A STAR’S SPANGLED REMEDY?

Andre Agassi checked the urge to gesture with his right hand and instead allowed it to remain submerged in the soapy solution. Agassi was having a manicure, and, for the duration, he would have to rein in his need to express himself using his hands.

Agassi was talking about dealing with problems, and for this he needed his hands. As exhibits. Agassi has been a lifelong nail biter and cuticle chewer. It was not unusual for every finger on his hands to bleed with his constant gnawing. His solution: He is having his nails cut so that he will not bite them.

His other concerns are not so easily excised. For months, Agassi has been struggling with the issue of how to satisfy all the time requirements for career, love and life, and what to do when his energy runs out before he has given all elements their due.

Agassi has been thinking about how to be more proactive in his life, and one step is to have a manicure.

If only the philosophy were applicable to his tennis career, which has taken a soaking of late. The former No. 1 player has now settled at No. 29 in the rankings. His 3-5 record this year reflects his not-always-successful attempts to deal with injury and lack of motivation.

Agassi’s performance this season has been, as he puts it, “very humbling.”

“The year has gone about as bad as you could expect it to,” said Agassi, who will open today’s Davis Cup quarterfinal at Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach against Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands. “It’s not good. When you’re committed to going down a road and persevere, you can’t expect it to be easy. I anticipated a struggle--certainly it’s been more than I would have preferred. But I’m committed to this. I hope I get through it.”

The “it” is Agassi’s reassessment of his life and career and reordering of his priorities. His engagement to actress Brooke Shields and his father’s heart ailments--coupled with frustration at the meager spiritual return he was getting from tennis--brought about the struggle to balance his life.

Still seeking the proper weight each part of his life requires, Agassi is nonetheless adamant about what’s important: “First, my relationship with God,” he said. “The loved ones in my life, second. Then, I’d say my ability within the game. In that order.”

*

Life is a series of steps, and if you live long enough you find yourself retracing them. Agassi has been here before. He’s a seeker, one of the few professional athletes who think about and struggle with the necessity of single-mindedness and ego to the job.

Agassi, who will turn 27 at the end of the month, has been redefined and reborn many times. The difference now is that he’s not trying to rejuvenate his tennis career, but to reorder his life.

“I dedicated myself to tennis entirely for two years, working myself to the top,” he said. “I found myself not satisfied with the rest of my life. I felt I never had time for much else, meaning my relationships, my [charitable] foundation. I definitely was in a place where I was asking myself what I wanted out of this. I knew I needed more balance.

“Tennis is one thing that’s taken its toll on me. I’m trying to experience my career in a full way, without that toll. I’m just not sure where it all fits in. I’m struggling.”

Agassi traces some of the struggle to 1995, when he worked hard for marginal payoff. The year mirrored Agassi’s moods, with success visiting, then leaving abruptly. He won his third Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open and began the season with a 15-0 match run.

Winning tournaments, Agassi found, was no substitute for winning majors. He was seeded No. 1 at the French Open but lost in the quarterfinals, then held a lead over Boris Becker in the semifinals at Wimbledon only to lose.

Then Agassi rebounded, tearing into the hard-court season. He won four tournaments and had 26-match winning streak when he met Pete Sampras in the final of the U.S. Open. Sampras won a close match and that loss crushed Agassi.

Still clouded by the pain of the loss, Agassi wondered what was the use of killing himself with work when he ended up with nothing to show for it.

“I just want time for my life, now,” he said. “I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it. To continue grinding, to keep up that level of intensity was a little tough for me. More than anything, I felt like that intensity came back and bit me in the [butt], so to speak, in the finals of the [1995] Open. The cost was so heavy to me that I just had to get away from it.”

Last season was also disappointing. He regained the No. 1 ranking but had a poor showing at the French, losing in the second round, and at Wimbledon, where he lost on opening day.

Again, the U.S. Open could have salvaged the year, but he lost to Michael Chang in the semifinals.

As his tennis fortunes grew more bleak, Agassi turned to his personal pursuits and concentrated on the Andre Agassi Foundation, his Las Vegas charity for at-risk children. He spent more time with family, friends and his fiancee.

Finding the balance has left his tennis game unsteady. So has the constant questioning he has been getting. Reporters and fans want to know what’s wrong with Agassi and why he doesn’t simply pay more attention to his game.

The underlying suggestion is that Agassi needs to change the priorities so that tennis is again No. 1. He wonders, why isn’t it OK to approach the game and play tennis the way he chooses? Why isn’t it enough that he’s doing what he wants? Why is it unacceptable to so many people?

