I was at Roland Garros today, not for the womens final because I didn’t manage to get tickets (by the way, congrats to Na Li for her historic victory) but for the Trophée des Légendes.

But first, on Court 7 today, an exhibition between Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Mansour Bahrami and young players of the Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament.

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The Legends Trophy (Trophée des Légendes) is a great opportunity to watch some familiar old faces play in a friendly and funny atmosphere. Two men competitions are scheduled: players under 45 and over 45.

Six teams take part in each competition, divided into two pools of three teams. The winners of each pool meet in final.
And for the second year there will also be a women competition, with 3 former world number one (Navratilova, Hingis and Davenport).

Under 45:
Pool A: Enqvist/Muster, Kafelnikov/Medvedev, Boetsch/Pioline
Pool B: Ivanisevic/Stich, Santoro/Woodbridge, Bruguera/Krajicek

Over 45:
Pool A: Gomez/McEnroe, Cash/McNamara, Pernfors/Wilander
Pool B: Bahrami/Woodforde, Nastase/Sanchez, Forget/Leconte

Women:
Pool A: Navratilova/Novotna, Maleeva/Tauziat, Majoli/Martinez
Pool B: Davenport/Hingis, Zvereva/Gigi Fernandez, Temesvari/Testud

Some pics of Peter McNamara and Pat Cash training yesterday:

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Read more:
Back in 2007 – part 1
Back in 2007 – part 2

I had one of my best Roland Garros experience in 2007. I had bought tickets for the Benny Berthet Day but couldn’t attend it, and for the second Wednesday.
Usually, I avoid Wednesdays, because the stadiums are overcrowded and full of kids everywhere, but I really enjoyed that sunny day at Roland Garros.

Trophée des légendes
First match on the Suzanne Lenglen that day, an under 45 Legends Trophy match: Leconte/Pioline vs Champion/Cash.

A two time Grand Slam runner up (US Open 93, Wimbledon 97), Pioline won his biggest title in Monte Carlo in 2000. He is now co-director of the Paris Bercy Masters Series tournament.

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Back in the days when Agassi was wearing pink lycra bike pants and a wig. Agassi was then just a "forehand and a haircut" as Ivan Lendl once said. Coached by Florida tennis guru Nick Bolletieri, Agassi was tennis' enfant terrible, known as much for his look as his explosive game.

Do you remember his famous Nike commercials? Commercial with Andre Agassi and John McEnroe, 1990, How to play tennis?

So, back to 1990 Roland Garros.
Seeded number 3, Agassi had reached the semifinals of both French and US Open in 1988 and US Open again in 1989. In 1990, he defeated Jim Courier and defending champion Michael Chang en route to his first GS final.

Gomez was the total opposite of Agassi: a 30 year old left handed from Ecuador, he was known for his nice volley touch and science of play on clay. Before 90 French Open, he had never been past the quarterfinals of a major. Beaten three times at this stage of the tournament by Ivan Lendl, Gomez was somewhat relieved by the Czech' decision to skip Roland Garros to focus on Wimbledon.

Before the final, Agassi said: "Like any good player, the more that's expected of them, the more they rise to the occasion. I didn't stay in Paris for two weeks to come in second place". Unfortunately for him, si. Agassi was favored and expected to overpower the veteran from Ecuador, but he was overconfident, nervous and probably thinking to much about his wig.

Gomez moved to a career high ranking of 4th following his victory in Paris. He retired in 1993. During his career, he amassed 21 singles titles (mostly on clay) and 33 doubles trophies.

Gomez and Nastase at the Trophée des Légendes, June 2007:

And Agassi? He was runner up again in 1991 (lost to Jim Courier). He finally captured the Roland Garros trophy in 1999 after a five set battle against Andrei Medvdev to complete a career Grand Slam. During his roller coaster career he collected 60 singles titles including 8 Grand Slam titles and one Olympic gold medal.

Check out Tennis Buzz in the next few days for another Andre Agassi related article.