Playing Tennis With Andre
For the third time in his 18 appearances at the US Open tennis championships, Andre Agassi begins the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Agassi has won twice, in 1994 and again in 1999. They account for two of his eight grand slam singles titles.
He was on a mini-court out on the plaza, playing with The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. He says, "We're celebrating Nike's 30 years involved in tennis. And for that, they're donating 30 pairs of shoes to my foundation and the U.S. National Tennis League for every serve you can return."
You can catch Agassi among the stars at Arthur Ashe Kids' Day on Saturday at the National Tennis Center. And if you're not in New York, CBS Sports will bring it to you on Sunday, beginning at 12:30 p.m./ET. CBS Sports and the USA Network begin their coverage of the 2003 US Open on Monday.
At 33, Agassi has gone from rebel tennis player to injured outcast to the world's top player to celebrity dad. His wife, former tennis star Steffi Graf, is pregnant with their second child.
Agassi says, "18 years old, I was out here competing for championships. I have just grown up doing this. 12 years later, 15 years later, we're all different people, aren't we?"
Agassi is still ranked No.1 in the world, has already won one grand slam title this year (the Australian Open) and hopes to add a second as he begins his 18th US Open. In tennis, the grand slam events are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Pete Sampras is the all-time leader with 14 grand slam singles titles. Roy Emerson had 12; Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg had 11; Bill Tilden 10 and Agassi is tied for the fifth most titles with Jimmy Connors, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall, all with 8.
He says, "It's been a great year for me starting off, winning the Australian Open. Any time you can win a slam in a year, it changes your life, your career. It's been a great year for me. But I would love to end it here in New York the right way."
He says he looking out for Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. He says, "There are so many great players. Roddick has been plagued with some great tennis this summer. We have Federer. You got to look at the guys who have won the grand slams. They all seem to be a lot younger."
Pete Sampras has announced his retirement. About his game, Agassi says, "An athlete is never guaranteed a rivalry. They could have a great career but doesn't mean they'll have that special rivalry. With Pete, I had that. It's been my pleasure to be part of it. It's going to be sad to see him go."
Agassi is one of five male players to have won all four grand slam events in his career and he's the only one to add an Olympic gold medal to his career grand slam. The other four career grand slams have been accomplished by Emerson, Don Budge, Perry and Laver. Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) are the only players to achieve a pure grand slam in a single year.
Agassi is currently ranked No. 1 in the ATP Tour computer ranking, the oldest player ever to hold the top spot. That ranking spans back over the previous 52 weeks and is used to determine tournament seedings, which is why Agassi is seeded No. 1. (It's the third time Agassi has entered the Open as the No. 1 seed - the others were 1995 and 2000. He's 62-15 in singles at the Open and he's reached the Open singles final five times since 1990. He won the Open in 1994, when he was unseeded, and 1999. Agassi is 39-7 this year, having won the Australian Open singles title in January. (He was a quarterfinalist in this year's French Open and lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon).
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