more tennis insanity...

It is said that the athlete is a culmination of his lifetime of work up to that point. A runner, no matter how talented, will become slower if he has lost his motivation in life. The world's buffest lifter will not lift his barbell while his heart is too heavy for himself to carry.

In retrospect, the runner runs faster because of what he has gone through up to that point. The driving force of both strenuous training and mental anguish at losing is what forces his foot into that single step forward. A tennis player's forehand is a mirror of his life and hardwork up to that point. The heaviness of a karate exponent's punch comes from the weight of the burden he has bourne up to that point.

Allow me now to introduce you to a match from long ago, when the hottest thing on the market, a man named Andre Agassi, met a young upstart who had come from no where. Andre Agassi had started from young, and had started winning young, with a powerful twohanded backhand, powerful groundstrokes and flashy personality. He was the rockstar of the tennis court and was indeed, all a tennis player could ask for - he had tremendous strength, natural eye-to-ball contact and a flair for long and punishing rallies, rallies that built drama and intensity and typically culminated in a powerful scorching winner from Agassi's racquet.

The upstart had started at the same time as Agassi, but unlike Agassi, was a relative nobody throughout his junior days. He had followed the trend, like Agassi, starting with a twohanded backhand, and liking for playing from behind the baseline, initiating long rallies. But it wasnt for him. Slowly, the upstarted changed from a twohanded backhand to a onehanded backhand (which anyone in tennis will tell u, is virtually impossible). The upstart changed his style to a faster style - one that was built around a powerful serve, honed from hours and hours of torturous practice, and incredible footspeed to close the net for a volley.

The change was a shock and was insanely, uncomfortable. The upstart lost throughout his junior career and remained anonymous while Agassi bathed in the spotlight.

In fact, they played once - with Agassi winning hands-down. "I honestly thought that he wasnt any good," remarked Agassi later.

Years later, the two met in the final of the US-Open. It was 1990. Agassi had come through to the final, just as expected. But this time, the upstart facing him across the net wasnt just a relative unknown.

This upstart had done some miraculous things along his way here.

The young man had battled past the THEN "King of Clay", a hard-hitting and powerfully built Thomas Muster, ranked 6th in the world. And he had beaten him handily in the 4th round.

The unknown had upset the 4th ranked Ivan Lendl, the godfather of the modern power game. Lendl had been in the final of the US Open for 6 consecutive times before this loss. And the young upstart had beaten Lendl at his own game, in a long drawn-out match that lasted for 5 sets - the type of match that Lendl was known for winning.

He then changed drastically and beat the fiery John McEnroe in 4 sets, with him charging the net, faster than McEnroe could and unleashing a barrage of devastating serves and breathtaking volleys that left McEnroe thinking he was staring into a mirror.

And here at last, he was at the final. By then, he was no longer an unknown. His name was slowly being remembered. They called him Sweet Pete, bcos his game was so simple - he just outplayed you and beat you. It was so simple - it was sweet.

At 19 years and 28 days old, Sweet Pete "kicked [Agassi's] ass" as Andre would put it later. And people wondered where was this guy before this event. While Agassi had played kids his age and won the tournaments, Pete had entered into categories ABOVE his own - and lost. While Agassi hogged the limelight with his power game, Pete's game was focused on longevity and for that, he had suffered early.

But this wasnt early any more. Pete won the match in 3 straight sets. As he raised his arms, the chair umpire declared, "Game, Set and Match - Pete Sampras." And he had become the youngest ever US Open champion.

The burdens of Pete's life had come full circle, and though they were not over, were enough to propell him past Agassi and become the greatest player of his generation.