Andre Agassi stood beaming in front of 600 cheering children while they chanted his name. The children, students at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, were celebrating the January 20, 2011 announcement of his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Although the crowd didn’t compare in size to the stadiums he packed during his 20-year tennis career, Agassi acknowledged the importance of the venue. “This is such a special moment for so many reasons, but mostly for me today because it was done here at the school and so profoundly connects my past and my future. Tennis was the vehicle that gave me my life’s work.”
Induction into the Newport, Rhode Island-based International Tennis Hall of Fame is the ultimate form of recognition for lifetime achievements in tennis. Since 1955, when the first class was inducted, 220 people from 19 countries have been enshrined in the categories of Recent Player, Master Player, and Contributor.
To be inducted in the Recent Player Category, in which Agassi was the sole 2011 nominee, a player must have been retired for five years and receive a 75 percent favorable vote from a panel of international tennis media. The panel votes based on the eligibility criteria of a distinguished record of competitive achievement at the highest international level, as well as integrity, sportsmanship, and character.
Tour Success
Agassi’s career accomplishments reflected those of a Hall of Famer. The American earned eight Grand Slam victories, an Olympic gold medal, and was a member of three Davis Cup champion teams. He spent a total of 101 weeks at no.1 and finished the year with a top 10 ranking 16 times. He was the fifth man to achieve a Career Grand Slam, having won all four Majors: Wimbledon, the US Open, the Australian Open, and the French Open. Since then, only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have accomplished the feat.
Young and Restless
Andre’s style and antics in the early stages of his profession belied the beginnings of a hall of Fame career. A young Agassi flashed neon-colored clothing, long hair, earrings, celebrity friends, and a super-model wife, Brooke Shields. He flouted convention and defied rules. Tennis writers described him as “cocky” and “arrogant.” Former No.1 Ivan Lendl dismissed him as “a haircut and a forehand.”
Agassi turned the image of tennis as a stuffy country club sport on its head. The line spoken by Agassi in his 1990 commercial for the Canon EOS Rebel camera also served as a tagline for his early career: “image is everything.”
To read more, purchase our June/July issue!
Comments are closed.