This Father Still Figures

The House of Agassi had another trophy to treasure this month, this one from the Italian Open. Like two others this year, it was provided by Andre. Nevertheless, he knows his place in his family, if not tennis history.

Let’s start with the family. Jaden Gil, born in October, has parents with 29 Grand Slam singles titles, 22 for Steffi Graf, seven for Andre Agassi. Jaden Gil’s most important number is 18 pounds, and he is thinking about his first, important move. Of course, it doesn’t involve a tennis racket just yet.

“The little guy is awesome,” Agassi said. “He’s at the age where he’s sitting up on his own. You can tell he’s thinking about it [crawling]. He’s got it all worked out. It looks like he’s air swimming.”

Perhaps Andre’s father, Mike, would already have a racket in the child’s hand. Mike didn’t quite take Andre from the stroller to the service line, but you get the general idea.

When Andre won the Indian Wells tournament for the first time, in 2001, his dad was there. When Andre reached a milestone, his 50th singles championship, at Scottsdale, Ariz., in March, Mike was there.

These are not typical appearances. Mike would rather be in front of the television set, remote control in hand, VCR running, watching Andre’s forehand. And backhand. And footwork. This is where he will be, far away from Paris, when the French Open starts Monday.

“He prefers it so he can watch it on TV where he can tape it and then watch it again during commercials,” Agassi said of his father. “He likes going back and rewinding and studying.

“When he watches it live, he gets a little bummed. He can’t watch it again. It’s not his desire [to be there]. It’s his desire to watch me and study me in the matches. He enjoys that. He enjoys it that much.”

Father, apparently, still knows best.

“Oh yeah. He’s constantly telling me. Constantly. It’s nonstop,” Agassi said. “He’s got it all figured out on what I need to do. I love listening to it. Like I tell him to his face, I think he has some points. We get into those discussions all the time.”

Likewise, Agassi will tell his father he is dead wrong.

It’s a little more difficult for Agassi to talk about his place in tennis history, his longevity and his amazing talent for rejuvenation because he is firmly fixed in the present tense, involved in what he calls “a war out there year after year.”

At 32, he moved to No. 3 in the ATP’s entry system rankings, climbing to that spot after winning the Italian Open in Rome on Mother’s Day. He was the oldest player to be in the top three since Jimmy Connors in June 1986. (In the latest ATP rankings, Agassi is fourth and will be seeded in that spot at the French Open behind Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, Marat Safin of Russia and Tommy Haas of Germany.) He has won seven singles titles since turning 30. Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, who turns 31 in September, is next among active players with four.

U.S. Davis Cup captain and ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe thinks that Agassi is the slight favorite heading into the French Open. The previous two years, the spring clay season was dominated by three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil and youngster Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. But the field has been leveled because of Kuerten’s hip surgery in February and Ferrero’s injured thigh.

“My preparation has never been better for Paris, so it’s going to be very interesting,” said Agassi, who opens against a qualifier and could face No. 8 Roger Federer of Switzerland or No. 11 Ferrero in the quarterfinals.

“It’s hard to tell. If you win before Paris, you do have that question: Is that peaking too soon? You want to play this way in Paris.”

So often, many have left their best stuff behind in Monte Carlo, Rome or Hamburg, Germany. Agassi, wisely, pulled out of Hamburg, realizing he couldn’t push himself the way he could a few years ago, and financially able to accept a $40,000 fine and a sizable chunk of a season-ending bonus.

“I think his chances are great,” McEnroe said. “He’s in great condition. He’s confident. He’s hitting the ball as well as he has. His preparation has been absolutely perfect.

“It’s still more dangerous for him to play some tough clay-courters and guys that can make him move a little bit. Where he’s still suspect on clay is that his defense is not great. He’s gone from being OK to being very good. If he’s playing offense as well as he did in Rome, he doesn’t have to play as much defense.”

Haas, who absorbed a straight-set drubbing in the Italian Open final, would agree.

“He’s been playing some unbelievable tennis the last couple of years,” he said. “He looks fitter than ever, more dedicated to the game.”

This is where conventional wisdom flipped, almost magically, for Agassi in 1999. He went from standing in the shadow of Pete Sampras to having something Sampras doesn’t have, a French Open championship. Agassi nearly did not come to Paris that year because of a shoulder injury and punctuated the fortnight by becoming the fifth man to win all four Grand Slams in his career, joining Don Budge, Rod Laver, Fred Perry and Roy Emerson.

Still, he doesn’t take refuge in names and statistics.

“I’ve always believed you have to prove you’re the best every day regardless of what you’re ranked and what you’ve won and what you haven’t,” Agassi said. “The fact it’s just you and that person out there. I’ve always been challenged by the next challenge.”

Months ago, Agassi’s career was supposedly in jeopardy--again. He suffered a serious wrist injury and pulled out of the Australian Open hours before the first Grand Slam of 2002 started. There was speculation, some of it ridiculous, that he was in a final career slide, dipping on the roller-coaster ride for the last time.

Instead, Agassi went home, consulted a prominent hand surgeon, rehabilitated the injury, parted ways with longtime coach Brad Gilbert and hired Darren Cahill, the former coach of Hewitt.

Agassi lost to Hewitt in the final of his first tournament of the year, at San Jose, and since then has won three titles--Scottsdale, Miami and Rome.

He is 24-3 in 2002 and leads the ATP in service games won (89%), second-serve points won (57%) and return games won (34%).

“What he’s been able to do the last four years is defying the odds, defying nature, really,” McEnroe said. “He’s also blessed with [the fact] that he’s the cleanest hitter of the ball I’ve ever seen, so he’s able to hit the ball big, [and] as long as he’s in great condition and mentally there, his strokes don’t deteriorate in any way.

“He’s also just gotten better. He’s pushed himself to get better, gotten his serve better, doing very little things a bit better and that’s what you have to do to stay up there as you get older. You can’t rely on your talent, you have to work on your weaknesses.”