Andre Agassi became one of the greatest tennis players with an astounding record under his name. But at what cost? Agassi opened up about the strict and merciless way his father taught him. However, his father felt that he could push one other kid into the sport who could thrive well. It was his first daughter, Rita.

He saw the utmost potential in her but was annoyed with former champion Pancho Gonzales who had married her. Consequently, she got away from him and he felt that regret for a long time.

The Father of Andre Agassi was mad at Pancho Gonzales for taking away his daughter Rita

Emmanuel Agassi gave the world one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Andre Agassi. However, he felt enraged by the fact that he could give one more to the tennis realm, had it not been for former champion Pancho Gonzales.

In an old interview, he talked about his first daughter Rita in whom he saw great potential. In his eyes, she could become a great player. He said, “Rita, the first, born in ’60, was a very strong girl, physique and power, but Pancho Gonzales, the former tennis champion, stole her from me.”

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Agassi’s father added, “He became her coach, went to bed with her, married her despite the 20 years difference, pushed her away from me, and ruined her.” What enraged him was that Gonzales kept her away from him. He said, “I lost Rita because Pancho kept telling her, ‘I was a great champion, your father was not, trust me, not him.'”

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He did not shy away from bashing the former American champion. He said, “Gonzales, married and divorced six times, had eight children, the last one, Skylar, with Rita. If he was that good why didn’t any of them break through?”

Tennis players and their fathers

Andre Agassi opened up about the strict schedule that his father had set for him. Hitting numerous balls from, ‘Dragon’, a ball throwing machine, was a daily routine of the young Agassi. He is not the only player whose father has had an overbearing presence on their kid. His wife, Steffi Graf’s father, was also a strict one and managed her gameplay with a lot of scrutiny.

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Apart from that, the legendary sisters, Venus and Serena Williams learned how to play tennis under the aegis of their father, Richard Williams.