Andre Agassi of the U.S. blows a kiss to the crowd after his loss to Germany's Benjamin Becker. - Reuters.

NEW YORK (AP)

A career for the ages came to a close when Andre Agassi lost to 112th-ranked Benjamin Becker, who served an ace to finish off a 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 victory in the third round at the U.S. Open yesterday.

Worn down and wincing, Agassi could only stand and watch the final shot whiz by. Agassi looked like what he'd become - a 36-year-old man trying to play tennis with a bad back that needed four injections.

Agassi teared up on the blue court as he addressed a crowd that showed up early at the Arthur Ashe Stadium and tried to spur him on all afternoon.

"The scoreboard shows that I lost today," he said. "But what the scoreboard doesn't show is what I feel."

Becker, who had to win three qualifying matches merely to make it into the Open, applauded as Agassi spoke. Agassi's wife, Steffi Graf, and their two children looked on.

"He was my idol growing up," Becker said.

The 25-year-old German joined the crowd for a long, loud standing ovation saluting Agassi, who stared out at the crowd from his chair, wiping tears from his eyes.

Agassi needed cortisone and anti-inflammatory shots to keep playing this week. Although he pushed himself to the limit, his body wasn't willing to go to where his mind wanted.

Hobbling, grimacing and breathing hard, he frequently stood and could only watch to see whether Becker's shots landed good. Reduced to hoping rather than hitting, Agassi showed just flashes of the brilliant returns and pinpoint backhands that made him an eight-time Grand Slam winner.

The crowd clearly felt his pain, booing when Becker hit drop shots that made Agassi run.

Envision the ending

Before his agonising, five-set win over Marcos Baghdatis that started on Thursday night and finished on Friday morning, Agassi envisioned the ending. Or, instead, how he did not want his career to finish.

"I just don't want to go off the court limping," he said. "It's not what I want to do."

After three matches and more than 10 draining hours on the court where he loved to play, he still was standing.

More than 20 minutes after the match, Agassi still was crying as he limped to the locker room. He finished with a competitive career match record of 870-274 and a lifetime of memories for him and his legion of fans.

Across the newly renamed Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there was a collective moan and cries of "Oh, no!" at Louis Armstrong Stadium when the scoreboard posted the final result. Outside the big bowls, crowds wandering the grounds fell silent.

The daytime start took away much of the buzz that usually follows Agassi. He came out to a big cheer, but fans quickly saw he was in trouble and shouts of "Let's go, Andre!" were replaced by groans when his shots missed.

Becker, the 2004 U.S. college champ, came out with his hat backward and full of energy. No relation to Boris - never even met him - Benjamin certainly made a name for himself.

After beginning the match with a double-fault, Becker started rocketing aces at 140 mph (225 kph), and that's when he looked like Boris. He won 13 straight points on serve and, perhaps most important, kept his composure as planned.

Career highlights

One of five men to win all four Grand Slams. Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson are the others.

Men's fifth-most career wins (870) behind Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas and John McEnroe.

Most men's Grand Slam appearances in the Open era (61).

Men's seventh-most career titles in the Open era (60).

16 times in the year-end ATP rankings, tied with Jimmy Connors for the most ever.

Tied for sixth all-time men's Grand Slam titles (8).

The only man ranked in the year-end top 10 during three different decades.

Only man in the Open era to win a title in 18 different years.

Oldest man to be ranked No. 1 (33 years, 13 days on May 11, 2003). Held that spot for 14 weeks.

FACTBOX ON ANDRE AGASSI

Born: April 29, 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Turned professional: 1986

Won his first title as a wildcard inItaparica in 1987. A year later, he won six titles from seven finals and reached both the French and U.S. Open semi-finals.

In 1992 he won his first grand slam at Wimbledon, defeating Goran Ivanisevic in five sets, and led the U.S. to the Davis Cup title.

Ranked world number one for the first time in April 1995, the same year that he won a career-high seven titles in a season, including first Australian Open crown.

Agassi took Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Agassi ended 1999 as world number one, winning the French and U.S. Opens after falling at one stage to 141st. He also became the fifth man — along with Don Budge, Rod Laver, Fred Perry and Roy Emerson — to win all four grand slam titles in his career.

In 2001 he married former women's number one Steffi Graf in October, days before the birth of their son Jaden Gil.

Agassi became the first overseas player to win four men's singles titles at the Australian Open after defeating Schuettler in 2003. The same year he played his 1,000th professional match at the Stella Artois Championships while his daughter Jaz Elle was born in October.

Agassi announced in June this year that he would retire after the U.S. Open. After pulling off another miraculous victory in beating eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis in five epic sets, Agassi finally said farewell after losing in four sets to German Benjamin Becker in the third round of the U.S. Open.

CAREER TITLES

(Grand Slam titles in CAPS)

1987 (1) - Itaparica

1988 (6) - Memphis, Charleston, Forest Hills, Stuttgart Outdoor, Stratton Mountain, Livingston

1989 (1) - Orlando

1990 (4) - San Francisco, Key Biscayne, Washington, ATP Singles Championship

1991 (2) - Orlando, Washington

1992 (3) - Atlanta, WIMBLEDON, Montreal/Toronto

1993 (2) - San Francisco, Scottsdale

1994 (5) - Scottsdale, Montreal/Toronto, U.S. OPEN, Vienna, Paris Indoor

1995 (7) - AUSTRALIAN OPEN, San Jose, Key Biscayne, Washington, Montreal/Toronto, Cincinnati, New Haven

1996 (3) - Key Biscayne, Atlanta Olympics, Cincinnati

1998 (5) - Los Angeles, Ostrava, San Jose, Scottsdale, Washington

1999 (5) - Hong Kong, Paris Indoor, FRENCH OPEN, U.S. OPEN, Washington

2000 (1) - AUSTRALIAN OPEN

2001 (4) - AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Indian Wells TMS, Los Angeles, Key Biscayne

2002 (5) - Los Angeles, Madrid TMS, Miami TMS, Rome TMS, Scottsdale

2003 (4) - AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Houston, Miami TMS, San Jose

2004 (1) - Cincinnati

2005 (1) - Los Angeles

Andre Agassi of the U.S. bows to the crowd after his loss to Germany's Benjamin Becker at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York yesterday. Agassi was playing in his last U.S. Open. - Reuters