Topic: How will Federer defeat effect Agassi's plans?

[gm3106]

You've really got to wonder if this defeat, and the one-sided nature of it, will effect how much longer decides to stay around in the game. Had it been close, you could've say that maybe the next time Agassi runs into Federer in a slam he may finally pull ot the win.

But when you take note of the fact that a) Agassi, as he himself put it, did not make a 'dent' in the Federer game b) It was on Agassi's best surface and c) Agassi has now lost his last 5 meetings with the Swiss man, you reach the conclusion that Agassi will never beat Federer ever again, even if Andre plays his best (he was near or at his best in yesterday's match) and Roger is below par. The problem is that Agassi is excellent in most areas of the game, but Federer is EXCELLENT IN ALL ASPECTS.  

The fact that it is impossible for Agassi to beat Federer is a great problem for Andre's 9th grand slam hope because, at the moment, you have to beat Federer in order to win a slam. The player who does eventually beat Federer in a slam is going to get MAJOR CREDIT.

And even if Federer's level of play does drop off or he becomes injured and Agassi finds himself in the position of having a shot at a slam title without any prospect of playing Federer, it's still stretching it to say that he would win it because there would still be an extremely strong field left (Safin, Hewitt, Nalbandian , Roddick, Nadal etc.)  

Agassi will, of course, maximize his chances of another slam through superb fitness and excellent scheduling decisions, but the chances of him actually pulling it off are, sadly, less likely than ever in the last seven years. I'm not saying it is not possible, just that it would require A LOT of factors to go in his favour in order for it to happen eg. short matches up until the quarters at the earliest, a draw that avoids hard players until very late on, etc.

Maybe yesteday's defeat may make Agassi think that it is not worth playing on till next year, but even if there is only a 5% chance of him winning another slam I think he should - retirement should only come when he is 100% certain there is no chance.

But if he does fail in his quest, there's no shame in it, Agassi's place in history has long been asssured.

[kittens25]

He should play more tennis to get a higher ranking.   Right now guys should be scrambling to be ranked in the top 4, preferably #2 so they play Federer as late as possable in a slam.

[Tennis4you]

Well, I think Agassi is mainly focusing on the slams and not worrying about ranking points.

I am sure that if he won yesterday and won the slam he would stick around a little longer.  But defeats like that make you wonder, if you are Agassi, what is next.  Agassi hit something like 12 errors and lost in straight sets.  That is friggin insane!

[Tennis4you]

I would also like to add that I usually hit about 12 errors in the first 3 games of my matches.  

[kittens25]

I know that is how plan, but I am saying I think his plan needs tinkering.   The bottom line is players should accept that they want to avoid Federer as long as possable, if that sounds like giving him too much respect, tell me how much would woman have scrambled to avoid Serena as long as possable in slams around 2002-2003?    I think that would be an obvious answer.

       The longer you avoid Federer, the more chance somebody might take him out before you play him, the more chance you get to get a big win or two to build up for him.    Federer just has too much pride and too much urgency to get ranking points to keep his #1 to allow himself to lose a quarterfinal.   If Agassi wants to just keep showing up at slams with a low ranking and grind his way to the title, it wont happen if he keeps drawing Federer in the quarters.  

        If I was Agassi's coach, I would say play alot, get a higher ranking.
You need to do something to establish your position a little better.

[RainerShuttle]

If you look at Agassi's recent spell as no.1, he still wasn't playing loads of events but the ones he did play, he was consistently making the latter stages. I think Andre's ranking will soon shoot up since he has virtually no points to defend from last season's clay & grass court seasons. His problem there last season was not playing enough, which I'm sure he'll rectify this year. A couple of strong performances in the two slams, coupled with decent displays in the clay masters events should see him climb back up towards the top 5.

Anyway, why should he necessarily improve his ranking? If he was no. 9 in the world (like Nalbandian) he'd have been in the bottom half of the draw instead, avoiding Federer until the final potentially  It's basically the luck of the draw

[Tennis4you]

Well, it is either be #2 in the world or you have a 50/50 chance.