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95-906: The team is associated with IMG Academy and the United States Soccer Federation 's full-time residency program for the US Under 17 Men's National Team . The team plays its home games in the stadium at IMG Academy, where they have played since 2003. The team's colors are blue, gold and black. From 2004 to 2008 the team had a sister organization, the Bradenton Athletics , who played in the women's W-League . As of June 23, 2014. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for

190-404: A 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over it mentally. In the following three years, while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season, Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered

285-557: A Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open , where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at two sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship. With both Sampras and Agassi participating,

380-401: A US Open final, but the first since 1995. The match was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets. This was

475-467: A baseliner with a playing style not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 1992 on his way to his first Grand Slam title. The intensity of the rivalry peaked in 1995. Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Open semi-final, this time it

570-532: A career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open, which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships , with Sampras losing

665-466: A five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver , Fred Perry , Roy Emerson and Don Budge —these have since been joined by Roger Federer , Rafael Nadal , and Novak Djokovic ) to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the Open Era . This win also made him

760-407: A four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech. The rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 1990s, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest serve returner at

855-460: A four-set win against Andrei Pavel , Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. Agassi won in five sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match, Agassi fell to 112th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received

950-477: A residency program and year-round camps ranging from three days to five weeks in length and was previously led by former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke . The academy fielded a high school football team for the first time in 2013. In 2013, MaxPreps called IMG Academy the "nation's top high school football facility." Kevin Wright was named head coach in 2015 after Weinke accepted a position as quarterbacks coach with

1045-485: A sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7, with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming

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1140-552: A serve at Agassi's body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras. Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 000 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets. On March 3, 2014, Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual World Tennis Day . This time, it

1235-495: Is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida , United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport camps for young athletes, adult camps, a boarding school, including a post-graduate / gap-year program, events, professional and collegiate training, group hosting, and corporate retreats. On April 25, 2023, Endeavor announced

1330-650: Is an eight-time major champion, an Olympic gold medalist , and a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam . He is also the first man to complete both the Career Golden Slam and the Career Super Slam , achieving this feat in 1999. Agassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces ( hard , clay and grass ), and remains

1425-570: The 1999 Rome Masters . They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in 1993 and 1999, while Rafter took their 2000 and 2001 encounters, the latter two matches being gruelling 5-setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played. Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open, in 1995 and 2001, on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter, however, took their only US Open encounter in 1997 and went on to win

1520-401: The 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of play presented by both players. Their last meeting was the final of the 2002 US Open , which was their third meeting in

1615-465: The 2006 US Open , Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick / Roger Federer US Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters . He played World Team Tennis for

1710-822: The 2006 US Open . He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $ 60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter school for at-risk children. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001. Agassi was named Laver Cup captain of Team World in 2024, beginning with

1805-544: The Drexel men's lacrosse team in fall 2011. The women's team hired head coach Jeff McGuigan in July 2019. IMG Academy has an academy track and field and cross country program and year-round camps. In 2022, IMG Academy hired two-time Olympian Donald Suxho as Director of Volleyball to launch its entry into girls' indoor volleyball beginning in fall of 2023. The inaugural class of 29 girls included two teams that will compete in

1900-628: The Lipton International Players Championships (now Miami Open), the Canadian Open , and the US Open . Agassi won three of the finals, including the Australian Open; however, Sampras took the US Open title, ending Agassi's 26-match winning streak. After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off, Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras

1995-770: The Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009. At the 2009 French Open , Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy. Also in 2009, Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona , where he reached

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2090-642: The US won the Davis Cup in 1995. The year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won three out of four major titles, meeting each other twice in the finals, and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year. They met five times during the year, all in the title matches, including the Australian Open , the Newsweek Champions Cup (now Indian Wells),

2185-605: The Wimbledon draw and twenty-seven were in the U.S. Open . Famous past students include Andre Agassi , Monica Seles , Jim Courier , Kei Nishikori Alejandro Tabilo , Anna Kournikova , Serena Williams , and Maria Sharapova . Current students include Michael Mmoh . IMG announced the John Madden Football Academy in March 2010 and held its first camp from June 4–6, 2010. The football program offers

2280-598: The world No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. Agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed Sampras to surpass him and finish ranked No. 1 at the year-end ranking. In terms of win–loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 73 and lost 9 matches, and was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of his career. 1996

2375-450: The 18U and 16U club circuit. Since opening in 1978, IMG Academy has trained hundreds of Olympic and professional athletes, including those in the NBA , NFL , MLB , MLS , NWSL , ATP , WTA , PGA Tour and LPGA Tour . Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( / ˈ æ ɡ ə s i / AG -ə-see ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He

