Extract from Agassi‘s book Open:

“I’m the second seed in the 2003 Australian Open, and I come out growling, ferocious. I reach the semis and beat Ferreira in ninety minutes. In six matches I’ve dropped only one set.

In the final I face Rainer Schuettler from Germany, I win three straight sets, losing only five games and tying the most lopsided victory ever at the Australian Open. My eighth slam, and it’s my best performance ever. I tease Stefanie that it’s like one of her matches, the closest I’ll ever come to experiencing her kind of dominance.

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Only 20 sentences dedicated by Andre Agassi to his 2001 Australian Open win in his autobiography Open? The Australian Open, a tournament he “loves some much”…… as much as he loves tennis, or not.

Sure, there’s not much to say about his 6-4 6-2 6-2 routine win over the surprising Arnaud Clément.

Extract from Agassi’s biography:

“In January we fly to Australia. I feel good when we land. I do love this place. I must have been an aborigine in another life. I always feel at home here. I always enjoy walking into Rod Laver Arena, playing under Laver’s name.

I bet Brad that I’m going to win the whole thing. I can feel it. And when I do, he will have to jump the Yarra River.
I batter my way to the semis and face Rafter again. We play three hours of hammer-and-tong tennis, filled with endless I-grunt-you-grunt rallies.
He’s ahead, two sets to one. Then he withers. The Australian heat. We’re both drenched with sweat, but he’s cramping. I win the next two sets.

In the final I face Clément, a grudge match four months after he knocked me out of the US Open. I rarely leave the baseline. I make few mistakes, and those I do make, I put quickly behind me.
Clément is muttering to himself in French, I feel a serene calm. My mother’s son. I beat him in straight sets.

It’s my seventh Slam, putting me tenth on the all-time list. I’m tied with McEnroe, Wilander, and others – one ahead of Becker and Edberg.
Wilander and I are the only ones to win three Australian Opens in the Open era. At the moment, however, all I care is seeing Brad do the backstroke in the Yarra, then getting home to Stefanie.”

Alejandro Fallo nearly caused the biggest upset in tennis history yesterday. Here is a quick look back at Wimbledon’s recent upsets:

2002: George Bastl defeats Pete Sampras
Swiss player Bastl was ranked 145 in the world when he tooked on the seven time champion of Wimbledon, Pete Sampras. Bastl, who only got into the tournament as a lucky loser after failing to qualify, beat the American in five sets.
2 months later, Pistol Pete played his last match at the US Open, defeating long time rival Andre Agassi in final, to win a 14th Grand Slam title.

2003: Ivo Karlovic defeats Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt joined 1966 champion Manuel Santana in becoming only the second defending men’s title holder in Wimbledon’s history to be knocked out in the first round. Unknown qualifier Ivo Karlovic went in to the 2003 tournament ranked 203 in the world, coming back from one set down, to beat Hewitt in 4 sets.

1987: Peter Doohan defeats Boris Becker
Becker, an unseeded champion at 17 in 1985, went on to successfully defend his title the following year. But in 1987, the Australian Doohan denied him a hat-trick of titles, beating Boom Boom in the second round.

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