| Agassi Takes Third Aussie Title | |
Dateline: 01/28/01
Andre Agassi won his third Australian Open singles title and his seventh career Grand Slam by defeating Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday's final. Clement became the first Frenchman to make the final since 1928 by coming back from two sets down against his good friend and compatriot Sebastien Grosjean. Agassi was a tougher proposition though, hitting perhaps fewer spectacular shots than Grosjean, but methodically working each point so that Clement would run after one severe angle, then another. Clement did a great job of chasing down Agassi's shots, but eventually Agassi would have too big an opening, or Clement would be forced to go for a little too much, creating an error.
Agassi's greatest asset is his ability to take balls early. Gifted with exceptional timing, he can play quite close to the baseline and take many of his opponent's balls on the rise. This gives him a few major advantages:
- He doesn't have to run as for wide balls, because he cuts off the angles earlier.
- He can create sharper angles on his own shots.
- The ball reaches his racquet with more incoming speed, so it rebounds with more speed, thus requiring less added power from him.
- By taking the ball early, he gets the ball back to his opponent's side early, giving his opponent less time to get to it.
