ESPN Classic special to profile Agassi

Victoria Sun

Monday, June 25, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

Andre Agassi's storied tennis career is well-documented in an ESPN Classic-Sports Century profile scheduled to air next week.

The hour-long show touches the surface on Agassi's personal life, but delves deep into the subject of how the Las Vegas native -- spurred on by his father Mike, a former Olympic boxer-- learned how to utilize his immense talent to become one of the greatest players in history.

Agassi, the reigning Australian Open champion, is one of only five men to have won each of the Grand Slam events at least once. He will be playing at Wimbledon this week.

"Andre Agassi was a celebrity in some ways before he was a man," noted longtime tennis writer Joel Drucker. "He was 4 years old, hitting balls at Caesars Palace with Jimmy Connors, making the tennis scene.

"So he was kind of like the little tennis prodigy of Las Vegas."

Drucker, former world No. 1 Jim Courier, Agassi's current coach Brad Gilbert, former coach Nick Bollettieri, tennis commentators Mary Carillo and Bud Collins and rival Pete Sampras were among the many guests who talked about Agassi's rise to the top of men's tennis.

The profile chronicles Agassi's move to the Bollettieri academy in 1983 at age 13 and details the beginnings of his professional career when he was much flash and little substance. Courier, a fellow Bollettieri product and Perry Rogers, Agassi's best friend who runs his foundation, talked of how the young Agassi did not want to leave his friends and family to train in Florida.

But after Agassi turned pro when he was 16, it didn't take very long before he became a heartthrob and the toast of corporate America. From the long-flowing mane to the earring and the denim as well as flourescent tennis clothes, Agassi seemed to believe the slogan "Image is Everything," that he endorsed for a camera company.

This was part of Collins' take on Agassi's flashy days.

"Andre was very marketable," Collins said. "He was photogenic and he played a new kind of tennis that captivated the kids.

"He was a bad boy much of the time. That's appealing. He was the peacock of tennis."

A noticeably more mature Agassi cringed at the thought of those days.

"There was a time that I thought that it was important to make a statement," Agassi said. "But I look back and probably the same feelings toward myself every time I see a picture 10 years ago that everybody probably has of themselves 10 years ago which is, 'Burn the picture!' "

Agassi won his first Grand Slam event in 1992 at Wimbledon when he was linked with singer/actress Barbra Streisand.

Later, Agassi married actress Brooke Shields and the program talks about the difficulties he faced trying to maintain a successful marriage and prosperous tennis career.

Agassi and Shields wed in 1997, the same year his ranking fell from No. 8 at the beginning of the year to No. 141 11 months later.

After the couple divorced, Agassi rededicated himself to the sport by working his way back on the Challenger circuit rocketing from No. 122 to No. 6 by the end of 1998.

"It took me a lot of time and energy to realize I couldn't balance it all," Agassi said. "And that realization brings about a transition in life that left me very disheartened."

The remainder of the special shows the rebirth of Agassi as a player and a person.

It skims the subject of Agassi's relationship with former tennis star Steffi Graf, who has also won each of the Grand Slam events and concludes with a mention of A gassi's charitable works.

The special will air July 4 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

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