Andre Agassi likes Novak Djokovic to join Grand Slam royalty at French Open

Image

L.E. Baskow

Andre Agassi plays doubles for fans on hand at the grand opening of Life Time Athletic on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014, in Green Valley.

Sat, Jun 6, 2015 (3:21 p.m.)

Agassi vs. Conners

Andre Agassi, U.S. open sixth seed, takes a swing at the ball as he plays in the quarterfinals in New York, Thursday, Sept. 7, 1989. He faces Jimmy Connors, seeded thirteenth. Launch slideshow »

Andre Agassi called it. Or, he has called it so far.

Agassi has consistently picked those to advance through the men’s side of the draw at the French Open, and he likes top seed Novak Djokovic to win Sunday morning’s final over No. 8-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. Djokovic outlasted Andy Murray in five sets over two days in a rain-interrupted semifinal, and Wawrinka knocked off French hopeful Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. The final is set to air live on NBC at 6 a.m. Sunday.

During a fundraiser Wednesday for UNLV’s HYPER (Helping Young People Experience Recovery) program at the new restaurant Public School 702 at Downtown Summerlin, Agassi said Djokovic is playing the best tennis of anyone in the world, with Murray “a close second.”

And Djokovic just dropped Murray.

“The way I predict tournaments is to make the calls as the tournament moves forward because you never know what the weather or conditions will be like or who will be injured, but, all things being equal, I like Djokovic,” Agassi said the day before the semifinal round. “Think about it: We’ll have gone 50 years with no players winning a career Grand Slam, and now, if Djokovic wins the French, we’ll have three who are still playing who have done that.”

Current players who have won Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Australian Open and French Open are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Of course, Agassi himself ended the long drought between the Slam achievements of Rod Laver and Don Budge in the 1960s. Only seven players in history have achieved that feat. Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors are among the greats who fell short.

Agassi was at Public School 702 to lend his support to the event for a friend, former IGT CEO Chuck Mathewson. This is the first such investment in a restaurant/nightspot for Mathewson, and those who turned out to support the event included MGM Resorts International Chairman Jim Murren, Southern Wine & Spirits chief and Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health founder Larry Ruvo, and Smith Center for the Performing Arts Chairman Don Snyder.

A favorite Mathewson story: At the 2010 Power of Love gala, the gaming magnate and his wife, Stacie, donated $4.5 million to push the night’s total to an even $27 million. The number was important (and, of course, staggering), as it met the Ruvo Clinic’s goal of paying off the $27 million bond issued by the city of Las Vegas to build the center, which is dedicated to treating and curing Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other memory disorders.

(The next Power of Love gala, honoring Andrea and Veronica Bocelli and featuring a performance by Celine Dion, is next Saturday night at MGM Grand.)

The new restaurant, which opens to the public on Monday, is sufficiently groovy, with a great outdoor patio overlooking the Summerlin landscape. As they say in tennis, it’s a favorable playing surface.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

Back to top

SHARE

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy