For Legg Mason, Agassi’s image is everything

While others shun Washington in the dog days of summer, Agassi shows, updating fans on his latest metamorphosis. This year finds Agassi, 36, nearing retirement mode. His 17th appearance next week at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center will be his last.

The former renegade is now a venerable champion. Switzerland’s Roger Federer is perhaps on his way to tennis’ Mount Rushmore, but Agassi is still the sport’s most recognizable face.

Since Agassi announced his intention to play here earlier this month, ticket sales have “tripled,” according to tournament organizer Jeff Newman of SFX Sports Management.

“He has a unique ability to, all by himself, upgrade a tournament to the next level,” said Newman.

Agassi’s Washington appearances have been a microcosm of his enigmatic career – a large dose of success mixed with curious failure.

At age 17, after he lost his opening match in the then Sovran Bank Classic, Agassi wandered out of Rock Creek Stadium, handing his racquets to a homeless man and swearing off the sport.

A year later, Agassi rose to No. 3 in the world.

In 10 trips to Washington in the 1990s, Agassi won five titles; but in five other appearances, he failed to advance past the round of 16.

The Agassi of recent years, however, has learned to grind, giving fans his best effort. Expect more of the same next week and maybe even a little of the old Agassi magic.

Agassi at the Legg Mason

» Appearances: 16

» Match Record: 44-11

» Titles: Five (1990, ’91, ’95, ’98, ’99).

» Semifinals: 10

» Earnings: $731, 920

Bodo’s Breakdown

Peter Bodo is senior editor of Tennis Magazine and author of Peter Bodo’s Tennis World on Tennis.com. He shared his thoughts on the heavy hitters in this year’s Legg Mason Classic field.

Andre Agassi

“This is a glass half full vs. glass half empty type of tournament for Andre. He’s built a great tradition in Washington and he’s always played well there. But the biggest problem for him could be the conditions. For a guy at the end of his career, a really hot humid week mixed with a match or two against ‘grind it out’ players could spell disaster for the former champ.”

James Blake

“This will be an interesting tournament for Blake because it will be a good indicator of how well Blake can sustain the momentum he’s built over the summer, right up through his win over Andy Roddick last week in Indianapolis. He hasn’t played as well as he would have liked in the Grand Slams so far this year, so Blake is looking to get his game on track to make a run at the U.S. Open title.”

Andy Roddick

“The stage is set for Roddick to have a big tournament in D.C. He’s the defending champion and players love to go back to where they’ve had past success so it makes sense that Roddick will look to this tournament to turn around what has been a very up and down year for him. And after his finals loss in Indy he’ll be hungry for another shot at James Blake.”

Tim Henman

“Tim has been struggling this year and hasn’t been able to put together a good string of matches this summer. He’ll be looking to salvage something from this summer and the tournament in Washington is a good place to start. He heads into this tournament without a lot to lose and that lack of pressure could really work in his favor.”

Marat Safin

“Marat is such a wild-card in this tournament, he could lose in the first round 6-1, 6-2 just as easily as he could win the whole tournament. He’s had a terrible year, especially in the Slams. It has become impossible to predict whether Marat will look like his most recent mess or the former champ that he once was.”

Lleyton Hewitt

“He’s really on the up-tick right now. He’s had a really good summer so far. His greatest strength is that Lleyton always shows up ready to play, he never takes a tournament lightly. And if he wins in D.C. he’ll be seen as a threat to win this year’s U.S. Open.”