Tags:
Journalism of Courage
MELBOURNE, JANUARY 13: American Andre Agassi will begin the defence of his Australian Open title in fine form after beating long-time rival Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final of the Kooyong Classic exhibition event on Saturday.
Agassi, seeded sixth for the first Grand Slam of the year starting in Melbourne on Monday, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour, 17 minutes.
The match was a repeat of the 2000 Australian Open final, in which Agassi defeated the Russian world No. 5 in four sets. It left Agassi with three consecutive wins from his warm-up matches at Kooyong.
Twelve months ago, his triumph at Melbourne Park gave him a perfect start to the season.
But despite finishing the year as a runner-up at the Masters Cup in Lisbon, the intervening months were not kind to the 30-year-old.
He injured his back at Queen’s Club in London ahead of Wimbledon, and exacerbated the problem in a car crash in July. Illness in his family also forced Agassi off the ATP Tour, before his return to prominence in the Portuguese capital in December.
He admits that his current state of mind is an improvement on the last few months.
‘‘Life can only be better than it has been,’’ he said. ‘‘I took a step backwards when I injured my back, and the car accident put me out for most of the summer.‘‘Emotionally, it was hard to deal with it all and get through it. So it is fair to say that I feel good now in comparison.
‘‘There are still areas in which I can improve before the Australian Open starts, but that in itself is a good sign.
‘‘I would like to be a bit more decisive during a point, because picking the right shot earlier on can win you the point. But I feel as though I am moving well, striking the ball well, and winning, which is the most important thing.’’
The Las Vegan, who has been watched by girlfriend Steffi Graf at Kooyong, beat Frenchman Nicolas Escude and Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer earlier in the week.Agassi will meet Czech Jiri Vanek in the first round of the Open and could come up against compatriot and peer, Pete Sampras, in the last eight.
‘‘I think I would be getting ahead of myself if I started thinking about Pete now,’’ Agassi said.
‘‘But one thing is for sure it is better to meet Pete in the quarters or the semis rather than the final itself.’’
