Agassi facing repair job as Becker beckons
AFP, September, 2006
NEW YORK (AFP) — Andre Agassi was carefully weighing the options before him as he battled to keep his US Open dream alive. The 36-year-old American came through a brutal five-setter second round tie against young Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in a match that finished well after midnight and left him sore all over and barely able to walk.
He had needed pain-killing cortisone injections to calm the pain from a bulging disc in his back just to be able to walk on to the court and was huddling with his advisors to decide if he shook take more. "We're making some adjustments - some anti-inflammatory options," he said after seeing off Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 in 3hrs 48 minutes of pulsating tennis. "Believe me, I'll exhaust all possibilities short of taking too many risks for the long term. "I do want to make sure I give myself the ...