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Agassi steals show Serena's Slam overshadowed in MelbournePosted: Monday January 27, 2003 12:34 PMMELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Serena got her slam but Andre still stole the show at the Australian Open. Serena Williams beat her older sister Venus 7-6 3-6 6-4 to win her first Australian Open title and become just the fifth woman to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time. But the world No. 1 was upstaged by Andre Agassi, who demolished opponent after opponent to win his fourth Australian Open title and his eighth major. The 32-year-old crushed German Rainer Schuettler 6-2 6-2 6-1 to become the oldest grand slam champion for 31 years after the most one-sided final in the event's 98-year history. "As you get older you realize how quickly these moments pass. You want to make the most of them," Agassi said. "There's not a single day that's promised to us and this day means so much... I am so honored. To win down here again was just more than I could dream of." While Agassi performed another encore, Schuettler got stage fright on the biggest day of his career after surprising everyone just by making the final. With the exception of Andy Roddick, the new young guns of tennis hardly fired a shot as the older brigade resumed control. World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt fell to 31-year-old Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui in the fourth round and last year's finalist, Russian Marat Safin, pulled out early with a wrist injury. South Africa's Wayne Ferreira made the last four, 11 years after his only previous appearance in the semi-finals, while Schuettler, 26, beat an exhausted Roddick in the other semi. Roddick, who became the youngest player in 12 years to reach the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, had nothing left after wearing down El Aynaoui 4-6 7-6 4-6 6-4 21-19 in a epic match that lasted five hours and featured the longest fifth set in tennis history. It was a grand match that ended with both players embracing each other like long lost friends but it left 20-year-old Roddick with nothing left to give when he came up against Schuettler. Grand slam Serena produced one of the great comebacks in women's tennis when she saved two match points and a 5-1 deficit in the third set to beat Kim Clijsters 4-6 6-3 7-5 and book her place in her first Australian final. A devastated Clijsters tried her best to hide the pain she was feeling but could not disguise her shock at blowing such a massive lead. "I was so close to beating her," she said. Venus made it an all-Williams final -- the first in Melbourne but the fourth in a row at the majors -- by defeating Justine Henin-Hardenne in the other semi. The sisters also won the doubles just to remind everyone again of the stranglehold they have on women's tennis at the moment. After losing her No. 1 ranking and the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals to her little sister, Venus was determined to beat Serena this time. She had her chances and almost did it too but Serena just snuck home to join Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only women to hold the four major titles at the same time. Serena goofed around and giggled at her previous grand slam title wins, but the enormity of her achievement at the Australian Open overwhelmed her and reduced her to tears. "I never get emotional, but I am really, really emotional now," she said. "You know all my life I have dreamed of being the best and doing the best. It hasn't always been easy for me and it is just so special the fact that I am making history right now." Navratilova joy Navratilova herself claimed a piece of history by teaming up with Leander Paes to win the mixed doubles. Twenty nine years after winning her first grand slam title, Navratilova swept to her 57th, collecting the only jewel missing from her crown, the one grand slam title to have eluded her. Aged 46 years and three months, she also became the oldest grand slam champion in the sport's history, eclipsing Norman Brookes. The Australian won the men's doubles here in 1924 aged one month younger. "I can't lie about my age," she laughed. "Anybody can look it up. I didn't think I would still be playing at this age... when I was growing up I wanted to be the youngest to win something, not the oldest. "But it is pretty sweet to have all of them." Their performances helped make up for an Australian Open that was once again lacking many of the sport's big names including Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis. Calls to move the tournament back to March, to give the players a longer off-season and avoid the extreme summer heat in Australia, gained momentum leading up the event. This year's women's final was played indoors after the temperature rose to 43.9 degrees Celsius and International Tennis Federation officials say they are already looking into the possibility of changing the dates.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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