Andre Agassi, despite having a stellar career in tennis, has expressed his dislike for the sport several times. Even though the eight-time Grand Slam champion was among the elite players of the late 80s and 90s, he felt pressured. Thus, playing tennis was mentally taxing for him. So much so that the hidden desire to quit kept him awake.

Agassi has often spoken about the cons of being a part of the sport. In fact, he and Steffi Graf even kept their kids away from it. Here’s the extent to which he was pushed that made him have such a mindset about the sport.

Andre Agassi about a life-changing incident

Agassi, in his autobiography ‘Open’, mentioned an incident that in a way explains his current take on tennis. He, writing about a tough match, shared, “I’m hobbling through the lobby of the Four Seasons the next morning when a man steps out of the shadows. He grabs my arm. Quit, he says. What? It’s my father—or a ghost of my father.”

“He looks ashen. He looks as if he hasn’t slept in weeks. Pops? What are you talking about? Just quit. Go home. You did it. It’s over. He says he prays for me to retire,” he added.

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Thereafter, he wrote about how his father or an apparition of him, wanted Agassi’s struggle to end. He wrote, “He says he can’t wait for me to be done, so he won’t have to watch me suffer anymore. He won’t have to sit through my matches with his heart in his mouth.”

Agassi’s father Mike Agassi was himself an athlete. He was an Iranian Olympic boxer who was over the moon when he discovered that his son harbored immense talent in tennis.

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Mike gave up all his saving to enroll his teenage son in Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy. Further, he attended the former World no.1’s matches and stood by his side throughout his career, until his demise in 2021. Although Agassi had a bittersweet relationship with his father, he for sure played a major role in making him what he is today. 

Agassi’s journey as a tennis player

The now 52-year-old debuted in the year 1986 with the task of reaching the level of the top players at the time. After almost a decade of striving, he finally claimed the crown of World No.1 in 1995 after clinching his first Australian Open title to add to his US Open victory from the previous season. 

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Following that, his game suffered a major dip due to personal issues until he regained his form in the year 1999. He claimed his first French Open trophy that year and marked three more titles on the hard courts of Australia under his name. Further, he won America a gold medal at the 1996 summer Olympics and helped the nation claim three Davis Cup titles.

What are your thoughts on Agassi hating tennis? Do you think other stars currently on the Tour also harbor such feelings?