2470-455: The 1990 French Open in a four-set quarterfinal. Arguably their best match took place in the round of 16 of the 1994 US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in 1996, with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in

2565-621: The 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the 2005 US Open . Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in a Grand Slam final. Agassi and Ivan Lendl played eight times, and Lendl led their head-to-head series 6–2. Agassi and Stefan Edberg played nine times, and Agassi led their head-to-head series 6–3. Since retiring after

2660-477: The 2025 annual competition, succeeding John McEnroe. Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (Aghassian), a former Olympic boxer from Iran, and American Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley). His father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage and was a casino worker and former amateur boxer . His parents married in 1959 after dating for two months, then moved from Chicago to Las Vegas. He has three older siblings: Rita (who

2755-541: The 6th overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft. In 2017, IMG Academy had its first two selections to the McDonald's All American Game: Trevon Duval was selected to the boys game and Rellah Boothe was selected to the girls game. In 2018, Anfernee Simons entered directly from the academy to the 2018 NBA draft , becoming the second player in the academy's history to do so and the first American to enter and be selected in an NBA draft directly after graduating from high school since

2850-427: The Australian Open (which later became his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 (although he first played there in 1987, only to lose in the first round to Henri Leconte ) and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at

2945-664: The Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup , before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal . Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the US Open final. After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in straight sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to

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3040-620: The Bradenton Academy. The academy was started in January 1999 with the backing of IMG and Nike , but was closed in 2017 due to the proliferation of U.S. Development Academy programs. IMG Academy has an academy baseball program and year-round camps, in addition to summer Wood Bat Leagues. IMG Academy's postgraduate program played in their only appearance in the 2016 National Prep Championship in New Haven, Connecticut . Among

3135-529: The Canadian Open) and seven titles total. He compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hard-court circuit, with the last victory being in an intense late-night four-set semi-final of the US Open against Boris Becker . The streak ended the next day when Agassi lost the final to Sampras. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over mentally. Agassi reached

3230-588: The Grand Slam in 1969. At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title. . 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached

3325-564: The IMG campus had expanded to 190 acres (0.77 km ). IMG Academy suspended its hockey program in 2003. Football was added in 2010, as well as lacrosse. Track & field and cross country were added in 2013. IMG Academy currently sits on 450 acres (180 ha) of land, and in 2011, IMG paid $ 7.5 million for an additional 110 acres (45 ha) adjacent to the current campus for future expansion. In 2014, IMG purchased an additional 24 acres (9.7 ha). The land borders IMG's west campus, where

3420-435: The No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero , surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in

3515-500: The US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open. Agassi had a short, but dramatic, run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After

3610-589: The Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open , beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a two sets to one deficit) in the final. Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat Marat Safin . Agassi ended 1999 as the No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–98). This

3705-855: The age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta, California . He won his first match against John Austin , but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander . By the end of 1986, Agassi was ranked No. 91. He won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at the Sul American Open in Itaparica and ended the year ranked No. 25. He won six additional tournaments in 1988 (Memphis, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships , Forest Hills WCT , Stuttgart Outdoor, Volvo International and Livingston Open ), and, by December of that year, he had surpassed US$ 1 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. During 1988, he also set

3800-400: The clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He reached the quarterfinals on that occasion, losing in five sets to David Wheaton . Agassi's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the US Open, where he had previously enjoyed success. In 1992, he defeated Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final. Along

3895-460: The early part of that year due to injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense, he lost to eventual champion and No. 1 Pete Sampras in five sets. Agassi lost in the first round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year. With new coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. He started slowly in 1994, losing in

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3990-521: The eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final. On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured

4085-452: The entire clay-court season including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon . He was defeated in the third round by world No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal . Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following

4180-407: The event are required to conform. Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and the US Open in 1988 and made the US Open semi-finals in 1989. He began the 1990s with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he

4275-530: The event signed two-way contracts to enter the NBA properly, with eight of them going overseas and 11 players entered the G League. The event would be held once again in 2018, gaining more popularity that year with the participation of former UCLA player and current professional player LiAngelo Ball . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the entire WNBA 2020 season was held there. Under a plan approved on June 15,

4370-636: The event. He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg . At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall , who won

4465-401: The final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career. Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang being more defensive-minded. The outcome

4560-482: The final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1. Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément . En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of

4655-835: The final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin . Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in 2011 and participated in a total of seven events while winning two. Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas. In 2012, Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those. In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose , beating John McEnroe in

4750-421: The final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000, and finished the year ranked No. 4. At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in 1987. In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin ; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at

