In her enthusiastic introduction of Agassi, Simone Ruffin, an 18-year-old who was Salutatorian in the first graduating class of Agassi Prep in Las Vegas in 2009, talked about Agassi as a "hometown hero," who just happened to be one of the best tennis players of all time. "I dare say, one of the greatest men of all time," she added. She praised Agassi's service and humility, mentioning in passing that he, "happened to play tennis."
Ruffin was perhaps an odd choice. Sure, she is proof that Agassi's legacy has already more than transcended tennis, that his "life's work," as he refers to his passion for children's education, is producing concrete results. At the same time, however, Ruffin is someone who had not even witnessed most of Agassi's tennis career, someone entirely remote from the sport and Agassi's part in it. Already in controversy after suggesting he "hated" tennis in his autobiography, Open, which was published in 2009, Agassi's speaker choice perhaps distances him from the sport even further. After all, Agassi's family and mentors, such as Gil Reyes, were on hand and could have reminded us of his on-court success, his trials and tribulations in the sport, the accomplishments which, with support of his humanitarian efforts, led him to be nominated and voted into the Hall of Fame.
While he chose to look at his present and future via Ruffin's introduction, Agassi debunked the idea that he dislikes tennis in a media conference held before the Induction.
...I played for a lot of reasons other than myself until I turned 27. I felt that year is when I gave myself permission to quit. I thought, "What if now, at 141 in the world, with no real reason to have to do this anymore, I actually chose it? ...
Once I started to find my reasons, I started to appreciate the game in a way I never had before, which ultimately made me more successful after than before...
A lot of people talk about my hate for tennis, because I wrote about it. But it was my disconnect and misguided use of tennis, my lack of awareness or knowledge of myself.
I grew up out there in front of everybody. But at 27 I started doing it for me. I got nine years. I love it."
Perhaps more evidentiary than his words, Agassi's pride for reaching the highest pinnacle in tennis was the childlike grin he wore as he entered the media conference. "You think of your whole career, you never dream of a moment like this to be the case. I surprised myself when I won matches, let alone tournaments, let alone this. I never dared to dream of this, certainly," Agassi said.
Agassi repeated the sentiment in his induction speech: "I fell in love with tennis far too late in my life, but the reason that I have everything that I hold dear is because of how much tennis has loved me back." Agassi continued by noting the lessons he learned from the sport, such as that, 'You don't have to be perfect... just have to be better than one person."
While he continued to speak in generalities in his speech, Agassi discussed some of the memorable moments of his career with the media. He remarked on skipping his first two chances at the Olympic games in 1988 and 1992, largely to avoid pressure from his Olympian father, and partially to step aside for veteran U.S. players (in 1988) and for fear of clay courts (in 1992). He spoke of the highlights of career highlights, like the 1996 Olympic win, the emotional 1999 victory at the French Open in his comeback, and retiring at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
At the end of the speech, crying Agassi delivered his traditional post-match kisses to the four sides of the stadium. Even though Agassi has found his calling outside of the sport, for those who witnessed his life in the sport, and, perhaps, for Simone Ruffin's generation of tennis fans as well, Agassi will always remain a tennis player first.
PEACHY KELLMEYER
"I know I'm not the main attraction... but, Andre, I'll be the opening act for you any day," said fellow 2011 Hall of Fame Inductee Fern Lee "Peachy" Kellmeyer to Andre Agassi. While the fans certainly came out for Agassi, it is not a stretch to suggest Kellmeyer had a much higher impact on tennis and on sports in general than the eight-time Grand Slam Champion.
Kellmeyer was a trailblazer in her short playing career, the youngest at the time to compete at the US Open (then, in 1959, the US Nationals); she played Division I tennis ... Men's Division I; she was the WTA's first employee and continues shaping women's tennis as a consultant. But, perhaps most importantly, and, for her, most proudly, Kellmeyer is responsible for Title IX, which allows women to receive athletic scholarships. Kellmeyer told the media:
I was a tennis coach at Marymount College and had started to recruit and give very small scholarship to women players... My second year there, they told us I could give scholarships, but any match we played would have to be forfeited. It was not just tennis, it was any sport...
A lawyer friend of mine... one night we were having beers. I said, "if I ever had any money, I would sue. He took the case up, and the following Valentine's Day, won. That's the thing I'm most proud of in my life because to me it was so unfair and so wrong for women."
Kellmeyer also described what it was like behind the scenes on her first day at work as a Tour employee in 1973:
Well, the first day on the job, I was with there with my friends. I was in Houston, Texas. Gladys Heldman was my boss... We were just starting the Virginia Slims Tour then. I remember it started to snow. It was in January a little bit. It never snows in Houston.
The first thing I remember, that Gladys had two cats, one named Virginia and one named Slim. About every five minutes, one of these cats would come in with a dead bird. She was trying to help me a little bit because she was explaining to me, we had to do the prize money breakdown, we didn't have any rule books, we were trying to write some rule books. That was my first day on the job: watching a bunch of dead birds come in."
International Tennis Hall of Fame Chairman Christopher Clouser flew to Australia during the Australian Open to announce Kellmeyer's selection as Inductee. "He'll be forever my Santa Claus," said Kellmeyer to Clouser during her and Agassi's media conference.
Echoing a praising introduction by WTA Chairwoman and CEO Stacey Allaster, Kellmeyer said she feels she, "represents a generation of women," who worked for tennis, growing the sport from a few players competing in a few American tournaments to a global force women's tennis is today.
Recent Player inductee, or life-long Contributor, the lessons learned from tennis seem to transcend roles and generations. "You don't have to be 100 percent to give 100 percent," said Kellmeyer.
