As an absolute tennis junkie, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a great champion, Andre Agassi.

He is the ONLY man in the Open Era to have won the career Grand Slam. Stop and think about that accomplishment. Not McEnroe, Borg, Ashe, Conners, Becker, Wilander, Edberg, Sampras, Lendl, Vilas, Gerulaitis, Panatta, Smith, Nastase, or Newcombe did it. Wow! Check it out for yourself.

Even Roger Federer, perhaps the greatest player to have ever played the game, has not yet achieved that amazing feat.

I grew-up watching the great champions come to Boston and play at Longwood Cricket Club for 30 years until they made the sad decision to stop the pro tournament. I have seen a lot of different players up close over the years and I can say that Andre Agassi ranks right up there with the classiest of all time. Right there with Wilander.

I remember one evening back in perhaps 1987 or 1988 when Andre was just starting out (remember the denim shorts he used to wear? lol). I was in the lower Men’s locker room showering up getting ready to go watch the evening matches. When I got to section where my locker was located there was Andre Agassi, finishing getting dressed after winning his match. He was trying to avoid the 2 dozen young women hanging outside the Players’ Locker Room. Agassi, Aaron Kriekstein, and Vince van Patten were the all-time favorites among the ladies.

Agassi was putting on a tie. It was one of those really skiny piano keys ties that were very popular back in the 1980’s. I remember him saying hello and then reaching into his bag and pulling out a roll of scotch tape. He rolled a piece and then used it to stick the little part of his tie to the back of the big part. That was the young Andre.

The mature Andre has transcended tennis and become a great spokesmen and promoter of the game which many of us love dearly. Tennis will miss the player but I’m sure that we have not seen the last of the man Andre. As Johny Mac has said a couple times, “Andre should be the commissioner of tennis.” I second that.

Peace Andre, we’ll miss you.

PS: The trick to watching tennis is to use a TiVo to fast forward through the beginning of sets to get to the more dramatic parts.