‘I Hate Tennis’- Andre Agassi Once Detailed What Went Inside His Mind as a Teenager Trapped on the Tennis Court

Andre Agassi has always been outspoken about the atrocities of tennis. The popularity of the sport plus the fame and money it brings once a player starts performing well in tours. It often lures in parents. They push their kids and burden them with the responsibility of proving themselves worthy of the money they spent. Something of a similar sort happened with the eight-time Grand Slam champion.

Although Agassi succeeded in doing what many can’t, his anger about not having a choice to this date is intact. In his autobiography, he detailed what went inside a teenage boy’s mind who was tied to tennis.

Andre Agassi about how tennis kept him hostage

Agassi started pursuing tennis because his father, who himself was an Olympic boxer, wanted his son to have an athletic profession. No doubt he had the required talent, but the will to stick to the sport for life wasn’t there. As he disclosed in his autobiography, “I’M SEVEN YEARS OLD, talking to myself, because I’m scared, and because I’m the only person who listens to me. Under my breath I whisper: Just quit, Andre, just give up.”

“Put down your racket and walk off this court right now. Go into the house and get something good to eat. Play with Rita, Philly, or Tami. Sit with Mom. Wouldn’t that feel like heaven, Andre? To just quit? To never play tennis again?” he added.

Thereafter, he confessed, “But I can’t. Not only would my father chase me around the house with my racket, but something in my gut, some deep unseen muscle, won’t let me. I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing.” After Agassi secured a trophy at the doubles tournament in Chicago, his father, Mike Agassi, decided to invest all his savings into making him the next big thing in tennis. 

Read more: ‘A*sh*le, Egomaniac Pr*ck’ – A Young Andre Agassi Received a Big Jolt as Jimmy Connors’ Attitude Affirmed Locker Room Talk About Him Back in 1988

Mike, with all he could arrange, enrolled his boy in Nick Bollettieri’s academy for three months. However, after seeing him play, Bollettieri waived his fee and took him in as his disciple. The pressure of living up to his father’s dream and being the chosen one kept Agassi going, even when his heart said otherwise. 

What is Agassi up to these days?

The former World No 1 didn’t have a choice of profession while growing up. He had to pursue tennis. However, in order to avoid the making of another Andre Agassi, he is giving his all to provide options to children. He runs Andre Agassi Foundation, which aims to help under-deserved kids with education and other resources.

Watch this story: Andre Agassi’s long-time coach voiced out disagreement with Chris Evert over Serena Williams’ ranking controversy in 2018

Further, apart from that, he tried his hands at coaching as well. Agassi worked in collaboration with the 21 times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic for some time and then guided the Bulgarian ace Grigor Dimitrov. Currently, he is taking a break from the same and might rejoin the circuit with a new face soon.