Airport-bound in a hurry once again, but I just had to create one more post on the heels of Roger Federer's dismantling of Andre Agassi a short while ago (at least on U.S. television). You can now spell "Federer" as "J-u-g-g-e-r-n-a-u-t," and I look forward to writing about him once I get a good close look in Melbourne (I arrive Thursday around noon, Aussie time).
For now, though, I think one of the really unfair, difficult-to-quantify things that happens to towering champs like Agassi when they begin to age is their failure to keep answering the call—the inability to lift their games, round after round, night after night, scare after scare.
Don't get me wrong; Federer deserves a boatload of credit. His game speaks for itself. But I also got the feeling that for Federer, this match, at a subconscious level, was just another step in a logical progression to another Grand Slam title. That comes not just from having talent and confidence to burn and a great recent record--it also comes from being a young man, just getting into the rhythm of a long career climb. For Federer, Agassi in the quarters is exacty the same thing that Jimmy Connors in the quarters of the 1988 U.S. Open was for Agassi: A moderately interesting match-up against an ever-dangerous veteran who will demand that you bring your A game and stay on your toes in order to win. Nothing more, nothing less.
By contrast, for Agassi, it was an enormous if not impossible obstacle to clear en route to a destination he's no longer blithely confident he can reach: another Grand Slam championship. He might have gone in thinking, "I can't go on. I must go on."
It's a whole different mindset.
Agassi brought his A game, more or less. What he could not bring was the fire in the belly, invisible as it may be, that drives young champs on a daily basis. Last night, Agassi was Connors, circa 1988, while Federer was Agassi—sans the bleached mullet and fluorescent outfit of the early Agassi years.
The big difference, when it was all over, was how Agassi handled his spanking. It was, simply, like a champ.
Read the whole transcript of his press conference when you get time—just click here.
If you don't have time now, check out this superb Agassi analysis of what makes Federer such a great player:
There were a few gems of vintage Agassi humor in there, too. When asked what counsel he might give Federer's next opponents, Agassi replied, with a smile:
"I would suggest that his next opponents don't look to me for advice. That would be my advice."
My favorite, though, was the line Agassi dropped on Federer when the two men shook hands at the net:
"I just congratulated him. I told him, 'Too good and good luck.' I said I hope he has good luck the rest of the way. He just said he enjoyed playing against me and hopes that happens more. I said, 'That makes one of us.'"
What on earth are we going to do when Agassi's gone?