Agassi 1993

[Flaviana Bresee]

The1993 Volvo Tennis San Francisco was a men's tennis tournament held at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California in the United States and was part of the World Series of the 1993 ATP Tour. The tournament was held from February 1 through February 7. After 21 years it was the final time the tournament was held in San Francisco before switching location to San Jose. First-seeded Andre Agassi won the singles title and earned $39,600 first-prize money.[3][4]

Then married to actress Brooke Shields, he was earning millions of dollars in endorsements, but ironically his tennis game was off. He had dropped to his lowest ranking ever at 141, according to the ATP.

His passion for sports, especially tennis, was evident as he built a mini-training camp in his back yard for his three eldest children, Rita, Philip and Tami. Equipment included a full-size court, which Mike Agassi himself laid, and a tennis-serving machine rigged to fire balls faster than the usual speed.

"He practiced every afternoon, all afternoon. He practiced every weekend, all weekend. He practiced every holiday that I can recall," said family friend and manager Perry Rogers. "It was just what they did."

"I didn't need that pressure to feel the pressure because I was already putting it on myself," Agassi said. "I wanted to win. I wanted to not just make it to the finals. I wanted to see what it felt like to win."

"We've had our ups and downs, but he helped my career a lot, and there just came a time when it needed to be different," Agassi said. "For what reasons, I am not sure. I don't even completely understand even today."

Life off the court began to accelerate when he met Shields in 1993. Mutual friend Lyndie Benson, wife of saxophone player Kenny G, suggested the two should meet. Agassi and Shields talked on the phone and faxed each other messages for six weeks before they met.

After a nearly four-year courtship, the two married April 19, 1997, in Carmel, California. Shields' career seemed to be on the upswing with the NBC sitcom "Suddenly Susan," but Agassi began to lose one match after another.

"It's probably clear to me before it's clear to anybody because I know what I am feeling even before I go out there and lose that match," Agassi said. "I was just losing every time I played. And I couldn't beat anybody anymore."

Gilbert, Agassi's coach and friend, talked with him about the possibilities of a comeback. "If you want to re-dedicate yourself," Gilbert told Agassi, "I'm there with you. But if you don't want to re-dedicate yourself, we're not doing each other any good."

Gilbert described the training. "He's running so hard. His body is aching so much. His legs are on fire. His lungs screaming as he is sprinting up the hill, and on his face, you see the look of pain, but you also see the look of purpose," he said.

Off the court, Agassi spends time giving back to his hometown. His foundations gave nearly $1.5 million last year to help at-risk kids in Las Vegas, including Child Haven, a children's shelter; construction of a new charter school; and the Agassi Boys and Girls Club.

Signature Match

July 5, 1992 - Playing in his first Wimbledon final, 22-year-old Andre Agassi was an underdog against Goran Ivanisevic, regarded as perhaps the game's best server. But having beaten John McEnroe in the semifinals, the 12th-seeded Agassi was confident. His plan was to slow down Ivanisevic, who thrived on working fast.

Later, Agassi will admit that he made a mistake skipping the event from 1988-90. "I am really kind of sad," he said. "This tournament has offered me and my life so much. It is a shame I didn't respect it a little earlier."

Agassi never minded the attention his rebel image brought him as long as it didn't get out of hand. "Don't get me wrong, there was definitely something cool about all the publicity," Agassi said. "But you can get sucked in by it. It can become more important that anything if you let it."

When Bollettieri resigned as Agassi's coach in 1993, he notified Agassi in a letter. "I'm very disappointed with Nick and how he handled it," Agassi said. "I felt a strong sense of abandonment. It hurt me personally more than professionally."

In 2000, Agassi disclosed that his mother Elizabeth and sister Tamara have breast cancer. "It has given me the perspective that unfortunately sometimes only certain tragedies can bring, that I am trying to utilize in a positive way," Agassi said.

Pete Sampras, as the record books and honours board at the All England Club tell us, was an unmatched champion on the grass lawns of Wimbledon. The American won seven titles in eight years between 1993 and 2000 with a stunning 90% win record at the grass-court Major and no runner-up trophy.

His first appearance was as an unseeded teen in 1989, where he lost to Todd Woodbridge in the first round. In 1990, right before his first Major title at the US Open, he was out in the first round to Christo van Rensburg, this time as the 12th seed. In 1991, the eighth seed crossed that first hurdle but lost in the second round to Derrick Rostagno.

And it all began with the 1993 Wimbledon, when he blazed through the field beating former champions Andre Agassi and Boris Becker and won the all-American final against Jim Courier, incidentally on the Fourth of July.

It has been less than a momentous year for Agassi, down to No. 24 in the rankings and still recovering from a sore right wrist that limited him to only 13 tournaments in 1993. After a first-round loss to Thomas Enqvist at the U.S. Open, Agassi decided there was only one thing to do: Go on a diet.

Agassi wound up playing fewer tournaments than anyone ranked in the top 100. Part of the reason was his wrist, which limited him to only 44 matches. But another reason is that he lost track of why he liked tennis.

Courier, who needed to win only one match in the round-robin format to finish the year at No. 2, apparently was a burnout victim. He lost all three of his matches and fell to No. 3 behind Michael Stich.

Sampras triumphed three times at the US Open (1990, 1993, 1995) and once at the Australian Open (1994). On top of that, the American won the Masters Cup twice (1991, 1994) and by early 1996, he had accumulated a total of 38 titles in his career, including seven Grand Slams and six Masters 1000. Sampras could have already been competing to become the greatest of all time if not for his obvious weakness on clay; his best performance at Roland-Garros had been reaching the quarter-finals in 1992, 1993, and 1994.

Michael Chang was born in 1972. In 1987, at the age of 15, he became the youngest player to ever win a match at the US Open (defeating Paul McNamee). The following year in June, aged only 16 years and three months, he was the youngest player to enter the top 100 and reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. He was beaten by Andre Agassi at the US Open.

Paul Haarhuis, from the Netherlands, was born in 1966 and was more famous for his great results in doubles. He had won three Grand Slam tournaments, partnering Jacco Eltingh, and had reached world No 1 in 1994. However, he was also a good singles player. Being part of the top 100 since 1989, he claimed his only title in 1995 in Jakarta by defeating Radomir Vasek 7-5, 7-5 in the final. That led him to his best ranking, world No 18.

Its first edition, known as the Pilot Pen Classic, had seen a great final in which Boris Becker defeated rival Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. In 1993, the tournament became a part of the Super 9 category, which would later become the Masters Series and then the Masters 1000. In the middle of the 1990s, it was one of the most important tournaments outside of the Grand Slams.

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