He Knows Meaning of Quit, but It Won’t Be on This Night

The bald guy with the pigeon-toed walk and the sore back is still with us.

Andre Agassi, age 36, did the improbable, the unthinkable, perhaps the impossible in a 3-hour 48-minute victory and love-in with an estimated 24,000 tennis fans at the U.S. Open here Thursday night, and on into Friday morning.

He beat a man 15 years younger and 31 ranking points higher, and when the five sets were over, it appeared to be Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus who was hurting more physically than tennis’ Father Time.

This was a second-round match, but nobody will remember it that way. Most finals in this sport, in the major events, no less, have had 30% of this drama. This made some of those Jimmy Connors nights in 1991 seem routine.

Superlatives are overdone in sports, but in this one, pick your favorite and it will work.

The background was that Agassi, a two-time champion here and a legend on the pro tour -- the only male player to win all four major tournaments in his sport, plus an Olympic gold medal -- has come here for a last hurrah. It is his last U.S. Open, his last tournament.

The expectations for him going deep into this draw, which he did last year with a run all the way to a final loss to Roger Federer, were small. He has played little this year, and has such a bad back that, after his thrilling victory in the first round Monday night, he needed a cortisone shot to get him back out here Thursday.

Plus, Baghdatis was seeded eighth and is one of those young guns who hits hard, serves big and can play all night.

So that’s what Agassi made him do, and beat him at it.

Agassi won the first two sets, 6-4, 6-4, then got out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth after yielding in the third, 6-3. At that point, it seemed that Agassi was in control, even getting to within four points of the match in that set. But Baghdatis battled back, and Agassi joked later that it wasn’t his back that started hurting at that point, but his neck.

Translated, he started choking.

Baghdatis entered a fifth set with a couple of rows of supporters in one section backing him and the rest of the free world rooting for Agassi.

The fans shouted through service motions, screamed in delight if any shot of Agassi’s came near the line and even chanted so loudly at one point that the score on the scoreboard was wrong that the chair umpire had to stop the players and assure the crowd that the score showing was correct. Ever see that happen before?

Sprinkled throughout the stands were signs saying: “Andre, We’ve Got Your Back.”

With Agassi serving at 4-4 of the final set, Baghdatis ran wide for a forehand, made the shot and crumpled to the ground in the corner.

He was cramping so badly he could only hobble. The umpire correctly gave him a warning once he had exceeded his time limit between points, and had he not been able to keep hobbling back to the receiving line, one more warning would have cost him a point and the next a match default.

Agassi held for 5-4, then Baghdatis, after getting some sideline attention on the break, held for 5-all, still somehow able to crack in serves at more than 120 mph while hobbling around.

Agassi held for 6-5, then got to his second match point and, at 12:38 a.m., Baghdatis hit long. Suddenly, the best drama this side of “CSI: Miami” was finally over.

Quickly, Baghdatis, who had a chance to become a villain here and who drew a round of boos when he won a crucial game late in the match and pounded his chest, won over New York.

Asked by TV’s John McEnroe how he got back into this match after being down in the fourth, 4-0, he gave the answer all New Yorkers love to hear,

“I fought for it. I’m fighting for this every day of my life,” he said.

Then he dug deeper into their hearts, praising Agassi, wishing him luck in the rest of his life and adding, “Whatever you say about him is not enough. He is a legend. Congratulations for his great career.”

So the expected short goodbye for Agassi becomes longer.

Can we dare let ourselves ponder quarterfinals, or semifinals, or even one more shot at winning it all?

What he has done here in two nights of tennis has taken his sport on his shoulders and carried it back onto the front pages. With 24,000 New Yorkers riding with him every time out, it is a tough story to ignore.

It was a night when youth was supposed to be served and tennis to be saddened. It was a night when Baghdatis was supposed to move deep into the minds of tennis fans everywhere as the guy who sent Agassi away for the final time. It was to be a night when the will of those 24,000 New Yorkers was not supposed to be enough.

But as the clock ticked into September in a gigantic tennis stadium Thursday night, none of that happened. Agassi said it was not quite time for him, yet.

In the post-match interview, he fidgeted and looked to be in pain, as the back started to stiffen up.

So it would seem that, as the second round was, the third round too is a shaky proposition.

But we are now past the stage of disbelief and into a state of amazement.

Agassi’s next opponent, incidentally, is a young German named B. Becker. Nope, not that B. Becker. This one is named Benjamin, and he is about to find himself in the middle of something unlike anything he has ever experienced.

Benjamin, meet Miracle Andre.

Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. For previous columns by Dwyre, go to latimes.com/dwyre.