Andre Agassi was the ‘counterpuncher’ in tennis during his early days. He was known for audacious and aggressive gameplay. His on-court outbursts, along with sheer brilliance on the court, always put him in the limelight of the tennis world. The 53-year-old American tennis legend recently came up to ‘The AO Show’ and highlighted how he was forced to change his ‘trademark style’.

He said he had to work hard to learn to control his aggression on the court to maximize his potential. Andre Agassi started playing tennis at a very young age and turned into a pro at the age of 16. His journey has been full of ups and downs and here’s what he said about moulding himself to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

‘I was a victim of how I felt’ – Andre Agassi

Speaking to ESPN during an interview, a few years ago he said, that he experienced a feeling of liberation and freedom when he broke into the professional world of tennis. He said that was something that he hadn’t experienced ever before in his life. Agassi further opened up about the feelings he went through during that period and added, he had a lot of internal pressure to succeed as a tennis player.

During the recent podcast at ‘The AO Show’, he was asked to reflect on the defining qualities that he had when he 20YO. In reply to that question, he said, “I was a victim of how I felt. Emotions sometimes got the better of me on a tennis court. Whether it was a good day, or whether it wasn’t a good day. And, I didn’t have that discipline of sort of leaving the emotion outside. I kind of allowed it to fuel me. And then sometimes I allowed it to bring me down.“

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This aggressive style of play by the American tennis stars was very popular at some point in time. Even Novak Djokovic once spoke about this ‘American Style‘ of playing tennis. He believes that every part of the world has a “different school” of tennis. 

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According to the Serbian superstar, American and more specifically North American tennis always had an abundance of players who possessed aggressive styles along with strong serves and good net game. Djokovic had showcased his admiration for Agassi’s style of play during his prime days.

Former world number one shares his thoughts on facing the young Agassi

During an interview, the Swedish former world number one, Mats Wilander recalled those days when he faced the young Andre Agassi. He said, “I remember playing a couple of games, and I was like, ‘Oh man, that ball nearly hit my head.’ I was like, is he serious? He’s trying to hit me. This guy, he can’t defend, he’s just trying to do as hard as he can.” 

Andre Agassi was quite different from most of his peers. The experts of the game have always heaped praise on his prowess from the baseline. Do you love this aggressive style of gameplay in tennis?

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