Bud Collins

Flash, bash, dash, cash, but no pash — as in passion to excel. That's what I thought of Andre Agassi when the crash came: his nosedive to No. 141 in 1997.

But he of erratic motivation — “Image is Everything!” television commercials — a rebel without a pause, had us all fooled, including himself for a while.

Somewhere about that time Agassi climbed aboard an epiphany. Suddenly he wasn't too proud to scratch about in a couple of bush-league tournaments to restore himself, and righted himself to create one of the greatest careers ever.

As the tennis clock finally stopped for Father Timeless at the U.S. Open, he is one of the very few in history to have won everything meaningful in the male precinct, the "Sexy Seven:" all four singles majors, the Masters, Olympic gold, and a potent hand in three Davis Cups for the United States.

It's a stratospherically exclusive club of which Agassi is the lone member. Chronologically it went like this: 1990 — Davis Cup, Masters; 1992 — Davis Cup, Wimbledon; 1994 — U.S. Open; 1995 — Davis Cup, Australian Open; 1996 — Olympics; 1999, French Open, U.S. Open; 2000 — Australian Open; 2001 — Australian Open; 2003 — Australian Open.

OK, so the Masters and Olympic tennis didn't exist when his illustrious predecessors, Fred Perry, original Grand Slammer Don Budge, and Roy Emerson, were trotting the globe, respectively gobbling eight, six and 12 majors plus three, two and seven Davis Cups. Rod Laver (also pre-1988 Olympics), the double Grand Slammer with 10 majors and five Davis Cups, was past his prime when he played his only Masters, the inaugural, in 1970.

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But it's pretty fair company that such brilliant contenders as Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Arthur Ashe and Mats Wilander couldn't quite keep.

(Of course, as Andre readily and joyfully concedes, he was outdone by his wife Steffi Graf: 22 majors in singles, one in doubles, five season-ending championships — the female Masters equivalent, Olympic gold and silver, two Federation Cups. )

But by 2011 he will join his wife in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Fitness, talent, and a wise choice
Agassi's devotion to super-fitness under trainer Gil Reyes bred quickness and strength that enabled him to relentlessly present a new groundstroking game that at times seemed ping-pong.

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He was swatting balls so early, almost before they bounced, and with such deadly accuracy, that foes, pushed hither and yon, had little time to react.

Agassi calls it “pulling the trigger, executing.” He further harassed the opposition with his ability to put a ball at an uncomfortable height, angle or speed.

And he could describe it as thoughtfully as any player who ever lived, much in the vein of the first truly great men's player, Big Bill Tilden in the 1920s, who wrote books still applicable on the subject.

A brilliant shotmaker from the beginning, an attacker from the baseline, Agassi needed time to sort out whether being a commercial success was enough for him. He came to the conclusion it wasn't, and the sport of tennis became much the better for his change of heart.

Special on and off the court
Clearly we're going to miss Agassi, as will the World Top 10 where he was a regular for 16 years, a record shared with Connors, and his persona as showman-champion-humanitarian.

The little, pigeon-toed baldy took his last bows to the four corners of the earth at Flushing Meadow on Sunday.

It was his last dance, but how he has made the world his oyster by spreading his 60 titles and other winning business over 17 countries, A to Z, Australia (four titles) to Zimbabwe, to throw in two crucial Davis Cup wins in 2000.

It's been frustrating, yet fun, then gratifying to watch him evolve from punk to paragon. The careless, peacocky kid becoming utterly responsible family man and philanthropist.

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Who could imagine that after foolishly ducking Wimbledon for three years he would make it his initial major in 1992?

Or that this vaguely educated lad would become so articulate and build a splendid charter school for the poor and troubled kids of his hometown Las Vegas? That stands among innumerable projects within the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.

Agassi stands with Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King as the game's magnificent triumvirate -- champions with social conscience and impact. Three people with the all-around pash.