Editing Andre Agassi (section)

===1998–2003: Return to glory and Career Super Slam===
[[File:Andre Agassi 1999.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Agassi in 1999]]
In 1998, Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top 50. After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against [[Pete Sampras]] and [[Patrick Rafter]].

In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year.<ref name="atpbio">{{cite web |url=https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andre-agassi/a092/overview |title=Andre Agassi player profile |website=Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) |access-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411005858/https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andre-agassi/a092/overview |url-status=live }}</ref> At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in the second round to [[Tommy Haas]]. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the [[Miami Masters|Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne]], losing to [[Marcelo Ríos]], who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in 1988).

Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat [[Andrei Medvedev (tennis)|Andrei Medvedev]] in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining [[Rod Laver]], [[Fred Perry]], [[Roy Emerson]] and [[Don Budge]]—these have since been joined by [[Roger Federer]], [[Rafael Nadal]], and [[Novak Djokovic]]) to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the [[Open Era]]. This win also made him the first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts).  Agassi also became the first male player to win the [[Career Super Slam]], consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a [[ATP World Tour Finals|Year-end championship]].<ref name="SI" />

Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets.<ref name="greatath" /> He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the [[1999 US Open (tennis)|US Open]], beating [[Todd Martin]] in five sets (rallying from a two sets to one deficit) in the final. Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat [[Marat Safin]]. Agassi ended 1999 as the No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–98).<ref name="greatath" /> This was the only time Agassi ended the year at No. 1.  Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end [[1999 Tennis Masters Cup|Tennis Masters Cup]] losing 1–6, 5–7, 4–6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tennismajors.com/our-features/november-28-1999-the-day-pete-sampras-won-the-atp-finals-for-the-fifth-time-310165.html |title=November 28, 1999: The day Pete Sampras won the ATP Finals for the fifth time |website=Tennis Majors |last=Sokolowski |first=Alexandre |date=November 28, 2020 |access-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805145940/https://www.tennismajors.com/our-features/november-28-1999-the-day-pete-sampras-won-the-atp-finals-for-the-fifth-time-310165.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and [[Yevgeny Kafelnikov]] in a four-set final.<ref name="greatath" /> He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since [[Rod Laver]] achieved the Grand Slam in 1969.{{#tag:ref|[[Roger Federer]] has since surpassed this feat, reaching ten consecutive Grand Slam finals from 2005 to 2007.|group=lower-alpha}}  At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.{{#tag:ref|[[Pete Sampras]] held the 1993 Wimbledon, [[1993 US Open (tennis)|1993 US Open]] and [[1994 Australian Open]] titles simultaneously. [[Jimmy Connors]] (1974), [[Roger Federer]] (2004, 2006 and 2007) and [[Novak Djokovic]] (2011) won those three majors in the same year, although Connors' Grand Slam titles were all played on grass courts. [[Mats Wilander]] won all but Wimbledon in 1988 during his similar rise to the year-end No. 1. [[Rafael Nadal]] won the French Open and Wimbledon "Channel Slam" (2008) and 2009 Australian Open, before replicating the Channel Slam alongside winning the US Open in 2010.|group=lower-alpha}}. 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/wimbledon_history/3742067.stm |title=Classic Matches: Rafter v Agassi |date=May 31, 2004 |access-date=October 25, 2007 |work=BBC Sport |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104221251/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/wimbledon_history/3742067.stm |archive-date=November 4, 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref> At the inaugural [[2000 Tennis Masters Cup|Tennis Masters Cup]] in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating world No. 1 Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes of becoming the youngest year-end No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to [[Gustavo Kuerten]] in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Blast_From_the_Past/49663/dec-3-2000-gustavo-kuerten-beats-andre-agassi-to-lift-masters-cup-title/ |title=Dec. 3, 2000: Gustavo Kuerten beats Andre Agassi to lift Masters Cup title |work=Tennis World |last=Ilic |first=Jovica |date=December 4, 2017 |access-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-date=June 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629144111/https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Blast_From_the_Past/49663/dec-3-2000-gustavo-kuerten-beats-andre-agassi-to-lift-masters-cup-title/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over [[Arnaud Clément]].<ref name="greatath" /> En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33&nbsp;minute epic match<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/us_open/news/2001/09/05/sampras_agassi |title=Believe the hype |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=September 6, 2001 |access-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604013156/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/us_open/news/2001/09/05/sampras_agassi |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/us_open/news/2001/09/05/agassi_sidebar_ap |title=Unbreakable |date=September 6, 2001 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-date=February 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217102311/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/us_open/news/2001/09/05/agassi_sidebar_ap/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsline.com/tennis/players/playerpage/201490/2006 |title=SportsLine:Andre Agassi |year=2006 |publisher=Sportsline |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-date=December 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224194727/http://www.sportsline.com/tennis/players/playerpage/201490/2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="atpbio" />

2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Guardian Staff |date=January 14, 2002 |title=Injured Agassi and Williams forced out |url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2002/jan/14/australianopen2002.australianopen2 |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=July 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713022945/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2002/jan/14/australianopen2002.australianopen2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his [[Key Biscayne]] title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion [[Lleyton Hewitt]] in the semi-finals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-06-08/full_match_video_coco_vandeweghe_vs_alison_riske_2017_us_open_womens_singles_first_round.html|title=Full Match Video: CoCo Vandeweghe vs. Alison Riske, 2017 US Open women's singles first round|website=Usopen.org|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=July 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712195627/https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-06-08/full_match_video_coco_vandeweghe_vs_alison_riske_2017_us_open_womens_singles_first_round.html|url-status=live}} {{failed verification|date=July 2022}}</ref> This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, [[Rome Masters|Rome]] and [[Madrid Open (tennis)|Madrid]], helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.<ref name="atpbio" />

In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat [[Rainer Schüttler]] in straight sets in the final.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPN.com – Australian Open 2003 – Agassi earns eighth Grand Slam title |url=https://www.espn.com/tennis/aus03/s/2003/0125/1499001.html |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=www.espn.com |archive-date=December 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214185135/https://www.espn.com/tennis/aus03/s/2003/0125/1499001.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by [[Roger Federer]] in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when [[Lleyton Hewitt]] took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured the No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to [[Juan Carlos Ferrero]], surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000, and finished the year ranked No. 4.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/946191-atp-world-tour-finals-counting-down-the-all-time-top-ten-champions |title=ATP World Tour Finals: Counting Down the All-Time Top 10 Champions |work=Bleacher Report |last=Allen |first=Ja |date=November 18, 2011 |access-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-date=February 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211225200/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/946191-atp-world-tour-finals-counting-down-the-all-time-top-ten-champions |url-status=live }}</ref> At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in 1987.<ref name="atpbio" />