BACKSPIN TIME CAPSULE: 1990 Roland Garros

June 11, 1990 - "Andres the Giant"

In The French Open men's final, Andres defeated Andre. I guess it was the extra "s" that did it. Maybe it stood for "serve," for that is what Andres Gomez rode heavily during his 3-6/6-2/6-4/6-4 victory over Andre Agassi in a battle of totally contrasting individuals.



The stoic and somewhat anonymous six-foot-four Gomez has been playing on the pro tour for twelve years without even reaching a grand slam final before this French Open (including ten previous trips to Paris, four of which ended with losses to Ivan Lendl). Agassi, on the other hand, is tennis' answer to the immature Hollywood child prodigy. In his four pro seasons, the appropriately Las Vegas-born Agassi has built quite a reputation -- not all of which centers on his tennis talents.

The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy-trained American is not someone who one could say would be an anonymous individual either on or off the court. Whether it be his blond-over-black mane of hair or his hot pink-and-black with tights tennis outfit (which drew rumblings from French Tennis Federation President Phillipe Chatrier about adopting a predominantly-white rule on outfits -- Agassi called him a "bozo"), Agassi can be a sight to behold. His behavior has been questionable at times, also. Tempter tantrums, seeming nonchalance on the court, a running feud with U.S. Davis Cup coach Tom Gorman, taunting of opponents and hints of arrogance have all contributed to giving Agassi the reputation as one of the least-liked players on tour (which his Muhammad Ali-like entourage does not help to put to bed).

But even though Agassi still refuses to practice between matches or play Wimbledon, he seems to have matured at least a little in the past year. After bursting onto the scene in 1988, 1989 saw Agassi win just one tournament in what he now looks at as a "burnout" year where the pressure got to him. Agassi & Co. went heavily into an intensive weight training program to help end the endurance problems which had caused him to tank some sets at love in the past. He gained ten pounds of muscle and was rewarded with a fine French Open performance which included an easy win over Michael Chang and his first grand slam final appearance. Agassi got down to business in the second week in Paris and concentrated. The result was the best tennis of his career. Amazing what a little drive can do. Now he must continue to devote himself to playing championship tennis rather than clowning and vogueing.

The 1st set in the final was dominated by the powerful and finally consistent serve of Gomez as he started on a quest that would eventually result in ten aces by match's end. The 2nd set, though, saw the return of the thing that had kept the Ecuadorian veteran out of all of those finals in the past. That, of course, being inconsistency in his service game. After dominating the initial set with his serve, Gomez was broken an incredible four straight times by a fastly improving Agassi. But the rest of the match would be different.



Seeing that this may end up being his only real shot at a grand slam title, Gomez settled down and reached for the one thing that has eluded him in his long career -- glory. Showing that he DID possess the will to win that some, at times, have doubted, he used his once again powerful serve to take Agassi out in the final two sets to win the French Open championship. In all, Gomez produced an impressive fifty-eight winners on the red clay. Good thing, too, since he had an equally umimpressive seventy-two errors. But this time, the luck was with him along with that "s" as he climbed into the stand ala Pat Cash to celebrate with his wife and young son. The newly-ranked #4 player in the world (after dropping to #28 after last year's French) almost retired in the past year, but he dedicated himself to winning this title after his nemesis Lendl announced he would skip Paris to prepare for Wimbledon. It's safe to say that he owes a big thanks to Ivan, too.

As for Agassi, he wasn't satisfied with second place, but he's happy with the progress he's made in the past year. He may not have been able to become the second straight American men's winner in Paris after the long drought from 1956 to '88 that Chang ended a year ago, but he is still the U.S.'s best hope for the present and future in the men's game. With a little more maturity, he could even become a merchandising giant (he's already getting there without having won a big title).

I guess that's good, isn't it?



*NOTES*

Of course, the newsy tidbit that would have blown everyone's mind back in 1990 was that the two 20-year olds who lost the Roland Garros singles finals -- Agassi and Steffi Graf -- would end up marrying in 2001 and having two children, Jaden and Jaz, now 8 and 6.

Gomez's best slam results other than his '90 Roland Garros title included three QF in Paris, and one each at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In 1984, he was a quarterfinalist in Paris, London and New York. In all, he won twenty-one career ATP singles titles, but only one (in '91) after winning his only slam crown (after which his #4 ranking on June 11, 1990 was his career high). Gomez won just one slam match the remainder of his career after defeating Agassi -- in '92 in Paris, after missing the tournament in '91. For his career, the Ecuadorian notched thirty-one match wins at Roland Garros, but had only thirty at the other three slam tournaments combined.

Agassi ended up winning sixty career tour titles (tied for 7th all-time), and rose to #1 for the first time in 1995 (he was later the oldest-ever #1 at 33 in June '03). After refusing to play Wimbledon for so long early in her career, he finally did in 1991. A year later, he grabbed his first career slam title in London. After reaching two of his first three career slam finals at Roland Garros in 1990-91 (along with the '90 U.S. Open), Agassi didn't finally win the title in Paris until 1999. The title made him only the fifth man (now sixth, with Federer) to ever achieve a career Grand Slam, winning at least one crown at each of the four slams. In all, he won eight slam titles in his career.



Off the court, Agassi's personal (and visual, of course) transformation was miraculous. By the time he retired due to persistent back/nerve pain folloiwng the U.S. Open in 2006, after having reached the final at age 35 a year earlier, he was arguably the most beloved and respected player in the game. His recent autobiography, in which he took swipes at Pete Sampras and admitted to using crystal meth and failing an ATP-sanctioned drug test (and lying his way out of a suspension), threatened to tear down some of the good will he'd built up over the previous twenty years with his good off-court work, including his charitable Andre Agassi Foundation and charter school in Las Vegas. But his reputuation seems to have weathered that temporary storm, and in the end the furor that resulted because of the book's release will eventually serve to allow everyone to see Agassi for what he's been over the ENTIRE course of his time in the spotlight, not just the defiantly unlikable person he appeared to be in his younger days, nor the "seemingly irreproachable" person he appeared to be later. He's the sum of all his parts, and all his years... and that's not such a bad legacy for him when everything is weighed out.

All for now.



*CAREER SLAM TITLES - MEN*
16...Roger Federer
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...Bill Tilden
8...ANDRE AGASSI
8...Jimmy Connors
8...Ivan Lendl
8...Fred Perry
8...Ken Rosewall

*CAREER ATP TITLES*
109...Jimmy Connors
94...Ivan Lendl
77...John McEnroe
64...Pete Sampras
62...Roger Federer
62...Bjorn Borg
62...Guillermo Vilas
60...ANDRE AGASSI

*WON ALL FOUR SLAMS - MEN*
[in chronological order]
Fred Perry
Don Budge
Roy Emerson
Rod Laver
ANDRE AGASSI
Roger Federer



PREVIOUS TIME CAPSULES:
1987 Roland Garros (Graf), 1989 Roland Garros (Sanchez/Chang), 1990 Roland Garros (Seles/Graf), 1990 Wimbledon (Navratilova), 1990 Wimbledon (Edberg/Becker), 1991 U.S. Open (Connors), 1993 Australian Open (Seles & Courier), 1993 Wimbledon (Graf/Novotna), 2003 & '05 U.S. Open (Henin/Clijsters), 2001-09 Australian Open (Dokic Down Under)

NEXT: 1987 Wimbledon (Cash climbs into history... literally)

Read more!