4845-404: The final. In 1991, Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier . Courier emerged the victor in a five-set final. The Las Vegan was a set and 3–1 up when came the rain. The rain delay proved to be a confidence builder for Courier. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991, leading to weeks of speculation in the media about

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4940-477: The final. Along the way, he beat 5 seeded players. In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. He competed in the 1995 Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating defending champion Sampras in a four-set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt , with Agassi winning three. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 ( Cincinnati , Key Biscayne , and

5035-746: The final. The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. In the series season finale, he beat Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup. The series and Agassi came back to action in 2014. Agassi won both tournaments he participated in. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. He defeated Blake again in Portland to win

5130-506: The final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake , where he rallied from two sets down to win in the fifth set tie-breaker. His other five-set victories were over Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semi-finals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets. Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7, his 16th time in

5225-451: The first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). Agassi also became the first male player to win the Career Super Slam , consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Year-end championship . Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching

5320-465: The first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March 2010 after the two participated in the "Hit for Haiti" charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake . Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal , the old rivals began making jokes at each other's expense, which ended up with Sampras intentionally striking

5415-518: The first week at the French Open and Wimbledon, although he did receive a much-needed confidence boost after defeating Mark Petchey at the Miami Open in March. Nevertheless, he emerged during the hard-court season, winning the Canadian Open . His comeback culminated at the 1994 US Open with a five-set fourth-round victory against Michael Chang . He then became the first man to capture the US Open as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in

5510-585: The game and its existence was questioned. On April 25, 2023, parent company Endeavor agreed to sell IMG Academy to private equity firm BPEA EQT at a value of $ 1.25 billion - the sale was completed in June. IMG Academy tennis programs offer year-round tennis camps ranging from one to five weeks in length and from 2019 to 2019 were led by director Rohan Goetzke. The campus has 35 outdoor hard courts, 5 indoor hard courts, and 16 green clay courts . In 1987, thirty-two academy students or former students were in

5605-535: The game wearing Oakley brand sunglasses, and a photo of him from the day appeared on the cover of Tennis magazine . In his memoir, he wrote that he was covering up bloodshot eyes from a hangover and claimed that the founder of Oakley, Jim Jannard , had sent him a Dodge Viper to thank him for the inadvertent publicity. In 1993, Agassi won the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters , partnered with Petr Korda . He missed much of

5700-491: The game. He won no top-level titles, and his ranking sank to No. 141 on November 10, 1997, prompting many to believe that his run as one of the sport's premier competitors was over and he would never again win any significant tournaments. In 1998, Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside

5795-575: The league first implemented age restriction rules in 2005 During the preparation for the 2017 NBA draft , the IMG Academy hosted their first ever draft combine. The Professional Basketball Combine was held as an alternative (mainly for seniors) to measure their abilities and potentially give them the chance to enter the NBA , if not allow them the chance to play in the NBA G League or even overseas, with nearly every participant that year doing exactly that. Currently, four players that participated in

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5890-567: The match on purpose, as he did not want to play Boris Becker, whom he would have faced in that final. The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta , beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne. 1997 was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during

5985-469: The most recent American man to win the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003 ). He also won 17 Masters titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995, but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career

6080-464: The only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades. 2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in

6175-583: The open-era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager (a record that stood for 17 years until Rafael Nadal broke it in 2005). His year-end ranking was No. 3, behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander . Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and Tennis magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for 1988. In addition to not playing

6270-434: The rivalry in 1990, and won 10 of their last 11 matches. One contributing factor is that after their third match, Agassi picked up a tell regarding Becker's serve and knew where his serves would be directed. They first played at Indian Wells in 1988, with Becker prevailing. Their most notable match was the 1989 Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered

6365-429: The round-robin match, but winning the final. In the 2000s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous five matches against Sampras. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in

6460-609: The sale of IMG Academy to BPEA EQT for $ 1.26 billion. On June 28, the deal was completed. Nick Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in 1978. Sports company IMG purchased the academy in 1987. IMG acquired the youth division of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in 1993 and added programs for soccer and baseball in 1994. Hockey and basketball programs were added in 2000 and 2001, respectively, and by 2002

6555-660: The second round to Tommy Haas . He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne , losing to Marcelo Ríos , who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in 1988). Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in

6650-584: The semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his book that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final. Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last being in 2003 at the Miami Open with Chang being clearly past his prime. Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4. Becker won their first three matches in 1988 and 1989 before Agassi reversed

6745-460: The semi-finals. This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid , helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months. In 2003, Agassi won

