Blake honors Agassi in win over Russian
NEW YORK – From the Day-Glo spandex tights to the hot pink vertical bars on his shirt to the white bandanna wrapped atop his head, James Blake paid tribute to Andre Agassi at the U.S. Open on Friday.
Blake donned the sort of garish ensemble Mr. Image is Everything dared to wear more than a decade ago and, fortunately for Blake, his game looked better than his garb in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia in the second round.
His getup was appreciated by the crowd. Before the coin toss, a group of fans chanted, “Andre! Andre! Andre!” and Blake turned to give them a thumbs-up.
“I just wanted to do it once. I know Andre, how he probably doesn’t want a ton of fanfare,” said Blake, who got Agassi’s OK for the outfit. “Andre knows we all do care about him, we all appreciate everything he’s done. I think the statement was made. Now it’s back to business at hand.”
That includes, in the short term, a third-round match against 1998 French Open champion Carlos Moya.
Agassi is the last of a great U.S. group on tour, and he’s playing the final tournament of his career at the Open. After winning a five-set thriller against Marcos Baghdatis that stretched from Thursday night into Friday, Agassi got an injection of anti-inflammatory medication at his hotel, the second shot he’s taken as he tries to push his bad back and 36-year-old body as far as they’ll go.
“I wanted to do something just to show kind of how much he’s meant to the sport. I’m happy it came on a day after that unbelievable night match last night when everyone has him, for sure, at the front of their minds,” Blake said.
Agassi didn’t practice at all a day before his scheduled match against German qualifier Benjamin Becker.
“The hope is obviously that Andre be able to compete and that his body can match his heart,” said Gil Reyes, Agassi’s trainer for 17 years. “There is no big picture. This is the big picture. He must bring his all and leave his all. Once Andre announced his intention to retire, everything became about getting him here. Now that he’s here … he has no options but to do everything he can to fight to the finish.”
In other action, second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame some early problems to eliminate No. 28 Ai Sugiyama 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, 2004 Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced, and No. 19 Jelena Jankovic – who upset Venus Williams at Wimbledon – eliminated No. 9 Nicole Vaidisova 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Night matches involving Lindsay Davenport, and Marat Safin vs. David Nalbandian, were postponed because of rain.
More rain was forecast for today, which might mean an extra day of rest for Agassi.