tennis

As I mentioned in earlier blog, I grew up playing lots of tennis. I would play in tournaments all over the south. I met a lot of people through tennis and some are now playing division I college tennis. In this blog, I am going to talk about my favorite pro tennis players of all time.
Andre Agassi was one of my favorite players. Not only was a really good tennis players, but he was also just a good entertainer in general. He had lots of charisma and was funny at times. His matches with Pete Sampras especially when they were #1 and #2 were classic. They were also complete opposites. Agassi was the charismatic mostly baseliner while Sampras was the powerful guy with a huge serve. I remember watching the French Open when Agassi won and captured the Grand Slam. In order to capture the tennis Grand Slam, someone has to win all four of the major tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.Agassi won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open when he was younger. The French Open was the last one he needed to win and he came through. The French Open is played on red clay which makes it difficult for a guy who plays hius best on hardcourts like Agassi. Also, since his matches consisted of a lot of baseline rallying, his matches were a lot more fun to watch. A lot of players are not as fun to watch if they rely just on their serves.
Pete Sampras was another one of my favorite players. While he did not have nearly as much charisma as Andre Agassi and was not as fun to watch, he was a dominating force on the tennis court. He was not nearly as good on clay courts than he was on hard courts or grass courts. His serve was so huge that he was incredibly hard to beat on hard or grass courts. He also had a really good net game as he was a serve and vollyer. He made it look so easy. He had a very calm presence. Underneath that demeanor was a very passionate competitor. There were also a lot of times when he would start out slow in his matches and then would come back.
I am also a fan of Roger Federer. He is another one of the greatest of all time. Like Sampras, he makes it look so easy. He is not the flashiest player but is incredibly talented. He rose to success in the game in a very short amount of time. He has a very complete game. Has definitely been the best player of the last several years.