| Australian Open 2000-2001 |

There was a time when Andre Agassi was the most successful player in the world, it stretched between Roland Garros ’99 and Australian Open ’01 – eight majors, and Agassi won four of them, reaching also final and semifinal in the meantime. While winning two consecutive titles in Melbourne, he was forced to overcome his biggest contenders at the time: Sampras, Kafelnikov (2000) and Rafter (2001). The 30-year-old American worked out to perfection his offensive baseline-style, he was able to deconstruct both counter-punchers and serve-and-volleyers with his astonishing precision and phenomenal physical preparation (bows to Gil Reyes). “My best tennis can still be ahead of me,” Agassi said in January 2001. Perhaps he didn’t expect how talent of 80-born guys (Hewitt, Federer, Roddick, Ferrero) would develop in the upcoming years… The 2001 edition delivered one of the most sensational XIX-Century performances of an underdog as far as Grand Slams are concerned – Arnaud Clement reached the final eliminating five out of six opponents off the tennis pinnacle (Robredo, Federer, Rusedski, Kafelnikov, Grosjean). Read more…