You'll be an Agassi, my son!

Superstar, Loser, Pariah, Average Joe, Hero, Legend ... he donned 'em all.

When he first burst onto the international tennis scene people hated him. In fact it was quite fashionable to hate the man who claimed that "Image is everything". A man who heralded himself to be bigger than the game and all it stood for. A man who defied convention for nothing more than win popularity with his showmanship.

And yet 21 years hence when he decided to lay his racket to rest people couldn't stop their eyes from becoming moist with tears. Grown men sobbed without abandon and the same people who wished him ill-will, uttered heartfelt prayers willing him to beat his opponents.

The world has superstars aplenty. They come and they go - each hogging their few years of fame and adulation; only to be relegated into the annals of anonymity by time. Agassi seemed to have it all. Hero worshipping groupies, fame, public adulation, money.... He was seen at the right places with the right type of people. He dated a woman that most men would have happily given up their left arm to be seen with, let alone go steady with. And yet he plummeted into the depths of failure. His failure in love transformed him into a loser. A man who crashed and burned like so many others before him did and will in the future.

He did not matter anymore. Bereft of his skills on the tennis court he was cast aside like an old glove - his magnificent achievements no more than mere statistics for trivia buffs to recall. When the high and mighty fall there is a certain satisfaction that everyone receives on seeing them fall. They say you make many enemies on your way to the top and Agassi met each and everyone on his way down. The papparazzi took great joy in dissecting his broken heart with up to the minute pictures of his freefalling ATP rankings, his drinking binges, and, bulging waist line. Men who would have waited in a line for days for his autograph were taking him to the cleaners in tennis matches.

Then suddenly he was making the news again. Agassi was back. He had shed his famous flowing locks for a bald look. People laughed at this portly bald man who was attempting to make a name for himself again. Others doubted him. After all what was he other than a fallen superstar? How many more self-destructing ex-famous people did the world really need? And yet, he did not give up.

The man fought against all the odds to reclaim his rightful place among the best in the tennis world. Everybody had something that they identified in him - something that everyone knew about - failure. And yet he was so much more than just a mere mortal! Humble in his losses and even more so with his victories. No more did he claim that "Image is everything".

Soon he was among the elite again. But Agassi had changed. No more was he just a superstar. He was someone who laughed in the face of adversity and yet fought valiantly to overcome. A Hero!

Despite the adulation he merited with his famous performances, he stayed right here - his feet firmly on the ground, head bowed in appreciation for his support. In his final interview; almost a religious experience for me as a viewer, I almost cried when I heard him quote:

"The scoreboard says I lost today, but what scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. Over the last 21 years I have found loyalty; you have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I have found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed, sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I have found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams; dreams I could never have reached without you. Over the 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."

After all - how many people can claim to have received a standing ovation not only from his peers, and, his fans; but a nation that only loves winners?

Rudyard Kipling may well have ended his poem differently had he written it last week.


© Getty Images