Monday, December 19, 2016
Open-An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
is a tennis player. One of the very best of all time. Andre Agassi
hates tennis. In the preface to the book, he writes that he has
always hated tennis. He will admit, however, that tennis has been
pretty good to him.
There is a
positive note to his tortured life. His foundation has raised more
than $ 85 million for a school for underprivileged children in Las
Vegas. Naturally, the school is named “The Andre Agassi College
Preparatory Academy”. The road he took to establish the school had
its twists and turns. This autobiography will take you down that
road, warts and all.
His father
moved the family to Las Vegas, so that he could build a court to
teach his son the game. When Agassi was four, he was hitting balls
with tennis greats as they passed through Las Vegas, beginning with
Jimmy Connors. Agassi's father strung rackets for the great players.
Mike Agassi
was born in Iran, and had represented that country at the Olympic
Games, as a boxer. He worked in Vegas as a casino captain, seating
people at the shows. When he is not at the casino, he is obsessed
with the notion that his son must become the best tennis player in
the world. He arranges tennis matches against celebrities passing
through Vegas for Andre, when Andre was nine. A match against Jim
Brown, one of the greatest running backs of all time in the NFL, as
an example. For ten thousand dollars. They settled for $ 500, and
Andre won easily, 6-2.
Andre
remembers harrowing rides with his father. If someone bumped his
fender, Mike Agassi would fly out of the vehicle and fight the other
driver. If there was an incident of road rage, his father would open
the glove box, remove his pistol and aim it at the head of the other
driver.
Agassi moved
to Florida in his early teens to improve his game, attending the
Bollettieri Academy. There is constant pressure, and the competition
is intense against the best young players from around the world. He
hates the place, but realizes it is the best place to improve his
game.
Then begins
a series of adventures through the tennis world, with the end result
that Agassi becomes the number one player in the world. He is pitted
against Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, and his arch rival, Pete
Sampras. He is paired with some very impressive ladies: Barbara
Streisand, Brooke Shields etc. In fact, he was married for two years
to Shields. He dabbled in illicit drugs, and was suspended for a
time.
It is easy
to group him with many of the other spoiled tennis brats that have
taken the courts over the years: Connors, McEnroe, Ille Nastasse.
During his career, tennis became entertainment, moving from the
dignified days of Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, Cliff Drysdale, Roy
Emerson, John Newcombe, and Lew Hoad.
To conclude,
it appears as if Agassi and his family are now on the right track. He
and his wife, also a former number one player, Steffi Graf, are in
the process of raising two children. (Agassi says that he does not
care if they play tennis.) They are busy with the administration and
fund-raising for the school.
A phoenix
from the ashes.
This book is
now in the Wellington Public Library. Enjoy.
December 19,
2016.
# posted by James Hurst @ 9:04 AM 
