LONDON (AFP) - An end of an era was heralded when American tennis legend Andre Agassi announced his retirement amid ringing praise from those involved in the sport. One of only five men to have won all Grand Slam titles -- and the sole winner on essentially four different surfaces -- Agassi's achievement will go down indelibly into the history books. The 36-year-old decided to quit because he feels he is nearing the point where his body will be unable to withstand the strain of performing to his own exacting standards. He revealed that he had made up his mind to retire several months ago but had delayed making his decision public because he wanted to make the announcement at Wimbledon, where he claimed his first Grand Slam title in 1992. Fellow professions had nothing but praise for him. Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt said: "He'll go down as one of the guys who changed our sport in a lot of ways. Not only the way he played the game, but also the way that he conducted himself on and off the court. "There's not too many more recognizable people in tennis. The sport probably owes a lot to him." American Andy Roddick added his comments too, saying: "He's probably the biggest crossover star sports has had, with the effect he has had on the game, and off the court with kids who really don't even know he played tennis. "When I was first coming up, the way he was a mentor, he really helped me along the way." Switzerland's former world number one Martina Hingis said he was one of the major attractions of his era. "He's an inspiration in many ways," Hingis said. "You have to wait many years for such a personality to come along. "I don't think there will ever be another Andre Agassi, times change. I am sure tennis will miss him." And French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain said of Agassi: "He's a legend. If you look at history, it is very difficult to win on all the surfaces. You need to have a very complete game and that's very, very difficult. Only special players can do that." Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova said: "I don't think there is one bad thing you can say about the guy. That guy is just a champion. "It's amazing to still have someone around that's achieved so much and done so much for the sport." Agassi himself said: "It's only right that I say it in the place (Wimbledon) that it all started," Agassi said. The American skipped the entire clay court season, including the French Open, to rest his back, which gave him recurring problems throughout 2005. But he was determined to be in good enough shape to perform well here and over the summer build-up to what is sure to be an emotional farewell in at the US Open in New York from the end of August. "Unfortunately, over the last few months I've had the time to take stock of a lot of things," he said. "After the US Open last year (where Agassi lost to Roger Federer in the final) I had a lot of reasons to be motivated to shoot for another successful year. "But that hasn't been the case and I wanted to do everything I could just to get back here. "This is where it all started for me, my dreams. So I wanted to make sure I made the right decisions to get myself ready for this championship and hopefully to carry me through the summer." Agassi's victory at Wimbledon in 1992 was to be the first of eight Grand Slam titles he has won to date. He won the Australian Open four times, the US Open twice and earned himself a place in the history books when he overturned a two-set deficit against Andrei Medvedev in the final to win the 1999 French Open. His total number of titles since joining the men's tour in 1986 stands at 60, his last title having come last year at Los Angeles.
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