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Journalism of Courage
Defying the ravages of time, Andre Agassi stormed to a landmark fourth Australian Open crown on Sunday, thrashing Rainer Schuettler to become the oldest Grand Slam champion for 31 years.
The 32-year-old8217;s 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory equals the most one-sided in the event8217;s 98-year history and gives him an eighth Grand Slam title.
Not since John Hawkes ran roughshod over Jim Willard in 1926 has a men8217;s final lasted just 23 games and none have comprised fewer.
In a sport of teenage champions, Agassi just gets better and better.
Remarkably, for a prodigy who finished 1988 ranked number three in the world aged just 18, Agassi has had to wait until after his 29th birthday for five of those Grand Slam victories.
Sunday8217;s triumph wrote another footnote in the extraordinary career of the second-seeded Las Vegan, who has scaled the heights and plumbed the depths of the tennis world.
Not since Andres Gimeno won the French Open in 1972 has a player older than Agassi lifted a Grand Slam title.
But just three months short of his 33rd birthday, Agassi is as fit as ever and was unstoppable in Melbourne.
He has not lost at Melbourne Park since a fourth round defeat in 1999, a wrist injury caused him to miss last year, and his four Australian crowns are a record for an overseas player.
His maiden Australian victory in 1995 came on his first trip Down Under and Agassi wishes he had started visiting nine years earlier.
Certainly the Rebound Ace courts suit his game perfectly and he ripped past Schuettler in just 76 minutes.
The German is a taekwondo expert but no amount of fight or endurance could help him withstand the battering he received from Agassi.
Arguably the best baseliner to have played the sport, Agassi 8211; one of only five men to have won all four Grand Slam titles at least once 8211; tore into Schuettler from the start.
Punching groundstrokes into the corners of centre court Agassi raced ahead, hitting breathtaking winners from all over the arena.
Schuettler, wide-eyed, disorientated and clearly out of his depth, was stunned to find himself two sets down after just 55 minutes on court. Reuters
