|
Martina
Hingis and Andrè Agassi were the "victims" in the Masters'
finals of New York and Hannover, the two competitions that bring to
an end a year of frantic and exciting activity, both for women and men.
On the other side, two former number one, Davenport and Sampras, who
have in common a prestigious but somewhat consolatory victory in the
tournament that gathers the 8 best tennis players of the year.
According
to computer calculations, the world strongest players are not them but
the losers, and if in the case of the Swiss Hingis, this may seem rather
questionable, in the case of men nothing can be said on the striking
rise to the top of Agassi. The agonistic life, and not only, of this
boy of Iranian origin, who was born in Las Vegas, is a real seesaw of
good performances, mood and experiences. The last decade of his life,
who took him to reach the top of world tennis, may seem very simple
to tell. For many people, the American champion has alternatively been
for some time a promising player, a spoilt boy and a good advertising
medium to promote a product of the sector.
At
the beginning of his history, this unconventional adolescent with his
strange look made himself popular with everybody and attracted swarms
of teenagers. What is certain is that this phenomenal champion who served
his strokes with no apparent logic (for which he was nicknamed "flipper")
behaved in an even too unconventional way. Starting from his annoying
European matches, where the organizers were ready to pay a lot of money
to have him playing in the tournament and then let him go in less than
no time. In that period Agassi perfectly put into practice the saying
"take the money and run away", with his incredibly rapid defeats
and his fast return to his beloved Las Vegas on his private jet.
Andrè
has therefore continued to play tennis while showing off strange haircuts
and jockey outfits, occasionally also winning some matches. At a certain
point, the victory obtained at Wimbledon fully in line with his look,
that is to say, a shocking look given the characteristics of the English
grass court, seemed to be able to spur him as a sportsman, rather than
a tabloid athlete. On the contrary, the long journey of the Las Veags
Kid towards his current position, i.e. the best tennis player in the
world, was enriched by many other "soap opera" events and
also some occasional victories.
For
example his marriage with actress Broke Shields, which was an unexpected
event in a moment when Andrè had just brought to an end a love story
with singer Barbra Streisand. This event undoubtedly brought them a
lot of publicity, but soon also showed how the life of a sportsman and
that of a television star are incompatible.
At
the beginning of their union, Andrè was giving rise to an exciting rivalry
with Sampras that seemed to revive the historic rivalries of modern
tennis, like Borg-Connors or McEnroe-Lendl. Yet, it was not certainly
easy to manage to be up to Sampras and at the same time go to parties.
Agassi resisted for a few years, forever on the move from a party to
another until late in the night and the training sessions in the morning,
when he was still sleepy. At a certain point the former prodigy kid,
who was going to be forgotten as a tennis player, probably realized
that he was nothing without tennis and thus made the most important
choice of his life.
He
cannot be blamed for this. He started to play tennis since the age of
six abandoning the school, his friends and everything that is normal
for a boy of his age. And before trying to construct a life far from
tennis courts, it was maybe more important to him to construct an agonistic
life.
During
his slow rise to the top, Agassi even played in minor tournaments where
he had to change himself the scoreboard during changeovers. From the
court of Wimbledon to a court in a remote town of Nevada. From the punk-style
long thick hair to military haircut. In 1997, a new Agassi, who was
slowly but constantly improving, must have reflected a lot on his lifestyle
and the possibilities Mother Nature had offered him with a tennis racket
in his hands. And in the end he chose to focus his energies on the sport
that has made him famous all over the world, even to the detriment of
his emotional life.
A
divorce is never an easy thing to deal with, to get over and to counterbalance
with other satisfactions. Yet, on the other hand, Agassi has managed
to counterweigh his probably most painful choice with the best agonistic
season. His victory at Roland Garros has enabled him to be placed among
the only other four players in the history of tennis who were able to
win all Slam competitions, while his second victory at the US Open has
made him the world number one, finally taking away the title from Sampras,
who held it for more than five years. If only some months before Agassi
had to admit that his life was meaningless without tennis, it is also
true that the new millennium tennis, crushed by Sampras' excessive power,
has really run the risk of becoming a boring thing without the new Agassi.
|
|
Mensile di scienza medica e
attualita`