TENNIS: The new millennium was supposed to mark a turning point in the men's game, when the young guns stepped in and blazed their way to the top. But the old stagers are resolutely clinging on, and for the third time since 2000 dawned Andre Agassi, who will be 33 in April, won the Australian Open title, his eighth grand slam triumph in total and his fourth in the Southern Hemisphere. From Stephen Bierley at Melbourne Park
At the start of the tournament all Australia had hoped for an Agassi-Lleyton Hewitt showdown, but the 21-year-old Australian pulled up short in the fourth round against Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui. Hewitt, this year's Young Australian of the Year, has nevertheless easily proved himself the best of the new generation, having already won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon last year.
He will retain his ranking as the world number one today, although Agassi's 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 final win over Germany's Rainer Schuettler, which took only one hour and 16 minutes, could well see him slip past Hewitt this spring on the US hard courts. Not that it is something that fixates the American.
"My goals are not directed at the overall long haul of being number one," he says. "They are the same as ever: to be at my best for the tournaments I want to play at my best" - in other words, the grand slam championships.
An insatiable appetite for hard work and winning are often seen as the two main driving forces within Agassi, particularly since his renaissance in 1998 after he had dropped down to 141st the previous year.
"I would say it's neither," said Agassi yesterday. "For me it's about challenging myself. I can live without the competition and the hard work. But I can't live without knowing what it feels like to try and accomplish something that I question. Every time I'm on court it feels like me, not my opponent, I have to overcome."
And it is in times of trouble or doubt that Agassi seems to thrive. A year ago, the morning of the Australian Open's opening day, he pulled out with a wrist injury that threatened to end his career. "I was very much scared, but it is those times that I'm arguably at my best. It's when I dig in."
Schuettler (26), who had progressed beyond the last 32 of a slam event only once before, was the one doing the digging in the Rod Laver Arena. Agassi won the first three games, including two breaks of serve, and the pattern was set. It was not that Schuettler, who will today rise from 37th into the top 20 for the first time, froze. He was involved in some scintillating rallies in the first set, but Agassi trumped him almost every time.
Agassi had not won a slam title since his third Australian Open here two years ago, though he reached the US Open final last year but lost to Pete Sampras - "the best player I have ever played against". However, it was after beating Hewitt in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows that he persuaded himself he could forge on.
"It was a big deal beating him. I've seen many players come and go. I've seen many come and stay. Lleyton is one of those guys who you know is going to stay and is looking to push the standards of tennis," said Agassi.
The day will come when he plays what he believes to be his best tennis and keeps losing. And that is when he will quit.
But currently the challenge is still there, a challenge that has been rekindled by the Australian Darren Cahill, Hewitt's former coach. Cahill, Steffi Graf and Agassi's personal trainer Gil Reyes sat together during the final; Reyes impassive, Cahill and Graf occasionally voicing their support.
"Practise up, Steffi," yelled someone in the crowd, a reference to the bet Agassi has had with Graf that she would partner him in the mixed doubles at the French Open this spring if he won the Australian title.
Whether it happens depends on Agassi. "She's not too pleased about it. She tells me what to do. She's the boss. I'm the one who said it, so it's going to be my responsibility. Hopefully I'll have 50 years with Stef for her to be more mad at me about other things."
Agassi dropped only one set throughout the fortnight - against France's Nicolas Escude in the fourth round - and he has now gone 21 matches unbeaten at the Australian Open. There have been quicker finals but this was a stunning display.
"I tried to do something special but it didn't work," said Schuettler. "He's simply one of the best players there has ever been. Him and Sampras."
And it may not be before those two have thrown their rackets into the shed that the younger generation, led by Hewitt, is able truly to impose itself.Andre Agassi dropped only one set in the championship.
Guardian Service
