Wow-love

A tremendous match. Andre Agassi vs. Andre Pavel.

Men's tennis. First round of the US Open. Agassi will be retiring from tennis after this, so many eyes are on him, including mine.

Agassi has been having chronic back problems for a while now, and you can see it in this match. A little hitch-step here. An unusual turn of the body there. An unusual number of errors. A couple of times he skips like a little kid, but I see something else. I think he's testing his back, seeing how it feels.

I like Agassi. He has a tremendous work ethic, and by reputation he is a very nice guy. He and I are very close in age, 36; he's ahead of me by only a couple of months. Also, I've had a back injury similar to his, so I understand why he does those little hitch steps, the unusual turns; I can see that there's a price paid for every time he has to make an extra reach for the ball. It's a hard court -- the surface offers no give, no forgiveness.

But Pavel started having ankle problems during the third set. The match becomes not just about standard ability, but how each can overcome their own issues while using their opponents issues against them. Not just about ability but also about willpower. And still, some amazing work from both.

There is honor here as well. On a controversial call, Agassi thought he hit a serve that went in which the officials initially called out. Pavel sided with Agassi, so Agassi challenged the call, and the challenge sided with Agassi -- but Pavel showed honor, because he could have feigned ignorance very easily. The audience, no surprise, is supporting Agassi, to the point of being occasionally rude to Pavel. A shame: he deserves their respect for his play. He's not being a jerk.

The first three sets went to a tie break. Pavel won the first; Agassi won the next two. Agassi came back from 0-4 to win the third set. (And I'm up late, this match is going to 12:35am, and I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, and I just started rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty last night, and I had an audition just a few hours ago, I really need some rest.

Fourth set. After Agassi's comeback in the third set, Pavel finally started to fade. Agassi quickly took the lead.

A brutal, tough, beautiful game. 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2. Here's a quick NYT article HERE.