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WIMBLEDON - It wasn't so much that he overcame triple-set point. Over the course of a career Andre Agassi has done that a few times.
It wasn't so much that he overcame a no-name opponent with a big-game forehand. Agassi has dealt with a few guys trying to steal his afternoons before.
It wasn't that he overcame the fatigue of a three-hour match, or the heat of the mid-day sun or the occasional dodgy call. It wasn't his age or his mistakes or his serve.
Nope. On a clear, hot day at Wimbledon, Agassi overcame the most intimidating, most humbling disadvantage of them all:
Parenthood.
Yessir, there on Centre Court, in the mother of all tennis tournaments, a father actually won. Imagine that. Production after reproduction.
This is not usually father-and-son stuff, professional tennis. It is not a sport where children tag along after their famous parents, peering over the railings to watch them perform. The most familiar photograph in sports these days, it seems, is the one of the champion hoisting a child toward a trophy. You don't see it often around here.
By its nature the profession of tennis champion is a lonely business, with little tolerance for spouses and almost none for children. It is a demanding existence, filled with endless travel and complete consumption, and one thing is apparent: Don't become a parent.
The understanding is this: First you have your career. Later, you can be happy.
Which is why, at the halfway point of Wimbledon, it's hard not to pull for the ever-evolving Agassi, who dares to try to have it all.
He is 33, ancient in a young man's game, and it has been years since Agassi has had to pay attention to things such as fame or fortune. Still, as he plays on in front of wife Steffi Graf, pregnant with their second child, Agassi grows more likeable by the match. The years have added some things to Agassi: substance, wisdom, perspective.
Ah, yes. He has also gained a family.
Risky business, that.
"A lot of things get harder," Agassi said. "You don't have as much time time to rest, and sometimes that makes a difference. It's not easy. There aren't many guys who get less sleep than I do."
Throughout the years family has halted more tennis careers than elbows gone haywire. Only six men, only one woman, have managed to win a major championship in the Open Era after becoming parents.
It has been 16 years since Wimbledon has had a father win, back when Pat Cash somehow managed the feat in 1987. It has been longer, 23 years since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in '80, that a mother has won. Only one player, Jimmy Connors, has more than one Grand Slam title (he has three) after becoming a parent.
Boris Becker won one tournament after becoming a father. John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl didn't win any. After fatherhood, evidently Pete Sampras had trouble even finding the court.
Yes, the driven nature of tennis players has something to do with it. But boxers and basketball players and football players are driven, too.
More likely it has to do with the early age at which tennis players peak and with the endless, global traveling that is demanded. American player Todd Martin, a new father himself, talked on Friday about the difficult balance.
"I've been on the road for seven weeks," he said. "(My family) has been with me the last couple of weeks, but you know, that's too much. Sometimes we have to grin and bear it and see what we can make of it.
"What's home is a whole lot better than it has ever been, and that's tremendous. Then again, what's on the road isn't as good as it used to be. I'm hoping that I'll wake up one morning and say "You know, I don't need to go to the airport in the morning.' "
Which is why, before Agassi became a father, there were those who warned him against it.
After all, it was Agassi whose career nosedived during his first marriage, to actor Brooke Shields. In the search for balance his ranking fell to No. 141, and there were those who didn't think he'd regain his interest in the game.
He did. Somehow he managed to keep his perspective.
If you want a reason to like Agassi all over again, this is as good as it gets. There are times his game is inhuman; he is not.
Once, when he was young and shallow and looked like the bass player for Duran Duran, there were as many fans who seemed annoyed by Agassi as those who admired him. That doesn't seem to be the case any longer.
The Brits love him now, possibly because these days he looks increasingly like the actor Patrick Stewart. I'm not saying Agassi looks like Professor X, but halfway through his match with Younes El Aynaoui you expected him to send Wolverine after the bad guy.
In this case, that was El Aynaoui, a player blessed with a good serve, a great forehand and, yes, every vowel possible in his surname. El Aynaoui started Saturday as if he were Buster Douglas, about to salvage a forgettable career in one day.
The thing that has always defined Agassi, however, is the way he can rise to the big points. He did that again, salvaging two tiebreakers to win in four sets and set up a fourth-round match against Mark Philippoussis.
Tough task, that. Philippoussis is younger, hits it harder and, at last report, he was childless.
Still, you have to like Agassi's chances. If he can move Philippoussis around enough, if he can make fewer mistakes, maybe he can wear him down. Family man, familiar plan.
And you know what they say.
Father knows best.