6840-491: The shortened 22-game regular season was held without fans present . IMG Academy has an academy lacrosse program and year-round camps. IMG Academy launched a high school team in 2012, featuring a new women's program made in 2018. Notable alumni include Tehoka Nanticoke . Prior to that, IMG Academy hosted their first full-time lacrosse student-athlete, Matthew Xirinachs, starting in September 2010. Xirinachs went on to join

6935-440: The sports performance academy is undergoing a $ 198 million expansion. The IMG Pendleton School was founded in 1999 as a co-educational, college preparatory school for athletic students. In 2012, the school changed its name to "IMG Academy". It delivers both academics and athletics. In 2021, the school's football team faced off against Bishop Sycamore in which they won in a 58–0 rout. Bishop Sycamore received scrutiny after

7030-568: The team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team. Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html . This article about a soccer club from Florida is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . IMG Academy IMG Academy

7125-522: The teams were Brewster Academy, DME Academy , Elev-8 Sports Institute, Fork Union Military Academy, Hargrave Military Academy, IMG Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and more. The head coach of IMG's national high school team is Sean McAloon, who previously was the head coach at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. Its basketball alumni include Dallas Mavericks forward Dwight Powell and Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac ,

7220-525: The then- St. Louis Rams . Wright guided the program to its first undefeated regular season (9–0) in 2015. IMG Academy offered an academy soccer program and year-round soccer camps from 1999 to 2017. IMG Academy was home to U.S. Soccer's full-time residency program for the United States' U-16 and U-17 men's national teams. It was integral in developing the United States' top youth soccer prospects. The Bradenton Academy grew from an initial twenty players to thirty in 2002 and then to forty in 2003. The program

7315-607: The third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the final. They played a quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At

7410-429: The time. Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–20. The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, lost the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next meeting in

7505-417: The title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. 7 in 1988. At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at

7600-741: The title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships. In 2015, Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout. The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston. In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for

7695-402: The title. Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times, and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras, the rivalry against the 11-years-younger Federer, who was another great server like Sampras, became Agassi's main rivalry for the final years of his career. Agassi won their first three matches, but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones. They first met in just

7790-495: The way, Agassi overcame two former Wimbledon champions: Boris Becker and John McEnroe . No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992. Agassi once again played on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years. Agassi famously played

7885-407: The world's top 50. After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter . In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year. At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in

7980-428: The year-end top-10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end. Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping

8075-494: The year. He later confessed that he started using crystal methamphetamine at that time, allegedly on the urging of a friend. He failed an ATP drug test, but wrote a letter claiming the same friend had spiked a drink. The ATP dropped the failed drug test as a warning. In his autobiography, Agassi admitted that the letter was a lie. He quit the drug soon after. At this time Agassi was also in a failing marriage with actress, model, and socialite Brooke Shields and had lost interest in

8170-501: Was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri 's Tennis Academy in Florida. He was meant to stay for only three months, because that was all his father could afford. After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free." Agassi then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue a full-time tennis career. Agassi turned professional at

8265-566: Was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets. Their final match was played at Hong Kong in 1999, which Agassi won in three sets. Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts, but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at

8360-465: Was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. He suffered two early-round losses to Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Open semi-finals. At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions, but later said in his biography that he had lost

8455-448: Was favored before losing in four sets to Andrés Gómez , which he later attributed in his book to worrying about his wig falling off during the match. He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras ; a year earlier, Agassi had crushed Sampras, after which time he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he

8550-556: Was married to former number one tennis player Pancho Gonzales ), Philip and Tami. Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian , an Armenian-American businessman. Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas , had met his employer Kerkorian in 1963 and they became friends. At the age of 12, Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner, Roddy Parks, won the 1982 National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago. Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book Open . When he

8645-416: Was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi lost the US Open final to Sampras in three sets. The Agassi-Sampras rivalry became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade. Agassi ended 1990 on a high note as he helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years on home soil against Australia (3–2) and won his only Tennis Masters Cup , beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in

8740-416: Was over. Agassi returned to No. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known as "The Punisher". After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis ( vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve , Agassi retired from professional tennis after

8835-541: Was split into a U-16 squad and a U-17 squad. The girls program was a member of the Girls Academy League. The academy traced its roots back to Project 2010 which highlighted ways U.S. Soccer could make the senior men's national team a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by the end of the decade. Two programs that were born from Project 2010 were Generation Adidas (previously called Project-40 ) and

8930-401: Was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. The rivalry began late in the 1980s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next great generation of American tennis players and both being of foreign descent. Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the 1988 US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in

9025-466: Was the only time Agassi ended the year at No. 1. Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup losing 1–6, 5–7, 4–6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2. He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved

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