Agassi's still going

Andre Agassi showed there is life in the old gladiator yet but time is nearly up for the charismatic American whose 13th defeat at Wimbledon will be his last.

Champions dread the day when they know it is time to quit but Agassi has already earmarked it for later this year before damage to his hips and back completely wipes out his talent.

The 36-year-old winner of eight Grand Slam titles – including the 1992 Wimbledon crown – beat Serbia and Montenegro‘s Boris Pashanski 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-3 in the first round today.

But the army of admirers who gave him a standing ovation as he walked on court had to endure a nightmarish opener set in which inconsistency and an alarming lack of self-belief seemed to signal an ignominious exit.

He lost his serve to go 3-1 down and after spurning a break-point from 40-love down in the next game and Pashanski, on his Wimbledon debut at 23, took the opener in just 32 minutes.

After his heavy defeat by Tim Henman at Queen‘s last week, Agassi still looked laboured and unsure.

Yet suddenly he turned a significant corner with an array of shots which brought back memories of an earlier era to capture the next two sets.

Despite a discernible lack of mobility around the court he had enough still in the tank to wrap up proceedings by relying on short-points and a steady serve in a fragmented contest.

This was Agassi‘s 57th Wimbledon match and his 61st Grand Slam Championship and it was good to see him avoid an early farewell.

Pashanski, though, has not won a match since April and although ranked 71 in the world was never a real threat after the first set.