Andre Agassi’s record 58th grand slam appearance ended in a shattering first-round defeat at the French Open on Tuesday, the loss surely marking the final act of the 35-year-old American’s Roland Garros adventure, which began in 1987.
Agassi, the champion in Paris in 1999 and just one of five men to have won all four grand-slam titles, was bidding to become the oldest man to win the French Open.
But despite battling back in his first-round tie against Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen to lead two sets to one, it proved to be an assignment that left the Las Vegan struggling to keep up with an opponent 12 years his junior.
The 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-0 defeat follows on the heels of another first-round exit last year, when he was bundled out in straight sets by French rookie Jerome Haehnal, and Tuesday’s devastating loss can only serve to quicken Agassi’s retirement.
By the end of the three-hour match, Agassi was clearly struggling with his fitness and was virtually reduced to walking pace around the court in the final set, where he appeared to be bothered by a right knee injury.
Agassi, who has collected 59 titles in his career, was playing in his 17th Roland Garros.
He was right on his game at the start, racing into a 3-0 lead before Nieminen reeled off the next four games to lead 4-3.
The two exchanged breaks again with the Finn then holding serve to take the opener 7-5 after 33 minutes on court, a score line greeted with stunned silence by the majority of the crowd on Philippe Chatrier court.
Agassi began to look his years when he slipped 2-4 down in the second set before clawing his way back to win four games on the trot to even the contest after another 41 minutes.
Crucially, Agassi saved a set-point in the third-set tiebreak when his opponent lost his footing as he chased down what could have been a winning forehand and the American made the most of his good fortune by taking the breaker with a trademark, early return after another hour of fluctuating action.
However, Nieminen then edged ahead 2-0 in the fourth set on a double fault and broke again to love against a tiring American to lead 5-1 before serving out the set that lasted just 21 minutes.
Agassi limped through the final set and although he was given a rousing send-off by the crowd, there will be questions now over whether this was the great man’s last appearance here.
Other results
Dominant at the start and shaky at the finish, Justine Henin-Hardenne won her first-round match on Tuesday.
The tournament favourite and 2003 champion extended her winning streak to 18 matches, all on clay, by beating Conchita Martinez 6-0, 4-6, 6-4.
Henin-Hardenne won a lopsided first set and a 36-point game to start the second. But she double-faulted nine times, and in the final set she nearly blew a 5-1 lead before closing out her first match in a grand-slam event since September.
”A very strange match,” Henin-Hardenne said. ”I knew I would be nervous. This is why a grand slam is so different. You have to be able to manage your nervousness.”
Second-seeded Maria Sharapova overcame an early deficit and 59 unforced errors, including 11 double faults, to beat fellow 18-year-old Evgenia Linetskaya 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4.
Sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year’s United States Open champion, beat Mathilde Johansson 6-1, 6-1. Two seeded women lost — number 23 Ai Sugiyama and number 26 Paola Suarez, a semifinalist last year.
Number three Marat Safin, the reigning Australian Open champion, opened a bid for his first Roland Garros title by beating Raemon Sluiter 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Also advancing were 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, number 12 Nikolay Davydenko and number 15 Tommy Robredo.
Number 13 Ivan Ljubicic lost to Mariano Puerta 7-5, 7-5, 6-2, and number 24 Feliciano Lopez was upset by Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-4. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa-AP