouldn't surprise me if they met each other in the Wimbledon final."

It's too simplistic to pin a player's decline to changes in his personal life. For some, marriage and children might be a distraction from the commitment of training and touring. For others, it might be just what they need to renew their passion for the game. Agassi hasn't missed a beat on the court since marrying Steffi Graf and seeing their son born last year.

"It's so sad to hear the last two years that Pete's losing because he got married," Gilbert said. "Man, that's cruel on his wife. There's more to tennis than that. Andre's incredibly happy. He's working hard and doing the thing he loves to do. Sometimes, as an athlete, you can be an old 30 or you can be a young 32. Andre's a young 32."

 

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