Saturday, June 20, 2009

Andre Agassi




Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970) is a former World No. 1 professional American tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. He is, with Rod Laver, Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, and Roger Federer, one of only six men to have won each of the Grand Slam singles title in history, and one of only three (with Laver and Federer) since the beginning of the Open Era. In addition to his Grand Slam and Olympic singles titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup and was part of a winning Davis Cup team. He won 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments, more than any other player. TENNIS Magazine named him the 12th greatest player, male or female, for the period 1965 through 2005. Agassi's Grand Slam composition is (4 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 Wimbledon, 2 US Open) for his career.


Nickname(s) The Punisher
Country United States
Residence Las Vegas, Nevada
Date of birth April 29, 1970 (1970-04-29) (age 39)
Place of birth Las Vegas, Nevada
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 177 lb (80 kg)
Turned pro 1986
Retired September 3, 2006
Plays Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money US$31,152,975
Singles
Career record: 870–274 (76.05%)
Career titles: 68 including 60 listed by the ATP
Highest ranking: No. 1 (April 10, 1995)
Grand Slam results
AU Open W (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003)
French Open W (1999)
Wimbledon W (1992)
US Open W (1994, 1999)
Major tournaments
Tour Finals W (1990)
Olympic Games W (1996)
Doubles
Career record: 40–42
Career titles: 1
Highest ranking: No. 123 (August 17, 1992)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open QF (1992)
US Open 1R (1987)

Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi and Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley). His father is an Iranian of Assyrian and Armenian ethnicity who represented Iran in boxing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games before emigrating to the United States.

Mike Agassi was renowned for being very domineering over Andre. He was known to take a hammer to matches and bang on the fences in disgust when Andre lost a point. He sometimes screamed at officials and was asked to leave more than once. At the age of thirteen, Andre was sent to teaching guru Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida.He was meant to stay for only eight weeks because that was all his father could afford. However, after ten minutes of watching Agassi rally, Bollettieri called Mike and said, "Take your check back. He's here for free".

He turned professional at the age of 16. His first tournament was in La Quinta, California. He won his first match against John Austin 6–4, 6–2 but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander 6–1, 6–1. By the end of the year, Agassi was ranked World No. 91.

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