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Andre Agassi played his final match today, losing to qualifier Benjamin Becker, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5. Andre was having a lot of trouble moving because of his back injury, yet he was somehow able to stay in the match. He was in obvious pain out there, but he kept fighting.

With tears in his eyes, he addressed the audience after the final point: “The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn’t say is what it is I have found. And over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty. You have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I’ve found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed, sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I’ve found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you.

“Over the last 21 years, I have found you and I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life. Thank you.”

Watching Andre deliver this speech, choking back tears, while the audience stood and cheered… it was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen. Andre is my tennis hero, and I’m sad to see him go. But I’m also happy for him, that he went out fighting, that he can now spend time with his wife and children, that he can throw himself into his charitable foundation.

Thank you, Andre. We’ll miss you.

Having watched Agassi play this week, I’ve got an itch to play some tennis. The Tufts courts were closed all month, which kept me from playing regularly, but they reopened today, so hopefully I can get some games in next week.

Before those matches at Harvard, I had been playing twice a week at Tufts with people in my department. Those were a lot of fun. I’ve also played several times with Cath’s friends from her program, which is also fun. Then at the matches at Harvard, I met a guy is about my level and lives in Cambridge (the guy who wanted to play me on the last day). I’ve been playing with him on weekend mornings at MIT, and he’s great to play against because he’s just slightly better than me. Not so much better that it’s no fun for either of us, but enough that he challenges me to play better. The MIT courts are crowded, and you really have to get there before 9 am to get a court, so I’m hoping we can start playing at Tufts and not have to worry so much about getting a court.

For the winter, I’m considering joining an indoor tennis club in either Winchester or Woburn. I was talking to a woman at the Harvard thing (She was very good, much better than me; we played on the last day and she beat me 6-2.), and she said these clubs have winter leagues and are not that expensive to join. I’d love to do that and play through the winter. I’m planning to check them out this weekend. Will let you know how that goes.

It’s been a big day in the sports world, and I’ll start with the Agassi-Baghdatis match last night. Baghdatis is ranked 6th in the world and is seeded 8th for the tournament, so he’s no pushover. He made it to the Australian Open final this year, where he took a set from Federer, and to the semifnals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Nadal.

For the first two sets, Agassi had everything under control. He had a break in each set and won them 6-4, 6-4. He looked confident and was playing well. But Baghdatis came back in the 3rd set and won that 6-3. 4th set, Agassi went up 4-0 with two breaks, but somehow Baghdatis fought back, winning the set 7-5. In the 5th set, Agassi looked bad and Baghdatis had all the momentum. Agassi served first and lost his service game, but then he immediately broke Baghdatis back to get them back on serve. Then Baghdatis started having cramps in his legs. He had to take an injury timeout and get treatment, yet he was still able to hold serve. With Agassi serving at 4-4, Baghdatis’s cramps returned, and he fell to the ground clutching his right leg. But he could not receive treatment because he had already taken his injury timeout. He got up and hopped to the baseline on one leg, trying to walk off the cramp. Incredibly, he was able to fight off break point after break point. The game went to eight deuces before Agassi finally won it. With the cramps, Baghdatis was finished, and Agassi broke him at 6-5 to win the match.

I watched the whole thing from 9 pm to 1 am last night, and I have to say it was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. The crowd was fully behind Agassi, but you have to give Baghdatis a lot of respect for what he did out there. He rallied from 2 sets down, with the crowd against him, and very nearly won this match. He refused to give in and played incredibly well despite not being able to move. He played his heart out, and probably would have won had the leg cramps not floored him in that 5th set. Just an incredible match from this guy.

I’m happy to see Agassi win, and it looks like he’ll have an easier match in the 3rd round against unseeded Benjamin Becker (no relation to Boris). But Baghadatis played a great match and showed the heart of a champion.

Edit: Bill Simmons has a great take on why everyone needs to watch these last Agassi matches.