Andre Agassi

Andre Kirk Agassi (born April 29 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former World No. 1 men's professional tennis player from the United States. He has won eight Grand Slam singles titles, and is one of only five players to have won all four Grand Slam events. He is considered by many fans to be among the all-time great tennis players.

Playing style

Agassi employs a baseline style of play, but unlike most baseliners who hit the ball behind the baseline, he typically makes contact with the ball inside the baseline. This is exceptionally difficult even for professionals, but Agassi's ability to hit a clean ball and his short backswing on his groundstrokes allow him to be able to do this. He also uses his short backswing to good advantage when returning the fast-paced serves of today's game - many observers agree that Agassi is the best service returner in the history of professional tennis.

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After his rededication to tennis in 1998, he has focused more on physical conditioning than in the past and is now one of the fittest players on the tour. One of his strategies is to wear down his opponents, continually putting pressure on them by returning the ball early and deep at angles. Agassi will stand in one spot and hit the corners while his opponent is left scrambling from side to side. He will often pass up the winner and hit a slightly less aggressive shot to make his opponent run a little more to retrieve a few more shots. His penchant for running players around point after point has earned him the nickname "The Punisher".

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