The spotlight was on him when he was still figuring out who he was and before he had developed any level of emotional maturity.
He turned pro when he was a rebellious teenager. Then he was shipped off to a grim Florida tennis academy where he was allowed to drop out of 8th (9th?) grade, but continued to focus on tennis. Based on the descriptions of his childhood, I consider his father’s behavior abusive. Like so many successful athletes (I’m thinking of Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters), Agassi was the product of a parent who aggressively made him pursue tennis starting from a very early age. And his career lasted until he was 36, well past the average retirement age of most tennis players.īut, as the book explains, he broke onto the scene at an early age and was ill-equipped to handle fame, success, and failure. For example, he is one of the few players to win an Olympic gold medal and all four “slams” – the US, French, and Australian Opens plus Wimbledon. The gossip and sensationalism often overshadowed his accomplishments on the tennis court, and I think one of purposes of this book is to set the record straight. For example, I knew about his fabulous, frosted mullet his short marriage to Brooke Shields his second marriage to Steffi Graf and that his foundation opened a charter school in Las Vegas around the time he retired. But I knew some things about Andre Agassi, probably because he was tabloid fodder for so many years. I have to admit that I do not follow tennis, maybe because I never played but also because the matches are so, so long. (Stupid coronavirus!) Agassi won Olympic gold in 1996, so this book was completely on point. July’s assignment was to read a sports-related book in honor of the Summer Olympics that are supposed to be taking place right now. I read Open as part of the 2020 Thoughtful Reading Challenge. (This in no way affects the honesty of my reviews!) All commissions will be donated to the ALS Association. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, from qualifying purchases. This post may contain Amazon Affiliate links. (I promise that’s the only tennis pun I’ll use.) It opens with one of the most compelling prologues I’ve ever read and then serves up page after page of the fascinating triumphs and tribulations of Agassi’s life. Open is the autobiography of tennis legend Andre Agassi.
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