Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Droppers: Becker Asks Ballgirl to Sub For Him Vs. Agassi

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Now that there are finally no tennis scores to check on livescore, I've been spending my time perusing the voluminous YouTube tennis library a bit more than usual. You know what? It's pretty damn fun. Okay, okay...REALLY DAMN FUN!

Look at this clip of Boris Becker, having a terrible time of it in a match against Andre Agassi in Florida. Becker finally becomes so disillusioned with his game that he hands his racquet to a ballgirl and asks her to have a go at the young "rebel" on the other side of the net. The kid is clearly amused, but she's not quite sure what to do with the racquet (no doubt it's heavier than the ones she's used to), but Becker urges her on.

Finally the happy kid takes to the baseline to receive Agassi's serve. Of course, Andre, long hair and all (can you say wig?), was up for a little walkabout at the time too. He entertains the girl with a half-speed first serve (which she returns) and the crowd goes wild. Eventually he lets the smiling ballgirl win the point, and she walks back to a furiously applauding Becker, hands him the racquet, and takes her spot against the back fence, still smiling.

She's probably still smiling now, decades later. What a classic moment.

11 comments:

  1. A classic moment, indeed! Thanks for posting this, what fun to watch.

    Those were different times, weren't they? Nowadays if a player so much as claps at his opponent's shot (and then loses the next point) or jokes with the ball kids, he comes under fire for not being fully focused.

    BTW, I just found your blog through Mariposaxprs and I'm glad I did!

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