Agassi on top, but is he a tennis great?

Andre Agassi is the new US Open champion, and world number 1. Agassi won against veteran Todd Martin in a 5 set thriller, coming back from 2 sets to 1 down. The win has arguably confirmed him as the best player of 1999, with wins at the French and US Open's, as well as a finalist spot at Wimbledon. Agassi has now won 5 grand slams, and looks set to win more.

With the absence of Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter through injury, Andre Agassi was able to take full advantage and live up to his number 2 seeding in the tournament.

Todd Martin has to be congratulated for his valiant effort. The 29 year old veteran truly looked to have had his day, especially given the fact that he has had fitness problems which have resulted in him losing several 5 set matches in recent times. He won great admiration for coming back from 2 sets to love and a break down against Greg Rusedski to win in 5 sets in the 4th round. That match forced him onto an intravenous drip! However, he surprised everyone by winning his way easily through the quarter-finals and semi-finals in straight sets. He then shocked Agassi when leading by 2 sets to 1 and held a break point at 3-3 in that set. However that was the turning point in the match, as Agassi raised his game, and his superior fitness began to tell over Martin. It was nonetheless a fine effort by Martin, who has only ever beaten Agassi once...and that was on grass at Wimbledon in 1994; even then only winning in 5 sets.

Martin has had an unfortunate run in grand slams. Like Goran Ivanisevich, Cedric Pioline and Andrei Medvedev, Martin may well be remembered as one of the best players never to win a grand slam. He made his other grand slam final in the 1994 Australian Open, when he was badly beaten by Sampras. That year he also made the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, where he lost to Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi respectively. His most notorious loss was however in the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1996. There he was playing Mal Washington, and led his friend by 5-1 in the 5th set. He served for the match twice, but ended up losing that match as Washington made an amazing comeback. This was an especially upsetting loss for him, as the other two semi-finalists were Richard Kraijecek and Jason Stoltenberg, a far easier proposition than an in-form Sampras. With Martin now hinting at retirement, this could be a fitting end for his consistent career, going out to a champion in Agassi.

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