Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. [173] He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. [80] In 1999, he paid $1 million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10 million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in 2006. [96], They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in 2009 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company. Andre Agassi was a number one tennis player who has won the gold medal in Olympic in 1996. Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round robin and the final. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in any tournament final. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. [81][85] One year later, the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's, Inc. for $163 million in cash and $182 million in assumed debt. [159] It won the Autobiography category of the 2010 British Sports Book Awards. He personally donated $35 million to the school. They played a memorable quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. The restaurant closed down in 2001. [172], In 2007, along with several other athletes, Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. [44], He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. This win also made him the first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). The Fund is an investment initiative for social change, focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses. [57] At the 2009 French Open, Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy. [26][27] Andre Agassi's mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor. [10] Agassi reached the world No. Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. Agassi reached the world No. 1. Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29, 1970) is an American retired professional tennis player and former World No. [183][185][186][187][188] As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. But the other part feels the pride of it: Your father believes in you.”. (Express Photo by Pradip Das) It was a know-all-tell-all like none other. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match[47] with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7,[48] with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. [11] He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during the year. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. A six-year old Andre Agassi (second left), with his father Mike, sister Rita and brother Phil in 1976. My father tells me so, tells my siblings, tells Mr. Fong. Agassi too was wary of this particular reaction. [33], Agassi turned professional at the age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta, California. He was defeated in the third round by world No. Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. At the 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. advertisement in 2002. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. Agassi grew up in a modest setting, and he found himself, as a junior player, unintentionally working up a revenue for the family based on Mike gambling on Agassi’s matches. 1996 was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. With new coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. Still, he finds in himself an appreciation for what his father had forced upon him. His biggest moment, however, he asserts came off the court. They invested in PURE, a nightclub at Caesars Palace, which opened in 2004,[81] and sold it to Angel Management Group in 2010. Andre Kirk Agassi (/ˈæɡəsi/ AG-ə-see;[2][3] born April 29, 1970) is an American retired professional tennis player and former world No. Steadily, Agassi developed a strong dislike for the game, yet was forced to come to terms with it. Sampras had defeated No. He wrote about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions, but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose, as he did not want to play Boris Becker, whom he would have faced in that final. Agassi is one of only the four players to have won a Golden Slam. Andre's 17 masters titles stayed as it was for more then 11 years but is now broken by three other players. He has a Plan A, B, C, D. And he never usually got to Plan C or D. Occasionally he’d get to Plan B.”, In his own days, Agassi had long-standing on-court feuds with fellow American rival Pete Sampras, who till Federer, was considered the greatest in the game. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. But he’s also dealing with two other guys that you can argue are at the top of the history of our sport, (Novak) Djokovic and (Rafael) Nadal. [147] In December 2008, Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager, Perry Rogers, sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him. [a] At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.[b]. He also earned more than $25 million a year through endorsements during his career, which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time. After a tough four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname "The Punisher".[12][13][14][15]. [11] En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter. [88], Agassi and Graf formed a company called Agassi Graf Holdings. He missed much of the early part of that year due to injuries. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. [125] Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open, which Agassi went on to win. [69], In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. I’m the last best hope of the Agassi clan. He won eight Grand Slam singles titles during his career. [73], He returned to the tour in May 2017 in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Andre’s father, Emmanuel “Mike” Agassi, was born as Emmanuel B. Aghassian/Emanoul B. Aghasi in Salmas, Iran. It was a know-all-tell-all like none other. Yet, back at the Agassi household, father Mike’s reaction to the book remained largely unknown. [50] At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. We're sympatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it. Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. [81] They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. But that usually just results in Jaden smacking the ball as hard as he can, with no regard for the rules or the lines. "[129] In 2007, watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their brand ambassador.[130][131]. 2 Rafael Nadal. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. [63] The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. They were the power couple of the game when Agassi retired in 2006; Graf had retired in 1999 after getting everything she wanted from the game. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory.