Loo.me

I just finished Andre Agassi’s new autobiography Open
and found it to be a great read – i’d give it 4.5 out of 5. Sure it’s not a deep and heavy work of literature but I found it really interesting to hear about his life and emotional path.   Agassi was such a talented player who was thought of as a choke artist for such a long time until he got his mind straight.  I like that he really goes into each match and tourney and discusses why he tanked or what he was thinking.  It’s clear from reading this that so many of his failures occurred due to his emotional state. And you can hear in his voice and in his match results how much a stable home life changed him.

Some highlights for me are:

• Talking about his overbearing father and how that shaped his childhood.  His “Dragon” ball machine that his dad raised up so when it shot balls, it shot them down so Andre had to take each ball on the rise or he’d miss it
• His journey to find friends and peers that he could relate to and that helped him
• Talking about his hair and how much time and energy he spent finding and wearing a hairpiece to play in.
• Talking about Steffi and how much of an impact she had on him.  It’s clear that once he established a solid home life his career peaked.  Without that, he’d without a doubt have much fewer wins
• Comparing himself to Pete Sampras and how their two paths differed.  Also hearing the story of Pete tipping his valet $1
• The anecdote of when his dad met Steffi’s dad.  Both were great former athletes who pushed their kids to greatness and when they meet two egos clash like i’ve never heard of before.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes tennis or Agassi.