Agassi has serious approach with Wimbledon days waning

WIMBLEDON, England -- There was a time when Andre Agassi could do without the All England Club, its traditions and, especially, its courts.

When he was too cool and too Technicolor to wear white, when he was unsure whether his gifted returns and baseline strokes would win on grass.

Not these days.

Agassi, one of five men with a career Grand Slam, realizes there might not be too many major tournaments in his future, so he focuses his efforts on preparing intensely for each one, Wimbledon included.

He'll be ranked No. 1 -- at 33, the oldest to lead the ATP Tour -- and seeded No. 2 behind defending champion Lleyton Hewitt when play begins Monday.

"I grab these moments a lot tighter than I used to," Agassi says.

"I don't have a lot of time left, regardless of how long I can stretch it. The question to me is not how long I have. It is where I stand now, and what my goals are -- what I am still able to accomplish."

Hey, the guy even went out and played a grass-court tuneup at Queen's Club, reaching the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Andy Roddick.

An old rival missing

In the past, Agassi usually skipped such events, coming cold to Wimbledon, where he won the first of his eight Grand Slam titles in 1992. He also was runner-up in 1999 to seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, who has withdrawn from every tournament he entered this year and might never play again.

This will be the first Wimbledon since 1988 without Sampras. One without Agassi can't be too far off.

"I do believe that as you get older, you have a stronger ability to embrace the rare moments, and you become more aware of how rare they are," Agassi says. "To win Wimbledon again would be quite an incredible accomplishment for me."

The locals, of course, would rather see a first-time champion: Tim Henman, to be precise. Henman never fared as well at other majors as here -- but his countrymen aren't concerned about other majors.

They want a British men's champion at Wimbledon to succeed Fred Perry in 1936.

How intense is the attention on Henman, a semifinalist four of the past five years? One front-page headline after Agassi and Sampras were upset in the second round last year: "No pressure Timbo, but choke now and we'll never forgive you."

"There's going to be a lot of pressure and expectation just like always on him, but he handles it as well as anyone," said Hewitt, who eliminated Henman in 2002. "What he's done making semifinals year after year is pretty impressive."

Balanced men's field

One would think Henman would break through, given the way men's tennis spreads the wealth. Names such as Johannson, Schuettler, Nalbandian and Verkerk dot the roster of recent major finalists.

In the past 10 Grand Slams, 15 men made at least one appearance in a final. Agassi leads with three; he and Hewitt are the only men with two major titles in that time.

In the same span, by contrast, just six women split the 20 finalist spots. And that's why discussion of potential Wimbledon champions tends to be limited to the Williams sisters and the Belgians who met in the French Open final: Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters.

One Williams or the other has won the last three Wimbledons -- top-seeded Serena last year; No. 4 Venus the previous two -- and they could meet in another final.