Tennis/ US Open Championships: Andre Agassi's glittering tennis career came to an emotional end at the US Open as Germany's Benjamin Becker outgunned the sport's elder statesman.
Agassi exited his 21st consecutive appearance at his home championships at the third-round stage following a 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 defeat to the 25-year-old qualifier, who completed the match with an ace to bring to a tearful end the American's epic final journey at a tournament he won twice.
It was another gripping encounter, but having needed anti-inflammatory cortisone injections after both his victories earlier in the week, those Herculean efforts in overcoming Andrei Pavel and Marcos Baghdatis had clearly taken their toll.
Agassi had an extra day's rest after losing an entire day on Saturday to heavy rain, but the sunshine returned yesterday as a star-studded session got under way at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal and women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo were the cream of the talent scheduled to be on display but there was no disputing the main event.
Nearly 24,000 fans packed the sun-drenched arena to greet Agassi and Becker, first on court.Agassi had an early chance to take control in the first set but wasted four break points in the third game as the 25-year-old German battled to hold serve.
In the next game it was Agassi who struggled a little but both quickly settled into a rhythm after that. Becker's serve was proving to be his main weapon and he sent down seven aces in his first six service games.
More was to go the German's way when Agassi served for the first set tiebreak at 5-6.
First the American had a forehand called out on the tramline but declined to challenge - it was to prove the correct call - despite it leading to set point for Becker. Then Agassi double-faulted on the next point to tamely surrender the opening set.
There was nothing feeble about the Agassi that resumed play at the start of the second, even though he was showing signs that his back was causing him further pain.
It did not stop Agassi from breaking Becker in the opening game of the second set, though.
That brought the Ashe crowd back to life and they were on their feet at the end of the next game when Agassi was forced to dig deep to save six break points before winning the game on the 22nd point.
Becker broke back in the sixth game and the set headed to a tiebreak, further adding to Agassi's extreme workload.
After playing nine sets over seven and a half hours to knock out Pavel and Baghdatis, the last thing the two-time former champion needed was a drawn-out battle, but the second set edged past the hour mark as the tiebreak got under way and the match was one hour 46 minutes old when Agassi levelled matters, handing Becker the first tiebreak defeat of his short pro career.
The German was not flustered by the setback and broke Agassi twice to race into a 3-0 lead at the start of the third set.
Somehow, though, Agassi found a way back in, breaking back to 3-1 and delivering an ace down the middle to win the next game.
Becker, though, simply needed to ride out the storm and hold serve, albeit in the face of an increasingly partisan crowd, some sections of which even booed the German as he played a drop shot to exploit Agassi's limited movement.
He took the third set but again Agassi fought back. The American had a set point in the fourth on Becker's serve, only for the German to show his fighting spirit by delivering successive aces to hold and level at 5-5.
And when Becker broke Agassi for the first time in the set with a blistering return of serve, he went to his chair to prepare to serve for the match.
It was a quick end with Becker winning the game to love, giving way to Agassi's final curtain call.
Agassi immediately looked ahead to a carefree future. "I'm going to wake up tomorrow and start with not caring how I feel. That's going to feel great," he said.
Even Agassi's father, Mike, had suggested his son should have retired immediately after his victory over Baghdatis but Agassi said the pain was worth enduring one last time. "If I wanted to quit I would have done it a long time ago," Agassi said.
"I didn't come here to quit. After my second-round match against Baghdatis, that was the worst I've ever been. I just credit the doctors that I was able to get out there today.
"It's been such a day-by-day battle. It was such a telling sign the way I felt after my last match that I didn't expect a whole lot physically. Sure enough, it was real early where I wasn't feeling so good."
His final moments as a professional on a tennis court were spent mostly in tears. Agassi was given a standing ovation by his fellow professionals as he returned to the locker room.
Andre Agassi: Factfile
1970: Born April 29th in Las Vegas.
1987: Claims first ATP Tour title at Itaparica.
1992: Captured first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, where he beat three-time former champions Boris Becker and John McEnroe along the way. Also won in Toronto and Atlanta. Led United States to Davis Cup title.
1994: Won US Open for second Grand Slam singles title. Also won four other titles, including Super Nine events in Toronto and Paris. Became first player to move from outside top 30 to finish the year at number two in the world.
1995: Won Australian Open for third Grand Slam singles title. Won career-high seven titles in 11 finals and claimed world number one ranking on April 10. Held top ranking for 30 weeks. Lost to Pete Sampras in US Open final.
1996: Won Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. Held world number one ranking for two weeks.
1999: Won French Open to become fifth man to complete a career Grand Slam, but lost in Wimbledon final to Pete Sampras. Missed a month with bursitis in his right shoulder. Came back to win US Open, beating Todd Martin in thrilling five-set final. Defeated by Sampras in the final of the ATP World Championship in December.
2000: Beat Sampras in memorable semi-final at the Australian Open before taking title off Yevgeny Kafelnikov at Melbourne Park.
2001: Beats Frenchman Arnaud Clement in straight sets in successful defence of Australian Open title. Marries Steffi Graf and son Jaden Gil is born.
2002: Pulls out of defence of Australian Open with a wrist injury. Beaten in US Open final by Pete Sampras in four sets.
2003: Beats Rainer Schuettler to secure the Australian Open - the eighth Grand Slam of his career. Daughter Jaz Elle is born.
2004: Withdraws from Wimbledon with a hip injury.
2005: Misses Wimbledon with back injury.
2006: July 1st - Bows out of his final Wimbledon at the third-round stage to Rafael Nadal. September 1st - Reaches the third round in his final US Open following an epic 6-4 6-4 3-6 5-7 7-5 win over Marcos Baghdatis. September 3rd - Makes his final appearance and bows out of the game following a third round defeat by Benjamin Becker at the US Open
Flushing Meadows results
MEN'S SINGLES: Second round: Marat Safin (Rus) bt (4) David Nalbandian (Arg) 6-3 7-5 2-6 3-6 7-6 (8-6), (26) Olivier Rochus (Bel) bt Ryan Sweeting (USA) 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-0. Third round: (15) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt (20) Novak Djokovic (Ser) 6-3 6-1 6-2, Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt (11) David Ferrer (Spa) 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-4, Benjamin Becker (Ger) bt Andre Agassi (USA) 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5, (6) Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) 6-3 6-4 6-2, Jiri Novak (Cze) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-4 6-4
WOMEN'S SINGLES: Third round: (7) Patty Schnyder (Swi) bt (26) Marion Bartoli (Fra) 0-6 6-3 6-3, (23) Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) bt Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 6-4 6-3, (12) Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Svk) 6-3 6-0, Virginie Razzano (Fra) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 7-5 6-2, (10) Lindsay Davenport (USA) bt (22) Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5), (27) Tatiana Golovin (Fra) bt (5) Nadia Petrova (Rus) 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-3.
