Agassi to miss fond Wimbledon farewell

London
Andre Agassi's love affair with Wimbledon should have ended with one final fling on a packed Centre Court.
Sadly for the 35-year-old Las Vegan, his farewell almost certainly came by way of a short faxed statement to the All England Club.
The eight-times grand slam winner withdrew on Wednesday from next week's tournament, a nagging back injury forcing the 1992 champion to pull out for the second year running.
Agassi could call time on his career after this year's US Open where, if the script were to be followed, he would sparkle one last time like his great rival Pete Samprmas in 2002.
While the raucous surrounds of Flushing Meadows would be the perfect backdrop for his walk into the sunset, it was a damp Sunday afternoon in west London 13 years ago that launched Agassi's career into the big time.
He made his debut at the grasscourt grand slam as a brash, long-haired teenager in 1987, losing to mercurial Frenchman Henri Leconte in the first round.
His contempt for the surface, and Wimbledon's traditions, were plain for all to see. He did not bother turning up for the next three years.
By the time of the 1992 tournament, Agassi had already lost three grand slam finals, two at Roland Garros and one at Flushing Meadows. Many thought his talent would never be fully realised.
He marched into the Wimbledon quarter-final where three-times champion Boris Becker was waiting.
The intimidating German was expected to blow Agassi away on his favourite surface. Instead Agassi returned all of Becker's bullets with the reflexes of an old-fashioned gunslinger.
Becker was humbled in four sets, two of them embarrassingly one-sided, and the realisation dawned that Agassi could buck the trend of the big-servers and walk off with the title.
A past-his-best John McEnroe was no match for Agassi in a rain-delayed semi-final meaning just one mighty hurdle remained, Croatian serving-machine Goran Ivanisevic.
In one of the best finals seen on the famous old turf Agassi soaked up nearly 40 aces in five dramatic sets before finally emerging victorious, sinking to his knees in tearful joy.
Apart from his brief flirtation with the tennis wilderness in 1997, Agassi walked back through the All England gates for 10 of the next 11 years before a hip injury ruled him out in 2004.
Clad in pristine white, Agassi became part of the modern fabric of the championships. His feline movement, reaction and spellbinding returns made him a crowd favourite.
He was never to repeat his triumph of 1992 although it was not through want of trying.
In 1995 he fell to a rejuvenated Becker in the semi-final. In 1999, fresh from winning the French Open for the first time, he looked destined to add a second Wimbledon crown, only to run up against old adversary Sampras in the final.
In 2000, having turned 30, he was downed in the last four by an inspired Pat Rafter in a great semi-final.
A year later Agassi was in the mix again, only for Australia's Rafter to edge another five-set semi-final after the American has served for the match at 5-4 in the fifth.
He was never to go close again.
After his five-set defeat by Mark Philippoussis in the fourth round in 2003, Agassi vowed to return.
If the great showman does come back, it will almost certainly be as a spectator rather than the main attraction. ? Reuters