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Friday, February 04, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Joe Hawk
Agassi serves notice: Grand Slam in calendar year far-fetched
"Absurd thought," Andre Agassi called it.
"Way too premature" even to think about, he said.
"Absolutely, absolutely an over-the-top accomplishment that we will very highly likely never see in our life," he later argued.
No, don't ask professional tennis' reigning superstud his thoughts about winning all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year unless you're ready to have the response smacked back at your teeth with all the power of a two-fisted forehand.
"All those questions do," the 29-year-old Agassi chided Thursday, "is make me realize how easy it must look from the outside."
Oh-K ... I take that to mean, then, asking about your chances of winning each Grand Slam title twice is out of the question?
"I don't think winning any of them is easy, but I believe it is possible," Agassi replied, slightly more receptive. " ... If I only could win eight Slams, I would like to have them all twice."
To be sure, Andre Agassi was on his game -- interview game, that is -- when he volleyed with reporters in a teleconference call from Harare, Zimbabwe, where he and his U.S. Davis Cup teammates open a World Group first-round series with the south African nation today.
The 29-year-old Las Vegan will open play against Wayne Black, Zimbabwe's No. 2-ranked player, in the weekend's first singles match.
The Davis Cup series comes just five days after Agassi won his second straight Slam event by defeating Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov in four sets to capture the Australian Open on Sunday. Now, some 6,700 miles and six time zones removed, Agassi is putting his supremely surreal game to the test for the honor of his country.
But that wasn't the purpose of Thursday's teleconference call; rather, it was to promote next week's Sybase Open in San Jose, Calif. -- Agassi's first on U.S. soil in the new millennium.
That didn't stop interviewers, though, from asking Agassi about the hot topic of the day: his recent glory -- and, considering the way he has played over the past eight months, the glory that still awaits.
Agassi completed his first career Slam last June when he won his first French Open. He then lost to longtime rival Pete Sampras in the final at Wimbledon in July but returned with his second U.S. Open victory in September.
Now with his second win in Australia, that's three titles in his last four Slams.
Is it really out of the question, Andre, to anticipate victories at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this summer -- giving you two career Grand Slams -- followed by another U.S. Open title in the fall -- which would also give you a full Grand Slam in 2000?
"I don't think about anything but the next match," Agassi said. " ... I've got to tell you, when it comes to the Grand Slam and the level of competition out there, that is nothing short of necessity.
"It's like having a great first month in the major leagues and thinking about breaking (Mark) McGwire's record. It's just ... a lot closer to being an absurdity than anything."
What the hey? Sports is all about exceeding the achievable and achieving the absurd.
Say Agassi did win the French Open and Wimbledon this year -- or in any other year or years, for that matter -- he would become just the third men's player with two career Grand Slams. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the others.
And if he were to win the French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open this year, he would be the first men's player since Laver in 1969 to win all four events in the same calendar year. Laver also did it in 1962, while the late Don Budge was the first in 1938.
So there is precedent.
But Agassi said he doesn't need the lure of multiple Grand Slams to keep him sharp. He's more retrospective in that sense.
"I think any athlete has the desire to end their career feeling like they saw their best," Agassi explained. "No matter how much I win, if I feel like I can still improve, that is what motivates me.
"End of story."
Not the end of Agassi's improvement, though. He said he doesn't have any "strong weaknesses" but "I feel like I can always serve better. I feel like I can always hit heavier rally shots that I can make 10 out of 10 times.
"I mean, you can just do everything better. It's just not possible to look at it otherwise," Agassi continued. "I don't want to become a different player. I just want to do everything I do and do it better."
Which may serve as a warning to Andre Agassi's opponents: Tennis' top-ranked player still has Grand Slam schemes -- and dreams.
Joe Hawk can be reached by phone at 383-0294, ext. 4, or by e-mail at Joe_Hawk@lasvegas.com.
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