Agassi’s Improbable Run Finally Comes to an End

Sentimentality gave way to reality Monday night at the Australian Open. Andre Agassi’s improbable comeback was halted in the fourth round, and what the tournament lost in charisma it gained in quality.

Unseeded Alberto Berasategui of Spain felled the unseeded Agassi with a barrage of lashing forehands and superior fitness. The former French Open finalist won the 2-hour 31-minute match, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. It was the first time in his career that Berasategui had come back from two sets down to win.

The standing-room-only center court crowd, which for the first time included Agassi’s wife, Brooke Shields, waited expectantly for the match, which pitted Berasategui the clay-court specialist against Agassi, the 1995 Australian Open champion.

Agassi is 27 and currently mired in the lower reaches of the rankings. He has endeared himself to fans with his humility in playing on the challenger circuit. As far as the fans are concerned, Agassi is as compelling and stylish at No. 87 as he was at No. 1.

Monday night’s match offered tennis fans a view of Agassi’s willingness to work his way back to the Top Ten and Berasategui’s ability to out-work anyone.

The semi-covered court at Melbourne Park affords excellent acoustical insight. In the Berasategui-Agassi match, every thwack of the ball off strings and every grunt of effort was amplified and testified to the work rate being maintained by the players.

The match was agonizingly close. Agassi won one more point than Berasategui. Agassi had it his way in the first two sets. He was unfazed when, while serving in the third game of the second set, civic fireworks celebrating Australia Day were loudly set off. The sparkling lights could be seen through the opening in the center court roof.

The level of play was equally sparkling. The match was ruled by Berasategui’s unorthodox forehand, which Agassi called the best in the game. Berasategui rears back, pulling from far behind his body and creating tremendous torque. The ball becomes a blur.

Agassi was able to cut off the court and not allow Berasategui to run around his forehand in the beginning of the match, but his fading footwork and the Spaniard’s increasing pace changed that.

Agassi was up a break and serving at 3-2 in the fourth set but failed to hold that advantage by missing seven first serves and losing serve. The match’s tidal change began then, as Berasategui broke in the eighth game and served out the set.

That ground gained bolstered the Spaniard, and emboldened him to continue with his torrid pace. “He started going for broke, just ripping it,” Agassi said.

It became clear that Berasategui was now dictating the actions of the points and Agassi was relegated to the role of retriever.

“I just kept fighting and I had a chance and I took it,” Berasategui said. “Andre, in the first two sets, he was playing very good tennis. He didn’t let me run around my forehand. All of a sudden, he got a little bit tired and I had a chance, and I took it. That changed the match and all of a sudden it was two sets all and I think I could win the match.”

And just as suddenly, Agassi was back on his heels and unable to respond. In the early sets, Berasategui’s second serves were met with insult by Agassi--in the latter stage it was all he could do to return them.

Berasategui’s patience and stamina are born of hours in the heat playing long points on slow red clay. His remarkable fitness, twinned with his willingness to work, were insurmountable to Agassi.

“I knew that Andre, he doesn’t like to run,” Berasategui said. “He likes to make other people run. And, for sure, he can make me run a lot. But I don’t think he likes too much running.”

Agassi’ gambit to end points quickly resulted in a spray of errors and the loss.

His run here came to an end, but Agassi was clear that it is not the end of his return to tennis.

“The ultimate question that everybody wants and answer to is What can I do again?,” Agassi said. “ ‘Can I play at the best level and can I win these tournaments?’ I think that question is still unanswered. I’m not here to say that I can. I have to just keep getting better.”