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Crippled Agassi crashes out of French Open
Andre Agassi's record 58th Grand Slam appearance ended in a shattering injury-hit first round defeat on Tuesday.
Andre Agassi's record 58th Grand Slam appearance ended in a shattering injury-hit first round defeat at the French Open on Tuesday, the loss surely marking the final act of the 35-year-old American's Roland Garros adventure which began in 1987.
The sixth-seed, champion here in 1999 and just one of five men to have won all four Grand Slam titles, was bidding to become the oldest man to win the French Open.
But despite battling back in his first round tie against Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen to lead two sets to one, it proved to be an assignment which left the Las Vegan struggling to keep up with an opponent 12 years his junior.
The 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-0 defeat follows on the heels of another first round exit last year when he was bundled out in straight sets by French rookie Jerome Haehnal and Tuesday's devastating loss can only serve to quicken Agassi's retirement.
By the end of the three-hour match, Agassi, who has collected eight Grand Slam titles in his career, was clearly struggling with his fitness and was virtually reduced to walking pace around the court.
Later, he revealed that he has had to take a cortisone injection to cure a long-standing back problem. He had taken the shot in February after the San Jose tournament, but the injury returned to haunt him on Tuesday.
"In the middle to late part of the third set, the sciatic nerve in my back started to get inflamed and it sent pain down my right leg and it got worse by the minute," said Agassi.