Because, like nearly all sports stars, Agassi is saddled with the projections of million of fans who require him to be what they want him to be.

Agassi is tired of the public analysis.

“I used to want to bring people along with me on this journey and let people understand where I am and how it’s going,” Agassi said, sighing. “Now, I don’t care. I truly don’t care. I’m trying to figure this out on my own, for my own reasons. When you ask me about those who don’t have the understanding or humanity to try to fully understand or appreciate someone, then I don’t have time for them, either.

“Quite honestly, I’m just tired of talking about it. I find that when you speak about it, it’s so easily judged. It’s so easy to criticize. I respect other people’s opinions. What gets blown out of proportion is when it gets represented in a certain way. It’s someone’s take on it. The next thing you know, that’s what you are in so many people’s minds. To try to get people to understand where I am--that hasn’t gotten me anywhere. I don’t have the desire to do that anymore. It’s the first time in my life that I’m dealing with it on this level. I’m enjoying the process, as unfortunate as others say it is.”

*

Davis Cup has always come to Agassi’s rescue. Whenever he has been accused of being selfish or a self-promoter, he has turned around and made room in his schedule for Davis Cup, an increasingly unappealing assignment for American tennis players.

Agassi has an impressive Davis Cup record. He’s 22-4 and on a 13-match win streak. It seems that Agassi’s performance in Davis Cup matches is impervious to frustrations or struggles he experiences on the ATP Tour.

“He’s a big-match player,” said Tom Gullikson, U.S. Davis Cup captain. “He’s a showman. He’s from Las Vegas, he’s used to playing big matches. He’s got a really high regard for Davis Cup. It tends to bring out the best in him. Looking back on his history in Davis Cup, some of the years, when he did not play particularly well on the tour, he still did well in Davis Cup.

“Playing for a team really means a lot to him. I can tell you, because I was the Olympic coach last year when he won the gold in Atlanta. It was a similar situation where he hadn’t had a very good year. He lost early at Wimbledon, early at the French. He came into the Olympics and the Olympics was something he really wanted to win. He didn’t play particularly well until the final, but he competed very well.”

Agassi says he loves the team spirit, the pressure for playing well for others and representing his country. If anything can rekindle his passion for tennis, Davis Cup is likely to be the impetus.

“I think for Andre it’s been an issue of eagerness to play and focus,” Gullikson said. “The talent has never been a question. Everybody who watches him play, who knows anything about tennis, can see the obvious talent. It’s an issue of getting focused and really having the desire and determination to do it.”

Agassi says he’s working hard and trying to find a new formula for success. He knew how he did it before and, despite the dividends, he didn’t like it. It’s a matter of patience and perseverance.

“I don’t know where I’m going to draw the line with it all,” Agassi said. “But I know that I want to see improvements. I want to see myself getting better. I want to have more peace of mind about it all, more balance. I guess if I felt like I kept running into a brick wall I’d eventually say, ‘You know what? This is not the way I choose to live.’ That’s ultimately what it will come down to.

“I feel like anything you put your hand to, you should do 100%. That is the Catch-22 I find myself in. With my game, I’m committed, I’m just trying to do it in a healthy way. Don’t be under the impression that I’m not giving it everything I’ve got, because I certainly have a lot better things to do with my time than to frustrate myself. I believe that tennis is still there for me, I just have to make it happen.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How Agassi Ranks

Andre Agassi’s 1997 singles ranking, week by week

DATE: RANK

Jan. 6: 8

Jan. 13: 8

Jan. 27: 12

Feb. 3: 12

Feb. 10: 12

Feb. 17: 14

Feb. 24: 13

March 3: 13

March 10: 13

March 17: 13

March 31: 29

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Davis Cup Facts

* What: Second round, world group.

* When: Friday-Sunday.

* Where: Palisades Tennis Club, Newport Beach.

* Opponents: U.S. vs. Netherlands.

* Teams: U.S.--Jim Courier and Andre Agassi in singles, Jonathan Stark and Rick Leach in doubles. Netherlands--Jacco Eltingh, Paul Haarhuis, Sjeng Schalken and Jan Siemerink.

* Schedule: Today, 11 a.m.--Agassi vs. Schalken and Courier vs. Siemerink. Saturday, Noon--Stark-Leach vs. Eltingh-Haarhuis. Sunday, 11 a.m.--Reverse singles (matches will be played even if the outcome is decided).

* Next round: First team to win three matches advances to the semifinals Sept. 19-21.