ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: STONE MOUNTAIN, GA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
With a little sweat and a few tears, Andre Agassi became a gold medalist Saturday.
The second-generation Olympian overwhelmed Sergi Bruguera of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, then succumbed to the emotion of the victory on the medal stand.
``Hearing the anthem was the greatest accomplishment I've had in this game,'' Agassi said.
He shared a post-victory embrace with his father, Mike, an Olympic boxer for Iran in 1948 and 1952. The elder Agassi surprised his son by flying in from Las Vegas for the final.
``After the match I gave him a chance to get closer to a gold than he ever got,'' Andre Agassi said with a grin.
While six top-10 players skipped the Olympics, Agassi said from the beginning of the year the Games were his top priority. He passed up the opening ceremony, the athletes village and events in other sports to concentrate on tennis.
With the gold in hand, he ranked it ahead of his three Grand Slam titles, including Wimbledon.
``I'll keep this over all of them,'' he said. ``To win a Grand Slam in the sport of tennis is the greatest accomplishment inside the sport. To win an Olympic gold medal is the greatest thing you can accomplish in any sport.''
Americans Gigi and Mary Joe Fernandez won their second gold medal in doubles, beating Helena Sukova and Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. The Fernandezes, who are not related, also won the gold at Barcelona.
Agassi made his victory look easy, hitting the ball deep and hard and seeming to anticipate every shot by the Spaniard. Bruguera, a two-time French Open champion, said he'd never seen Agassi play better.
``When he's on, he's the best player in the world,'' Bruguera said. ``He played too good for me today.''
Agassi was the top seed, but hardly a big favorite. He had lost four of his previous six matches, dropping him to No.7 in the rankings. He has yet to reach a Grand Slam final this year, but he now becomes a favorite for the U.S. Open later this month.
``This is as good as I can play,'' Agassi said. ``It's the standard I've gotten my opponents used to, and I haven't lived up to it for a while.''
Agassi became the first American to win the gold in men's singles since Vincent Richards in 1924, and his victory gave the United States a sweep of singles against Spain. Lindsay Davenport, another second-generation Olympian, beat Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the women's final Friday.
In the match for the bronze in men's singles, Leander Paes claimed India's first Olympic medal in any sport since 1980, beating Brazilian Fernando Meligeni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Andre Agassi celebrates his 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victoryby CNBover Spain's Sergi Bruguera in the gold-medal men's tennis match
Saturday afternoon.