French Open: When Andre Agassi fought for the Paris title without underpants
Andre Agassi was the first player since Rod Laver to complete the "Career Grand Slam" in 1999 with the French Open victory. His victory in Roland Garros was anything but expected.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Jun 06, 2020, 02:01 pm
It was Brad Gilbert's fault again. The "winning ugly" expert was and is known in the scene as someone who always has something to tell. And that usually does the same. Agassi, however, was tired of Gilbert's remarks. Agassi had injured his shoulder in the spring of 1999 and the tasks for his coach were now clearly stated: Gilbert should shut up on the twelve-hour flight back to the United States, "and when we land, you will be the first thing to me log out of the French Open, "recalls Agassi in his autobiography Open .
Gilbert didn't do any of this. First he talked to Agassi for two hours, then he chauffeured him to his San Francisco guest house for recreation. "And then we both fly to Paris and you will play there. It is the only Grand Slam title that you still lack. You always wanted it, but if you don't play you cannot win it."
Agassi and the French Open - it was complicated until now. In 1990 he had unexpectedly lost to Andres Gomez in the final and had to struggle more with his toupee than with his opponent, in 1991 he lost to Jim Courier in the final. And in 1995, in top form, he had injured himself. The title in Paris was the last big one that he still lacked - after the victories in Wimbledon (1992), the US Open (1994) and the Australian Open (1995).
Agassi and Gilbert clash in the locker room
The path in 1999 shouldn't be an easy one. Round 1 against Franco Squillari, a burr, and to make matters worse, Agassi forgot his underpants. He gratefully rejects Gilbert's offer to lend him his. "I really don't want to win that badly." Agassi wins (without underpants), in round 2 he turns a 1: 2 set deficit against Arnaud Clément, then he wins smoothly against Chris Woodruff, then in four sets against defending champion Carlos Moya, then against Marcelo Fillippini, in the semi-final against Dominik Hrbaty .
In the final, Agassi meets Andrej Medvedev, who went through a crisis and who Agassi had reassured at a meeting in Monte Carlo. When it starts, Agassi is nervous without end, after 19 minutes it is 1: 6. The rain comes in the second sentence, and Agassi whines in the locker room to coach Gilbert: "It's just too good." And Gilbert? Says nothing. What excites Agassi. "Are you kidding me? You choose this moment, this one of all, not to say anything? This is the moment of all possible occasions when you finally shut up?" But Gilbert roars back. "Brad, who never raises a voice to anyone , gets out of his skin," recalls Agassi. Medvedev is too good? How did he want to know? "You are so confused in the square and blind with panic that I am surprised that you see him at all." He should finally play according to his rules. And if he didn't know where to go, just go where Medvedev was going, just a little bit better.
The birth of the Agassi air kisses
However, Agassi also loses set three, making 4: 4 in the third round with two double faults at 30:15. And the next serve, at Breakball Medvedev, ends up out of bounds. It's the crucial scene in the match. Medvedev is now expecting a throw-in after five serve errors by Agassis, but Agassi is brave, serves a strong second serve, attacks and wins the point on the net. Then he fetches the sentence.
It goes over the distance and Agassi suddenly hits, finally having a match point. "I served a brand-new serve, and when Medvedev steps to the side and takes a half-hearted swing, I am the second person to know that I won the French Open. Brad is the first, Medvedev the third. The ball lands far behind the Baseline, watching him hit there is one of the greatest moments of my life. "
After his triumph, Agassi spreads air kisses in all directions - a gesture that he should now always exert when leaving a tennis court, whether he is after his defeat or after a victory.
And Agassi should keep one more ritual: tennis without underpants. Because: "You shouldn't change a functioning system.