THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: SUNDAY, MARCH 30, No. 22

Agassi keeps getting younger
Scott in as WTA Tour CEO as Miles stays with ATP

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Photos: Susan & Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc. Design: Ron Cioffi/tennisreporters.net

FROM THE NASDAQ-100 OPEN IN MIAMI – While the rest of us seem to be getting older, Andre Agassi seems to be defying nature and getting younger.

That's the message that once again came across this last week at the NASDAQ-100 Open where Agassi won his third consecutive title. This time around the victim was fifth seed Carlos Moya, who despite falling to Agassi in the final 6-3, 6-3, will move up the ranking charts on Monday to No. 4.

Agassi laughed at the notion that he might have found some secret formula to staying young, but can't hide the fact that his continued top-flight results are almost a surprise to him as well.

Looking at 2003, three months into the year and Agassi is 18-1 on the season, adding three titles to his already procured 53 career titles. He started the season by capturing his eighth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and then won the San Jose trophy for the fifth time in his career.

"It's been incredible," said Agassi, of his 2003 season after the sweet 71-minute victory over Moya. "It's hard to believe it's all still possible out there."

In actuality, Agassi had won three tournament on five occasions – San Jose, Washington DC and Miami. Now he's done something he's never done before – won a tournament six different times.

GRAF BEATER
It also marks the first time he's outdone wife Steffi Graf at something: Graf held a women's record for five titles at the Miami tournament which had Agassi tied with the bride.

"I finally beat her at something," said Agassi, laughing, during the award ceremony.

Graf, who ended her career with 22 Grand Slam trophies, including winning a Golden Grand Slam in 1988 by taking all four majors and the Olympic gold medal, beamed proudly at Agassi as he raced to a sixth NASDAQ title.

"It's nerve-wracking at times," said Graf, in a rare TV interview with CBS during the match. "You know exactly what's going on out there. You just hope for the best. It's hard cause you have to sit here and can't do anything."

Agassi was all over Moya from the start. His serve cut like a knife; his groundstrokes kept the Spaniard at bay; even his work at the net was a marvel.
Not usually known for his serve and volley technique, Agassi joked about his consistent forays to the front during the match, saying, "I enjoy coming to the net on my terms. It helps with your stats, when you're up there."

Agassi's serve was a definite advantage – he came up with a stunning 71 first-serve percentage to a 49 first-serve percentage for Moya.

"Today was certainly a great day for me, serving-wise," Agassi said. "I think specifically because it was breezy. Any time you can get a good percentage of first serves in, especially on key points, in windy conditions, it's a big advantage."

His serve being in shape was a bonus for Agassi, who had to pull out of the Pacific Life Open with a shoulder injury. But Agassi definitely appears to be over the injury – even having to play his quarterfinal, semifinal and final in three consecutive days because rain forced most of Thursday's schedule to be washed out, didn't cause a twinge.

"To be honest, I'm just so relieved that my shoulder isn't getting my attention on every serve – it just feels good to go up and go after it," Agassi said. "I don't have the luxury of erring on the side of pushing an injury over the edge. So I always need to be more careful. As you get older, I think everybody does."

MOYA NO MATCH FOR ANDRE
It was no secret to Moya, the 1998 Roland Garros champion that the match was being played on Agassi's terms. He clearly never felt he had a chance in the encounter, failing to take advantage of three break points Agassi presented.

"I think I didn't play a good match," said Moya, who won a 12th career title at Buenos Aires last month. "He put a lot of pressure, he played great, but if I wanted to win this match, I had to serve very well and today, I didn't. Also, my retrn has been very bad."

Agassi hurt Moya on his service game, breaking serve in the fourth game of the match to establish a winning lead in the first set. By the time he got around to breaking Moya's serve in the seventh and ninth games of the second set, Agassi took both of those games at love.

While we wait to see if the 31-year-old Pete Sampras will call it a day, while we watch the 31-year-old Michael Chang struggle through his farewell tour season with only one match win in five matches played thus far, we see their peer, Andre Agassi, one month shy of turning 33, ready to keep on keeping on.

"It's hard work and it's a lot of luck and staying healthy," Agassi said of still being at the top of the game. "I can't tell you how important that is.So I've been blessed with the body that's holding up and I'm still eager and hitting the ball as well as I ever have and moving well. Now I can bring my experience to the court. So there's a lot of things going right when it's going right."

As we head towards the upcoming French Open and Wimbledon, with the way Agassi is playing, it's hard not to conclude he certainly will be one of the favorites at those Grand Slams. The lesson here is clear: Age doesn't matter as long as you ignore it.

Scott in as WTA Tour CEO as Miles stays with ATP
As tennisreporters.net reported a number of times last week, ATP tour COO Larry Scott was heading to the WTA Tour to become the top gun in the women's game. Scott's appointment as the new CEO at the WTA Tour was announced Saturday. The 38-year-old Scott, a former player and Harvard graduate, leaves the men's tour after 11 years on the job.

On Friday, the ATP announced that Mark Miles, their head honcho, was voted a contract extension through 2005.