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.”

Steffi’s last Grand Slam win: Graf defeats Hingis 4-6 7-5 6-2

A must see match, not really for the quality of the match, but for all the drama. I remember watching this match on TV way back in 99. Never seen such a crazy match before.
Hingis, was the clear favorite to win the title: at only 19, the then world number 1 was seeking the only Grand Slam still missing to her collection. Graf, 29, was playing her first Grand Slam final since her victory against rival Monica Seles at the 96 US Open.

Everything started well for the Swiss Miss, leading 6-4 2-0, but the drama started and a single point completely changed the course of the match. Hingis disputed a line call and went round the net to Steffi’s side to show the ball mark.

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Gabriela Sabatini defeats Steffi Graf 6-2 7-6(4)

Second Grand Slam final for Gaby Sabatini, who was beaten by Graf at the same stage in 1988. That year, Graf completed her famous “Golden Slam” defeating Sabatini in final at Flushing Meadows and at the Olympics.

But this time, the glamorous Argentine was ready to capture her first Slam. Sabatini had started to work with her new coach Carlos Kirmayr during the summer, she had improved her footwork, refocused on her game and efforts payed off.
Gaby raced to a 4-0 lead and took the first set easily 6-2. Steffi was twice one point away from taking the second set, but Sabatini kept fighting and attacking the net to claim her one and only major.

1990 was a tough year for Steffi: she claimed her third straight Oz Open title but lost to Monica Seles in the French Open final and more surprisingly to Zina Garrison in the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Her controversial father, Peter Graf also made the headlines: german tabloïds carried allegations about his a relationship with a Playboy model.

Gaby faced Steffi in 91 Wimbledon final, she served twice for the match but Graf prevailed 6-4 3-6 8-6 after a dramatic third set.
Sabatini never completly fullfilled the expectations, and retired from WTA tour in 1996 at only 26.

More:
- Sabatini and Graf teamed up to win the Wimbledon doubles title in 1988
- Graf and Sabatini met 40 times in singles: 29-11 for Steffi.

Gaby’s run to the title:

Men’s Wimbledon tennis statistics:

Open era records (since 1968):
Most titles, singles: Pete Sampras, 7 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
Most titles in a row, singles: Bjorn Borg, 5 (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980) and Roger Federer, 5 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Most titles, doubles: Todd Woodbridge, 9 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 (with Mark Woodforde), 2002, 2003, 2004 (with Jonas Björkman))
Most titles, mixed doubles: Owen Davidson, 3 (1971, 1973, 1974 (with Billie Jean King))
Most titles, all events: Todd Woodbridge, 9
Youngest winner, singles: Boris Becker, 17
Longest men’s final by time: Rafael Nadal d Roger Federer, 2008, 4 hours and 48 mins
Longest men’s final by games: Roger Federer d Andy Roddick, 2009, 77 games
Longest men’s match by time: John Isner d Nicolas Mahut, 2010, 11 hours and 5 mins
Longest men’s match by games: John Isner d Nicolas Mahut, 2010, 183 games

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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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A really good 30 minutes report about Steffi Graf and Agassi and their respective win Roland Garros in 1999. Interviews are in english, commentary in french, if you need translation just ask me. Enjoy!

More:

- Andre Agassi reached the French Open final 3 times for 2 losses and 1 win

- Steffi reached 9 Roland Garros, for 3 losses and 6 wins: