Respect for the big hitting Las Vegan reaches new level

These days Wimbledon is full of respect. It wasn't always that way. The former punk warrior Andre Agassi refused to compete at the championships in 1988, 1989 and 1990. He said it didn't suit him, couldn't really be bothered. They said he couldn't play on grass. So he arrived in 1991 and reached the quarter-finals, then won the title in 1992.

Agassi used to be anti-establishment simply by being present. His bottle peroxide hair and his love affair with the tabloids set him up as a representative of everything the All England club was not.

But these days it's respect from the 29-year-old Las Vegan with the earring. Agassi, after a turbulent year in which his marriage to actress Broooke Shields broke up and in which he became one of only five players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments, has assumed responsibility, become more reflective. Leaner than he has been for a number of years and still possessing the marvellous reactions that enable him return the ball so early and pluck even the heaviest of serves out of the air, Agassi is seeking to become the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win Wimbledon in the same year as the French Open.

"I feel like one of the best things I can do is maybe offer a sense of direction for the upcoming players," he said after beating Guillermo Canas for a place in the third round.

"A lot of things are different now than when Borg won. When you look at a guy who was as fast as Borg and could hit the ball with such pinpoint accuracy and with smaller and less capable equipment, it is easy to see how he could dominate.

"I learn from his competitive instincts and certainly his tenacity," he said.

Agassi now faces Spain's Alberto Martin, an opponent who has never played at Wimbledon before this year. Ranked almost 60 places above the Spaniard, a win for him would set up a possible meeting with German number 14 seed Tommy Haas for a quarter final place.

The last eight is where the big hitters are expected to converge with Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Rafter and the resurgent Boris Becker all in his half of the draw. Much has been made of Becker's age of 31, but he is only two years older than Agassi. If the American is destined to walk in the steps of Borg and into history, this is where his tournament will begin.