Hobbling in pain and blinking back tears, Andre Agassi left the French Open on Tuesday, his 35-year-old body unable to drive him through this most gruelling of Grand Slam tournaments.
While his spirit had been willing throughout, his body let him down when a nerve in his back became inflamed and he limped out of the first round 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0 to Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
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"It was getting worse by the minute... I mean, that's not good, you know, to be out there and to not be able to play for four or five hours," the American said. "Doesn't leave you with high hopes."
Agassi's wife Steffi Graf called it quits after 16 trips to the French capital.
Agassi has now had 17 cracks at the title he won in 1999 and although he refuses to talk of retirement just yet there must be a question mark over his willingness to return for more punishment in 2006 after two consecutive first round defeats in the French capital.
Agassi's 1999 victory made him only the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam titles at least once and cemented his reputation as a giant of the modern game.
But on Tuesday the sixth seed looked a forlorn and anguished figure with his Finnish opponent outrunning and outgunning him.
"Something tells me I'm at a stage of my career where I'm going to be living with these [cortisone] injections because this is unplayable when it feels like this," Agassi said.
"There's nothing you can do to get comfortable. To be out there against some of the best athletes in the world, it's impossible. I mean, to feel this, it's impossible."
SEASONED CAMPAIGNER
Agassi was not the only seasoned campaigner to learn that experience was no match for youth on Paris clay.
In the women's draw Conchita Martinez was felled 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 by Justine Henin-Hardenne in the first round.
Nobody betters Martinez's 18 successive French Open appearances -- a record she shares with the retired Nathalie Tauziat -- but it takes more than experience and an almost matchless knowledge of claycourt tactics to beat 2003 champion Henin-Hardenne.
Martinez, whose lone Grand Slam triumph came at Wimbledon in 1994, pulled every trick she has picked up during her long career but the oldest woman in the draw at 33 ran out of ideas and energy.
"Conchita played well and both of us wanted the same thing... to win the match," a relieved Henin-Hardenne said.
"I was so nervous before this match... in tennis you never know what is going to happen," the 10th seed added.
RUSSIAN GRIT
Maria Sharapova was given a wake-up call before dispensing with the glamour and employing her Russian grit to beat compatriot Evgenia Linetskaya.
The Wimbledon champion and world number two was stretched to the limit by her game opponent but, shrieking with effort and frustration throughout, clawed her way to a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Amelie Mauresmo began her 11th attempt to win her home Grand Slam with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Australian Evie Dominikovic.
The darling of the French crowds is desperate to succeed in Paris and she underlined her intentions with an authoritative 53-minute display against her 111th ranked opponent.
"The best I can perform I've already shown a number of times during my career but I hope I'll be able to do it over these two weeks," she said.
Men's second seed Andy Roddick also impressed, moving into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over French wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Marat Safin eased into the second round with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 6-2 win over Dutchman Raemon Sluiter.
The Australian Open champion is bidding to become the first man since Jim Courier 13 years ago to win the first two Grand Slam tournaments of the year.
"First round is always tough because you have to get used to the courts, to the balls," Safin said. "You are nervous because you want to do well in the tournament."
Safin is on track for a third-round clash with former champion and fellow former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero who beat Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
But another former champion, three-times winner Gustavo Kuerten, fell 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 to Spain's David Sanchez.
