Agassi's incredible journey ends

Ian O'Connor / Special to FOXSports.com

On a U.S. Open practice court, of all places, I thought Andre Agassi was done. This was in the afternoon haze of August 26, 1997, when a tennis champion big on starpower made a confession on an off-Broadway stage that spoke to his certain demise.

Agassi was out on Court 4 hitting practice balls with his coach, Brad Gilbert, surrounded by the standard surplus of towel boys and yes men, when someone asked him where he had spent the previous night — the night the USTA stadium was being christened in the name of Arthur Ashe.

Agassi admitted he went to see In the Company of Men, and that he thought the film was pretty good. "Slightly better than Face-Off," he decreed.

Everyone was at the ceremony to honor the great Ashe, everyone but Andre. He apparently was upset that the USTA president Harry Marmion had forgotten to recognize him in a roll call of past champions at an Open function.

Agassi figured he'd teach all of tennis a lesson. So he headed to the movies, grabbed a bucket of buttered popcorn and let his fellow champs stand in tribute to the most dignified statesman the game has known.

I thought Agassi came across as a hopeless loser that day. He was 27 years old, and I would've bet the winning purse that Agassi would never, ever grow up.

But now he's a 36-year-old retiree, eliminated from his final Open and final tournament, and yet the beneficiary of the most stunning changeover the sport has seen. Against all odds, Agassi leaves tennis as a responsible adult, as the ultimate guy who "gets it."

If he's not a statesman to match Ashe, he's close enough. Agassi built a school for underprivileged, overlooked kids in his Las Vegas hometown, kids who are now expected to aim for college. The school stands among the most profound works of philanthropy ever carved by an athlete's hands.

The students wear uniforms at Agassi's school, and how perfect is that? As a foolish little boy, a rebel without a cause, Agassi had skipped three Wimbledons because he didn't care to conform to their conservative dress codes.

"We've created a school that has taken these children from a year to two years behind in education," Agassi once said, "and brought them up to speed. The success has been incredible."

As incredible as the rise of Agassi from wasteful phenom to accountable champ, his transformation runs far deeper than a scalp that once sported bleached, rock-star hair and now barely offers an old man's stubble.

Agassi was clueless enough once to plunge from No. 1 in the world to No. 141, to end up playing in bush-league Challenger events where players were allotted three balls — and only three balls — for a single match.

Andre Agassi matured into one of the greatest tennis players ever. (DON EMMERT/AFP / Getty Images)

He got fat before he got fit. He got fired by Nick Bollettieri. He bounced from Barbra Streisand to Brooke Shields before finding bliss and stability in the form of Steffi Graf, whose steely focus Agassi never had.

"The way Steffi went about her tennis," Pete Sampras said, "I think Andre saw that and grew from it."

Agassi grew into a dedicated athlete, husband and father.

"Andre chiseled away the things from his character he wished to get out of the picture," said his long-time trainer, Gil Reyes. "He had to prove his substance, and he has."

Substance over style? Wasn't this the guy who made "image is everything" his calling card? Wasn't this the easily-distracted star who would tank a set — even quit on a match — whenever his weakening spirit moved him?

"No matter how tough the matches got later in his career," Reyes said, "Andre never gave up. He made you beat him."

Agassi retired with eight Grand Slam titles, and with the grand distinction of being only one of five men to win all four majors and the first to do it since Rod Laver (Sampras never won the French). Agassi stands as the only man to have captured Grand Slam titles on four different surfaces.

He proved to be a chameleon in more ways than one. Through all sorts of metaphysical wanderings, Agassi reinvented himself at least a dozen times.

Players who once scoffed at his conduct came to respect him. Ivan Lendl, who once called a young Agassi "a haircut and a forehand," would later call an aging Agassi "a great role model for kids."

James Blake, who lost an epic quarterfinal match to Agassi in last year's Open, said this of the victor: "He's really a true gentleman, one of the friendliest guys in the locker room. Andre's someone that you can tell your kids to look up to and be proud of it."

Image turned out to be nothing. Nine years ago, I wasn't the only one who didn't see the possibilities.

Andre Agassi went from being a loser who skipped the Ashe tribute to a winner who deserves a tribute of his own.

Award-winning columnist Ian O'Connor is a regular contributor to FOXSports.com