Andre Agassi wants to keep Swedish legend Bjorn Borg’s five Wimbledon trophies out of the hands of a faceless collector, and he’s willing to pay to do it.
”I just don’t think you should have one unless you win it,” said Agassi, who won the first of his eight Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 1992.
Cash-strapped Borg, the only player to win five consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles titles in the modern era, is to auction the trophies, along with the wooden racquet with which he beat US star John McEnroe in the 1980 final.
US great Jimmy Connors suggested that Wimbledon should buy the trophies and display them in its museum.
Agassi indicated he would contribute to an effort to make sure the trophies stay with Borg, or at least end up somewhere that the game’s faithful can enjoy them.
”I think there’s a lot of people that could come to the rescue of the situation,” Agassi said on Sunday, after winning his opening match at the Indian Wells Masters Series.
”I’ve discussed it with my own people to find out a way of gathering the right people together to do right by those trophies, and do right by the game to try to purchase them.
”There’s a lot of people that could step up to help,” he added. ”Wimbledon being one, myself being another.”
Borg has said he is selling the trophies from the championships between 1976 and 1980 — which are expected to fetch between £200 000 and £300 000 — in a bid to secure his financial future.
In the wake of a career that included 11 Grand Slam titles, Borg lost money to a number of business ventures and divorces.
Agassi said he hadn’t yet considered what exactly should be done with the trophies, but he found the idea that they could belong to just anyone ”upsetting”.
”The thought of those trophies not being with the rightful owner or in a museum would be a crime,” he said. – AFP
