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Andre Agassi nominated for Hall of Fame
 An American favorite leads the ballot for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the hall announced Wednesday.
Andre Agassi, who won eight Grand Slam singles titles, 60 titles overall and more than 431 million in prize money, is the only recent player on the ballot.
Agassi finished the 1999 season ranked No. 1 and ended 14 other seasons ranked among the Top 10, one of a rare class to finish in the Top 10 in three different decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s). He won the Australian Open four times, the French Open once, Wimbledon once, and the US Open twice. He married WTA legend Steffi Graf in 2001 and has two children.
Two other players have been nominated in the Master Player Category – Thelma Coyne Long and Christine Truman Janes.
Long played 22 years, winning 19 major titles – two singles, 12 doubles and five mixed doubles, with 18 of them coming in Australia. In 1941, she joined the Red Cross, then the Australian Women’s Army Service, rising to the rank of captain and receiving two service medals. She was named to the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 and will turn 92 in October.
Janes made her Wimbledon debut at age 16 and lost to Althea Gibson in the semifinals. She won the French Open in 1959, and was the runner-up that year at the US Open, as well as at Wimbledon in 1961. At the time of her win in France, she was the youngest woman to ever win the title, age 18. The year before, she defeated Gibson in the Wightman Cup, bringing the trophy back to Great Britain after 21 straight losses to the United States. She was ranked in the Top 10 in the world from 1957-1961, peaking at No. 2 in 1959. She retired in 1975 and became a tennis commentator for BBC Radio.
Two contributors have also been nominated – Mike Davies and Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer. Kellmeyer is the current senior vice president of the WTA, and served as the first tour director of the Virginia Slims circuit. In 1977, she brought women’s tennis to Madison Square Garden for the first time.
A native of Wales who now lives in Arlington, Texas, Davies was the No. 1 player in Great Britain in 1957 and 1958. He joined the executive staff of World Championship Tennis upon retiring in 1967. He left the WCT for the ATP in 1981, and was named Executive Director in 1986. Voting will take place over the next few months, with an announcement coming early next yeaer. The Induction Ceremony will be held July 9, 2011 in Newport, Rhode Island in conjunction with the
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