Henman came through 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour 55 minutes for his seventh straight win over Rusedski, setting up a clash with top seed Federer.

All scorelines First round: Howard Fendrich Tim Henman extended his good run against long-time rival and fellow Briton Greg Rusedski with victory in their first-round match at the US Open. Guillermo Coria – 11 years younger than Agassi – retired for the third time in his last four tournaments, and his career was actually over at the time as well… Roger Federer collected his third consecutive US Open title Jimmy Connors came back professionally to the US Open after 14 years, this time in a new role – as a coach of Andy Roddick – whom he couldn’t help regaining the title lost in 2004 though… The 2006 US Open was the first Grand Slam event to feature the Hawk-Eye system. He broke in the third and held his serve to take the set 6-3.August 28-Septem128 Draw (32 seeds) Surface – Hard This is a tournament broadly known as Andre Agassi’s farewell (the American played three matches on cortisone injections), but last appearances in Grand Slams delivered also other distinctive players: hard-serving former runners-up Greg Rusedski & Mark Philippoussis and Australian Open semifinalist Jiri Novak. One mistimed forehand, one harmless double fault and the dynamics of the match turn around. There’s no telling what a simple break of serve can lead to. In the beginning of the third, Agassi even hit a shot between his legs after winning a point. His strokes were consistent-damaging as ever. They came for what they thought would be a comfortable win for Baghdatis and a respectful exit for Agassi.Īnd then the match turned into one of the most dramatic turn of events on the centre court.Īgassi took the first two sets in a fairly text-book style.

Everyone on the circuit and on court knew this.

He had been receiving anti-inflammatory shots for his sore back. The only difference between them was 8 Grand Slams, 15 years of age and 25,000 American fans.Īgassi had been in terrible health. Both were classic counter-punchers, both swung at the ball as early as possible and both were fierce returners. Their playing styles were almost identical. In many ways, he was exactly like a reflection of a younger Agassi himself. He reached the final of the Australian Open and the semi-finals of Wimbledon, and was seeded eighth at the Open. Playing in front of his favourite home crowd, Agassi was giving it one final push.Įxcept that he drew Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.īaghdatis had been in scintillating form the entire year. Agassi had been defying odds for years, but in 2006 he declared he had had enough. They realised his time was over.Īt 36, tennis professionals watch the sport in front of a television. The entire world turned to Arthur Ashe stadium to bid farewell to a man who was a sporting icon for an entire generation of tennis fans.

Andre agassi us open 2006