Andre Agassi on Roger Federer
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“Because he can cover so well to the forehand, it really allows him to stay at home in the backhand corner. That backhand corner gets smaller and smaller, sort of dares you to hit the forehand. There's a lot of times you do, and you're thinking that it's a good idea, then a second later you're going, 'Why did I do that?'”
“Roger Federer will undoubtedly become the greatest tennis player to have graced the sport if he wins the French Open. It ends the discussion of where he fits in the history of the game. If it wasn't for [four-time champion Rafael] Nadal, he probably would have won a handful of these things. So nobody would underestimate where he deserves to fit in this game. He's extraordinarily talented and talk about grace on court; watching him play is something special to see and if he does it tomorrow, he'll know what an accomplishment it was.”
“He's the best I've ever played against. There's nowhere to go. There's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greens and make putts. Every shot has that sort of urgency on it. I've played a lot of them [other players], so many years; there's a safety zone, there's a place to get to, there's something to focus on, there's a way. Anything you try to do, he potentially has an answer for and it's just a function of when he starts pulling the triggers necessary to get you to change to that decision.”
“He hits that short chip, moves you forward, moves you back. He uses your pace against you. If you take pace off, so that he can't use your pace, he can step around and hurt you with the forehand. Just the amount of options he has to get around any particular stage of the match where maybe something's out of sync is—seems to be endless. His success out there is just a mere reflection of all the things that he can do.”
“There's probably not a department in his game that couldn't be considered the best in that department. You watch him play Hewitt and everybody marvels at Hewitt's speed, as well as myself. And you start to realize, `Is it possible Federer even moves better?' Then you watch him play Andy [Roddick], and you go, `Andy has a big forehand. Is it possible Federer's forehand is the best in the game?' You watch him at the net, you watch him serve-volley somebody that doesn't return so well and you put him up there with the best in every department. You see him play from the ground against those that play from the ground for a living, and argue he does it better than anybody.”