About Rose: I grew up in Singapore, lived in Melbourne but currently call London home. I love gastronomic adventures, especially while travelling. I stated writing at 17 to remember how it all began.
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04 September 2006
monday; 9.22am
imagine the shock when i woke up this morning to check the play schedule for the US open, waiting eagerly to catch agassi play benjamin becker only to see the headlines read "agassi takes his final bow". i was just about ready to kick myself for missing the match and most of all his exit and the emotions that must have been at flushing meadows. argh. blame it on the rain cancelling play and mixing schedules up. and it doesn't help that when you're on this side of the world, they play matches at the oddest of times. i'll just have to catch the replay tonight. pffttt.
"Well, because if I wanted to quit, I would have done that a long time ago. I didn't come here to quit."
Agassi is a legend. most people quit at their height like sampras did when he won his last US open title at 30 but agassi was never about quitting. thing is people remember you for who you are, not about the last title you won and going out with a bang. sure that helps, and i always actually thought that people become legends for 2 reasons-- (1) dying young e.g. elvis, marilyn, jfk, lennon or (2) having a great number of enemies e.g. hitler, churchill. and quitting at the height of your career is akin to the first, leaving only to have your fans yearning for more. but i've come to realise that when you don't press on, play out every opportunity and every game for fear of tainting a beautiful record/ memory/ experience, you fear life. but people like agassi play for the sport and for the spectators. that is, when you give more of yourself than you ever take. and when you do all that, and still achieve great things like playing a hell of a second rd match at the US open when you're 36, you become a legend, long before you ever knew.
“The scoreboard said I lost today. What the scoreboard doesn’t say is how much I’ve won. I found loyalty. You have pulled for me on the court and in life. I’ve found inspiration. You’ve willed me to succeed. I’ve found generosity. You’ve allowed me to stand on your shoulders to reach my dreams. And I will take you in my memory for the rest of my life.”
"Yes, it was such an operation Forever paying every due Hell, you made a sensation You found a way through..." -no one but you, queen