Final Act

Two of biggest Tennis Icons have announced their retirement this month after US open - Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova. I have always been a great fan of these two right from my childhood and used to wake up in odd hours of the night to watch their matches. These two had an amazingly long tennis careers.


It was fitting end to Martina Navratilova's career with her 60th Grand Slam win. Phew what a career she had. Among the four Grand Slams , winning wimbledon is always special for any player and she won 9 of them. She reigned wimbledon through out 80's and early 90's. I still remember how i injured myself out of excitement when she lost a point during wimbledon finals in 1994 against Martinez. I had to put 5 stitches on my chin. That final was supposed to her last match as tennis professional, but she returned back to tennis after 4 years break. It just shows how much love she had for this sport. Clearly no other player in the women's tennis history has left a more complete mark than Martina Navratilova.

Andre Agassi's tennis career is no less colorful than that of Martina. During early part of his career i was a big fan of him not for his tennis skills but for his dressing sense - his long hair , colorful t-shirts and his charisma on the court. He did not play at wimbledon for some years just becoz they had strict dress codes. But he matured with experience and it showed up both in personal and professional front. He was famous for his baseline shots, mesmerizing hand-eye coordination and could return the most wicked serve that the game has seen ever. His run at this years US open was no less dramatic as his career and he made us believe that he was still capable of winning Grand Slam at the age of 36. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he played the last point of his career, but still, he was there, ready to play. He was a complete player.

Tennis fan's around the world will miss these two great players a lot.