By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y., Sept. 2 -- It has been two years since Andre Agassi took his final bow at the U.S. Open, retiring with tears in his eyes after staving off retirement as long as he possibly could.

Agassi hasn't been back to the USTA's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center since, but his legacy plays on.

It was found Tuesday on the Grandstand Court, where a long-limbed teen named Asia Muhammad smartly served, volleyed and played her way into the third round of the junior girls tournament.

Muhammad, 17, also made her debut in the U.S. Open's main draw last week, falling in the first round to Aravane Rezai of France. But the loss marked an important step in the evolution of a youngster who just might represent the future of American tennis.

And, as Muhammad will happily tell you, she owes her promising start to Agassi (with an invaluable assist from his wife, Steffi Graf), whose Las Vegas-based charitable foundation taught her the game and has nurtured her progress.

"They're the reason I'm playing tennis," said Muhammad, who first picked up a racket at Agassi's Boys and Girls Club at age 9 and counts Graf among her occasional hitting partners.

It's impossible to tell what the future holds for Muhammad, who turned pro on the eve of this year's U.S. Open. The sport is littered with stories of gifted teenagers who crumpled under the weight of expectations of overzealous parents, agents and corporate backers.

But Muhammad has plenty in her favor that makes her bear watching.

What jumps out initially is her physique. Both of her parents played college basketball: her father, Ronald Holmes, at Southern Cal, and her mother, Faye Muhammad, at Long Beach State. Having recently sprouted to 5 feet 10 1/2 , Asia Muhammad is long and wiry, which gives her considerable range at the net. Better still, she's comfortable at the net.

Credit her coach, Tim Blenkiron, an Australian who drilled the importance of the volley into Muhammad since they started working together in 2003.

"He has always made me play doubles from a young age," Muhammad said. "So I'm always trying to come to net a little more, trying to be more of an all-court player."

Muhammad also is surrounded by a savvy team. Her fledgling pro career is being managed by Agassi's former handlers. Gil Reyes, Agassi's longtime trainer, is supervising her physical conditioning. She has a stable coaching relationship with Blenkiron, who gave up his post as tennis director at Agassi's Boys and Girls Club in 2007 to work with her full time.

And she has made steady progress since. Her best result came earlier this year at a USTA Pro Circuit event in Las Vegas, where she beat her first top-100 player en route to reaching the final.

And each step along the way, she gets tips from Agassi and Graf. While the sport's most decorated tennis couple might intimidate young players, they're simply familiar faces to Muhammad.

Before she left for a clay-court tournament in Europe earlier this year, Muhammad spoke to Agassi, who passed along a suggestion about footwork on clay. Stay as low as possible, he said. It's safer, he promised, and would give her more control.

And when their schedules permit, she and Graf get together and hit.

"She tells me to really be aggressive," Muhammad says.

Blenkiron tells her that, too, but it never hurts to have Graf drive a coach's message home.

"Obviously the sport is trying to find the next Venus and Serena Williams, and I think she has the potential," Blenkiron says. "Most people would be crazy saying that, but I've been around her enough to say she's a special breed. And she hasn't even come close to maximizing her potential."