Back to reality for Becker, vanquisher of Agassi

NEW YORK – The Cinderella story ended on Monday for Benjamin Becker, the man who put Andre Agassi into retirement with his third-round US Open victory over the American great on Sunday.

Andy Roddick jolted the German qualifier back to reality with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory that lifted the American into the quarter-finals. “You know from qualifying, from achieving my goal to be top 100, from playing Agassi and winning yesterday and, you know, getting another chance to play on centre court against Roddick today, it’s been a pretty, pretty amazing trip for me,” Becker said.Becker, a 25-year-old US college champion at Baylor University in Texas, who turned his full attention to the tour last year, said it was hard for him to appreciate what he had accomplished.”It was tough yesterday for me to enjoy it because it was tough for me to accept that I deserved to be the last guy that Agassi played,” the slightly built German with the big serve said.”You know, maybe I will, looking at the DVDs, looking maybe at everything else, I will later on.”Becker said that despite the one-sided loss against 2003 champion Roddick, the Open was a great experience for him.”I had a dream come true,” he said.”Obviously, I’m disappointed now.If I would be happy now, then I wouldn’t be a professional tennis player.”But then you think about the whole situation, the whole two weeks and obviously I’m going to leave on a very positive note.”Nampa-Reuters”You know from qualifying, from achieving my goal to be top 100, from playing Agassi and winning yesterday and, you know, getting another chance to play on centre court against Roddick today, it’s been a pretty, pretty amazing trip for me,” Becker said.Becker, a 25-year-old US college champion at Baylor University in Texas, who turned his full attention to the tour last year, said it was hard for him to appreciate what he had accomplished.”It was tough yesterday for me to enjoy it because it was tough for me to accept that I deserved to be the last guy that Agassi played,” the slightly built German with the big serve said.”You know, maybe I will, looking at the DVDs, looking maybe at everything else, I will later on.”Becker said that despite the one-sided loss against 2003 champion Roddick, the Open was a great experience for him.”I had a dream come true,” he said.”Obviously, I’m disappointed now.If I would be happy now, then I wouldn’t be a professional tennis player.”But then you think about the whole situation, the whole two weeks and obviously I’m going to leave on a very positive note.”Nampa-Reuters

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.