“Agassi was amazing in extreme heat; he would absolutely make you suffer” - Brad Gilbert on Andre Agassi

Brad Gilbert has said that his compatriot Andre Agassi was one of the best players in extreme heat, making his opponents 'suffer' big time.

Agassi is one of only five male players to have won the calendar year Grand Slam in the Open Era. Notably, he won the first singles title of his illustrious career in Itaparica in Brazil, one of the hottest places in the world to play tennis, in 1987.

Located in the Bahia state of Brazil on the Atlantic coast, Itaparica hosted an ATP tournament from 1986 to 1990. It has hot summers, with the humidity almost touching 100%, making it one of the toughest places to play any outdoor sport.

On The Tennis Podcast, Gilbert was asked about the best performance by a player in extreme heat. He had no qualms taking the name of Agassi, who beat him in the quarterfinals at Itaparica in 1987 en route winning his first singles title. Gilbert also lauded Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Andy Roddick and Aaron Krikstein, tweeting:

"Andre Agassi was amazing in extreme heat. He would absolutely make u suffer, you also didn't want to face Lendl, Mats Wilander wouldn't even bring extra shirt on the court at Cincy. Andy Roddick pretty darn good as well and another old school Aaron Krickstein."

Meanwhile, beating Gilbert in the quarterfinals, Agassi beat Martin Jaite of Argentina in the semis and local boy Luiz Mattar in the final to win the 1987 Itaparica title.

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Andre Agassi's notable career achievements

Andre Agassi at the 2019 Australian Open

Andre Agassi is widely regarded as one of the finest players to have graced the sport.

His triumph at 1999 Roland Garros made the American the first player in the Open Era after Rod Laver to win the career Grand Slam. Since then, the feat has been accomplished by only three other players - Roger Federer (2009), Rafael Nadal (2010) and Novak Djokovic (2016).

Agassi bagged a rich haul of 60 titles in his illustrious career, including eight Majors. The American's total title haul has been surpassed by only 11 other players, led by Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).

The 52-year-old is also one of only nine players to have occupied the World No. 1 ranking for over 100 weeks. Agassi retired in 2006 after a third round exit at the US Open, calling time on an illustrious career that spanned exactly two decades.