UPDATE: ZE 2004 French Open: Agassi, Roddick Out

[Midnight Son]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpNDU1cml1BF9TAzk1ODYyNTg0BHNlYwN0 aA--?slug=ap-frenchopen&prov=ap&type=lgns

With sagging shoulders and head bowed, Andre Agassi left the French Open through a courtside doorway Monday, uncertain if he'll return next year.

Blame his unceremonious departure on Jerome Haehnel, a qualifier from France ranked 271st, who pulled off an upset to rival the biggest in Grand Slam history. Playing his first tour-level match at age 23, Haehnel beat Agassi 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

A lethargic, tentative Agassi struggled with his service return -- normally his best weapon -- and was outplayed on the biggest points. He was bidding for his 800th match victory, but instead Haehnel improved to 1-0 lifetime.

Ouch! Andy Roddick advanced, though.

[Gordon Cameron]

Take note Koontz, Mr. Stupid & Ludicrous is once again making his triumphant return. Be sure to explain to me in detail why my thoughts on tennis demonstrate my complete inadequacy as a human being.

I'm gonna try to catch the ESPN highlights tonight; maybe they'll show some of this match. Andre has had very little match practice the last few months. He's caught between a rock and a hard place. If he plays too many tournaments, at his age, he's likely to be tired when the Grand Slams roll around. If he doesn't play enough, he can get bounced in the 1st round as has happened here.

If things continue in this manner Andre will probably retire at the end of this year. Still, it's worth remembering that Pete Sampras was beaten by George Bastl, a complete nobody, in R2 of Wimbledon 2002 -- then he turned around and won the US Open 2 months later. In any case, Agassi's legacy is secure. It's all gravy at this point.

I will be surprised if Roddick even reaches the quarterfinals. He's a good player but hasn't done much on European clay -- hard courts and grass are his best surfaces. There are too many gritty Spanish/South American dirtballers in the draw.

My hopes are with Roger Federer. His victory in Hamburg a couple weeks back, beating Guillermo Coria (arguably the best claycourter in the world), shows he can compete with the very best on this surface. If Fed wins the French Open he will be halfway to a Grand Slam (winning all 4 majors in the same year) and it will make his attempt to defend his Wimbledon trophy *extremely* interesting. No man has won the Calendar Year GS since 1969 and I would love to see Fed make a run at it.

[Midnight Son]

Federer is an awesome playa! Smooth, like buttah. (That said, I'm keeping an eye on my young Russian women.... :lol: )

[Mark Asher]

I think Agassi's done. He could bounce back, but he'd have to work twice as hard as everyone else, probably.

My guess is he rallies a bit and has one more good Grand Slam tournament, getting to the quarters in one before getting bounced again.

[Mark Asher]

Agassi's a nice guy, too. From a Rick Reilly column:

It's cool that Agassi has a new future, because he has given more kids futures than anybody I know. Last September his Grand Slam for Children benefit handed over $4.27 million to Las Vegas youngsters. That made it one of the largest sports fund-raisers in the world. Four point two seven. And every penny goes to the kids, which means Agassi himself is in for about $1 million in overhead costs, not to mention the countless hours.

Lots of jock charity events are freeloading boondoggles that throw the caviar at the celebrities and leave the crackers for the charity. Barry Bonds ran one in 1999 that raised $60,000, with $45,000 used to pay an executive to do some work for an inner-city organization. The executive that year? Barry's mother, Patricia. The $14 million that Agassi has raised for Vegas kids over the past six years has helped to build a 30,000-square-foot Boys and Girls Club and a state-of-the-art charter school (Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy), and also has funded a year-round tennis program at the Boys and Girls Club. One of his girls won an age-group national doubles title.

What's more, he doesn't give time only to his own charity projects. Since his sister and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2000, he has worked like a dervish in the fight against the disease. Recently he boarded a commercial red-eye from Vegas to Baltimore to appear at Pam Shriver's charity. He refused a private jet. "The more money they spend on you, the less goes to the charity," he says with a shrug.

All this from an eighth-grade dropout who used to give you the idea that the only thing he cared about was his newest Humvee and his latest dye job. Dripping with talent, he fell from No. 1 in the world to No. 141, then sweated all the way back to the top. Somewhere in there, Agassi changed. The more his hands became calloused, the less his heart did.

[Midnight Son]

He has indeed grown up nicely. More athletes should do so!

[Jason Becker]

Definatly have to give props to Agassi for his charity work. He's one of the few that do more than just attach his name to some group or "cause".

[Midnight Son]

Update: Spadea and Roddick lost. All 10 Americans are out. Sheesh! Go Federer!