At an opening night gala here, Andy Rooney, the cantankerous CBS commentator, told the dinner crowd that to really enjoy tennis, "Don't try to be fair. You have to dislike one of the two players, so pick something you don't like - however superficial - and root for the other."
Andre Agassi and Roger Federer met for the championship of the 2005 US Open, but this classic late-summer duel was between two guys wearing white hats. Though the New York crowd was resolutely pro-Agassi, trying to will the old man on to illogical new heights, it was impossible to take Rooney's advice. Agassi and Federer are not merely two of the greatest ever to play the game of tennis, they are two genuinely likeable, decent, and admirable people who play tennis for a living.
Andre Agassi, the one-time punk with an attitude and now elder statesman of tennis and odds-defying old-timer, keeps adding chapters to an unlikely story. The man who stood across the net, Roger Federer, is the epitome of grace on and off the court.
Federer needed all his guile and grace to defeat the ageless Agassi in a dream match-up that crowned this extraordinary US Open, from which emerged stunningly clear days and nights and inspiring heroes.
On his historic run through a 20th US Open, after receiving yet another cortisone shot for back and hip problems that knocked him out of the French Open and Wimbledon, Andre dared to dream he could win it once more at age 35. He was the oldest Grand Slam finalist in 31 years. Though he was forced to meet only one seed, the last of the 32 in the draw, he had to survive three consecutive, grueling five-set matches in the process and triumph over two of the hottest players in the game. For a man who might be playing the senior tour, this was by any marker a phenomenal feat.
Unfortunately for Agassi, his opponent in the final was Federer, a player more fluent in the game than anyone, John McEnroe included, has ever witnessed. "He's the best I've ever played against," said Agassi in defeat. "He plays the game in a very special way."
Federer has every shot in his arsenal, and every quality on display: speed, agility, finesse, power, creativity and a champion's killer instinct. Stretched out, seemingly out of a point, Federer accelerates from defense to offense quicker than anyone who's ever played. The ball often looks like a meatball on his racquet, and he quickly devours it.
Federer, who has won 71 of 74 matches in 2005, has now cruised to 23 straight finals. With a title on the line, he is a sure thing. In his long career, Agassi has been all over the map, from a hotshot youngster who won early and big, to a wayward wanderer who dropped to No. 141 in the world, to a late-career bloomer who, along with just four others, has won all four Grand Slams. Over the course of his career, Agassi has played against three different generations of the world's best, winning two championships at the US Open and featuring in countless memorable matches at Flushing Meadows. The 2002 final against Sampras. The 1999 five-set championship over Todd Martin. The 2001 quarterfinal against Pete, where four sets went to tiebreaks, and neither player lost serve. And now, the 2005 final against Roger Federer.