Open as a title for Andre Agassi’s book is a bit misleading. While Agassi does open himself up to the various facets of his life, you can’t help but wonder if this book should have been titled “Miracle” rather than Open.
As you put down the book and ponder over it, you do feel that it was nothing short of a miracle how he became one of the most successful tennis players of all time. Agassi is shockingly candid about hating tennis from the first time he picked up a racquet and till he played his last match, he was always looking out for escape routes. The image of Andre Agassi one has in mind is all about a rebel, who wore denim shorts at tennis matches, did all sorts of things with his hair and had a wild streak in him.
The seeds of discontent in Agassi’s mind were sown as early as the age of seven when his father made him hit over a million tennis balls in a year. Agassi describes the ball-machine as a monster which never ever let him rest. Next step was to enroll at the Nick Bollettieri academy at the age of 13, which he describes as a prison camp. He dyed his hair pink, got his ears pierced, started drinking at the age of 14 and chewed weed most of the times. “It was my way of telling people that I didn’t want to be here,” he writes. But such was his talent that he continued to rise up the tennis rankings and was soon the most talked about junior on the tennis circuit.
What makes the book interesting is how Agassi has written it. No holds barred, no mincing of words and calling a spade a spade. He maintains that how he hated uttering all the right words in front of the media when all he wanted was to run away from the tennis courts. He loathed the fact that the media wrote about what they wanted and what they perceived. One of the most interesting bits in the book is about an ad campaign which Agassi did for Canon. What he thought was a harmless campaign turned his life upside down. Agassi had to utter three words “Image is everything”, but those three words haunted him every time he stepped on the court. “If I broke my racquet in frustration or abused on the court, they (media) were quick to point out that how image was everything,” he writes.
There are only two people who Agassi talks about highly in the book. He reserves the highest praise for his trainer Gil Reyes — whom he credits for being the player he is. The other one is Steffi Graf, his wife who he calls “the most amazing person in the world”.
For his father’s maniacal obsession of turning him into the best player in the world, Agassi is critical of him. Very few words of praise are directed towards his rivals barring Pete Sampras. In fact, he goes on to write that how Boris Becker’s criticism led him to embark on a “Summer of Revenge” where he went on to an incredible streak of winning tournaments after tournaments and eventually becoming number one. He writes that soon after that, the desire faded and he just didn’t care about tennis. “But then that was the only thing I knew. I hated it but tennis was my life,” he writes.
The revelation about Agassi snorting crystal-meth doesn’t come as a shock, but what’s more shocking is the Association of Tennis Professionals’ (ATP’s) approach towards handling it. When Agassi tested positive at a tournament, the result was kept confidential and he was not even suspended till the investigation was conducted. What’s more appalling is that the ATP ultimately accepted his lame excuse of his soda being spiked and thus the test showed positive!
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Agassi describes the tennis matches in great detail, especially the ones against Sampras. As he says, Sampras took tennis as a job, did it with utmost dedication and had a life outside tennis. While for his, all talk of having a life outside tennis was just talk!
As a reader, you can’t help but feel sympathy for Agassi. On court, you always saw the Agassi who never gave up, one who defied all odds and rose to the number one ranking at the age of 33. He talks passionately about using his name and fame for a better cause — the school for underprivileged which he has built in Las Vegas.
Agassi’s life, in spite of all the lows and his hatred for tennis, has been an eventful one. And credit must be given to his ghostwriter JR Moehringer for weaving it in such an engaging manner. You would be shocked at some of the revelations but not the expected ones. As was the case with Agassi’s tennis, it’s the same with his book — expect the unexpected!
OPEN
Andre Agassi
Harper Collins
388 pages; Rs 599