The United States Open in tennis is about to wrap up this weekend. On the women's side, it will either be Amanda Anisimova or Aryna Sablenka of Belarus. On the men's side, it is now the very familiar rematch between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Those two men met in the last two Grand Slam finals. Alcaraz won the French Open in what became an instant classic. Sinner won Wimbledon convincingly over Alcaraz.
Sinner, by qualifying for this particular Grand Slam final, became the first man since Novak Djokovic to qualify for all four Grand Slam finals in a calendar year. Also, he is the youngest man ever to achieve the feat. All very impressive.
This always brings to mind some tennis legends of old, over the course of many decades now. That includes my personal favorite, Andre Agassi.
What I liked about Agassi was that it felt he was easy to identify with. While Pete Sampras was, undeniably, the most successful and accomplished man of his era, it felt like Agassi nonetheless had more pure talent. Also, Agassi managed some real achievements which Sampras never managed to achieve. Like winning the French Open title, and thus completing the career Grand Slam. Reaching the final for all four Grand Slam titles consecutively. Or like winning the Olympic Gold, and thus completing the career Golden Slam (all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold). Also, reaching the number one ranking past the age of 30. Those are some major accomplishments which Agassi had, and Sampras never did.
So you could really make a case that Agassi earned his place next to Sampras as the great player of his era, as well.
Yet as mentioned earlier, Agassi was human. Sometimes, you could sense and even physically see Agassi about to fail.
There were two matches in particular which stand out in this regard, and possibly three. The third would be the US Open Final in 1995. There was no single moment, as there were in the other two matches, which I am about to explain. However, Agassi entered that US Open Final in 1995 on top of the world. He was ranked number one, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows, and had beaten Sampras in the Australian Open Final earlier thar year. By all rights, this should have been the crowning moment to this point for him. Instead, he lost to Sampras, and his confidence clearly sank after that. There was a serious drop off with his level of play. Within two years, he would have to play qualifying matches just to regain some confidence.
However, there were individual moments - points within a match, really - where you could see this side of Agassi the clearest, in real time. He was playing extremely well, and then something happened. Something went wrong. You could see the confidence drain out of his face. At least, that was what it felt like.
From that point onwards, I pretty much knew that he was going to lose the match, which he did.
So what were they?
The first was in 1995, at the Wimbledon Semifinal. We was playing the German Boris Becker, and he was tearing him apart. It seemed so one-sided in Agassi's favor, that it looked like it would be over really quickly. And then, Becker won a very impressive point. That was one thing, but Becker kind of celebrated in an exaggerated manner, throwing his arms up. I couldn't tell if it was half in frustration or mocking, perhaps even mocking himself.
However, Agassi's demeanor completely changed. So did the complexion of the match. Agassi was winning, having taken the first set and leading the second, but it was all Becker after that.
The next was some years later. Once again, Agassi had everything going for him. He had just won the French Open, and so became the first player in three decades to achieve the career Grand Slam. For that matter, he became the first man in history, and only the second tennis player (his future wife Steffi Graf being the other one) to have achieved the career Golden Slam (all four Grand Slams and Olympic Gold).
In the final, he was playing Pete Sampras, yet again. Agassi had played well enough at Wimbledon that he was assured the number one ranking. He had not lost since before the French Open, and was playing fantastic tennis. Possibly, the best of his career. And while the first set was very tight, he managed to get a triple break point opportunity. Then he had a wide open court to earn the break, which likely would have led to him taking the first set. He got a bit too excited and wanted the exclamation point, slamming the ball when he simply could have hit it for the winner. It was too strong and went out. An opportunity wasted. Agassi seemed confused and uncertain, doubts creeping up on his face for the first time. As with that match against Becker, everything unraveled for him the rest of the way. Sampras held serve, broke Agassi in the next game, and went on to win in straight sets.
So he showed some limitations.
Yet, that made him easier to root for, if anything. After all, you could actually see him struggling with a crisis in confidence at times. That made him rising to the heights that much more impressive. When he was on fire and playing his best tennis in 1994-95 and again in 1999-2000, achieving things which no other man -not even Pete Sampras - had achieved, you really felt like he had overcome something. it was far easier for me to identify with and root for him then with the machine like Sampras. I know that a lot of people liked Sampras, but I had a hard time rooting for him.
Watching the Grand Slams this year, and particularly the US Open at this time of the year, always reminds me a bit of those days, with Agassi.
Just thought that I'd share that. apropos of nothing.
Jannik Sinner becomes youngest man in Open Era to reach all four Grand Slam finals in one season The 24-year-old battled into the final of the US Open on Friday night with a four-set victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime. By TENNIS.com Published Sep 06, 2025:
https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/jannik-sinner-becomes-youngest-man-in-open-era-to-reach-all-four-grand-slam-finals-in-one-season?fbclid=IwY2xjawMpLsBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiZntv7pYqS4oJp3cud4p14La3vd1bypz_VwqYvNQGm-1xBcNMBmHfXRc0Ci_aem_z-N7zwTtnwnr6YKGhT3Aug
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