Passing Shot Poem by gershon hepner

Passing Shot



Envying Pete Sampras, quite aghast
at his enormous dullness, Agassi would laugh,
but winners have the one that’s last,
though he, as consolation prize, had Steffi Graf.

The finishing line is close enough to kiss,
whatever underwear you’re wearing or you’re not;
so long as you’re inspired you won’t miss
in life or tennis triumph of the passing shot.


Janet Maslin reviews a book ghost-written by J. R. Moehringer but purporting to be by Andre Agasssi (“Open, : A Autobiography”) in “Agassi Basks in His Own Light, ” NYT, November 9,2009) :
Among the more genuinely startling elements of “Open” is its scornful depiction of Ms. Shields as shallow, materialistic, dense and not sufficiently interested in Mr. Agassi’s career. (Though she does, damningly, show some interest in her own.) Mr. Agassi does not easily forgive, and his book is larded with extremely backhanded compliments for those who have crossed him. “I envy Pete’s dullness, ” the book says of Mr. Agassi’s frequent rival Pete Sampras. “I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration.” And yet Mr. Sampras is one of the more highly regarded opponents in Mr. Agassi’s story.
“Open” devotes a lot of space to thumbnail descriptions of matches and opponents, a litany that would drone on without dynamic, writerly flourishes. “The second set turns into a street fight and a wrestling match and pistols at 50 paces, ” the books says of a first-round match at the French Open against the Argentine Franco Squillari. This 1999 match, as tennis historians will record, is the occasion on which Mr. Agassi forgot his underwear, triumphed and vowed never to wear underwear again, which is one more indication that heated tennis combat is this book’s closest facsimile of sex. “The finish line is close enough to kiss, ” he writes about the dramatic French Open final against Andrei Medvedev, “I feel it pulling me.” He is “terrified by how good this feels, ” he writes about winning.
It is at about this time that Mr. Agassi seriously crosses paths with Steffi Graf, the fellow champion who will become the most important woman in his life. She has won the women’s side of the 1999 French Open. (Here’s his way of congratulating her: “You paved the way. You warmed up the court for me.”) When it comes to Ms. Graf, the combined effects of Mr. Agassi’s bedazzlement and Mr. Moehringer’s real romantic flair lead this book toward a fairy-tale finale. The last scene is a love match between the married tennis stars, who have both retired and now have two children. They’re playing for fun on a public court. And “Open” has to end midmatch, because this game has two winners.


11/9/09

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success