It has been a rough week

Three months. \nThat was my age when Andre Agassi played his first pro tennis event in February 1986. I'm now four months from my 21st birthday and I've watched Agassi play tennis for my entire life. He has become a hero to me and so many in my tennis generation, as well as a favorite of older and younger tennis enthusiasts alike.\nSo you can imagine that after our beloved Andre announced his retirement last Saturday on the lawns of Wimbledon, a rough week followed for tennis fans like me.\nI don't think I'll ever forget the moment I found out about Agassi's retirement. \nLate last Sunday evening I returned home to Bloomington after spending several days in California with my boyfriend. I was tired, jet-lagged and crashed immediately. Monday morning I awakened at noon to my mom standing in the doorway of my room holding a printout of an article about Agassi's retirement. While frolicking in the Golden State I somehow missed the sorrowful announcement he had made just two days earlier. I was heartbroken.\nMy mom placed the article on my desk, but I kept hoping that it was only a dream. I decided that if I closed my eyes again I'd wake up and be on the plane home, looking out the window as the rather large lady next to me snacked on my share of the whale-shaped cheese crackers the airline passed out to passengers. But when I re-opened my eyes I was still in my room clinging to my pillow. There was no plane, no fat lady and no whale crackers. And though I had to face the reality that Andre had retired, I refused to read the article, hoping that it would make the announcement seem less official.\nThe next day Agassi played his first match at Wimbledon. I sat on the couch eating a Pop-Tart and watched as Agassi made his entrance on Centre Court. The standing ovation the crowd gave him was astounding. In all my years of watching tennis, I've never seen any player so warmly greeted. Agassi was clearly moved, too, as he graciously bowed to his loving audience. \nThen I did something kind of pathetic. I'm not an overly emotional person and I rarely cry, but as I watched Agassi make his first Wimbledon entrance for the last time, I started to cry, right into my Pop-Tart.\nAgassi looked a little shaky during his first match but had visibly improved by his second. Then on Saturday, a week after he had announced his retirement, he had to face Rafael Nadal in his third round match, and my nerves took a turn for the worst.\nAndre is my hero, so of course I rooted for him all the way, but I'm also a huge Nadal fan. Both players came out ready to go, Andre sporting a necklace his son made for him with lettered beads spelling "Daddy Rocks" (perhaps the most concise and accurate way anyone has ever come up with to summarize Agassi's greatness), and Nadal sprinting and jumping around the court.\nEventually, Nadal got the better of Agassi, winning 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4. At the end of the match, Nadal and Agassi both consented to a joint on-court interview. Nadal was very respectful and talked about what an honor it was to play Agassi at his last Wimbledon while Andre quietly wiped away tears with his wristband. And then I started to cry, AGAIN (but at least there was no Pop-Tart to catch my tears this time). Andre thanked the crowd for its support over the years, even though after his first-round loss in his 1987 Wimbledon debut he remarked that he couldn't play on grass and didn't want to come back. But then I guess the crowd -- and the world -- eventually fell in love with him after his 1992 Wimbledon victory; his first of eight Grand Slam titles.\nThough he lost to Nadal, I can't help feeling a little inspired by what I saw from him during the match. He was still pounding groundstrokes and serves at Nadal. He was aggressive and he talked to himself for motivation. It was also the first time in a long time that he didn't go limping off the court after a match (he has hip and back problems, one of the main reasons he's retiring). So if he can hang with the world's No. 2, who frequently beats the world's No. 1 (Roger Federer), that must mean he still has some good tennis left in his 36-year-old body, and that gives me hope that he'll do some damage in the tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open, which will be his last hurrah.\nMaybe I'm being too optimistic, but I desperately want Agassi to have a fitting sendoff, like that of Pete Sampras. (Sampras beat Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final, the last match he ever played. Oddly enough, I cried at the end of that match, too.) Even though he was a rebel in his younger days, Agassi has given so much to the game. He's one of only five men to possess all four Grand Slam titles. He has given millions to tennis and education through his charities. And now people refer to him as the spokesperson for the game. I don't know if it will happen, but if there's any way in the tennis world that it's possible, I would love for Agassi to win one last U.S. Open under the New York City lights, and I can guarantee I'm not alone in my tennis fantasy. \nAndre, we'll all be cheering (and maybe crying) for you.