‘I Was Harder on Myself’ – Andre Agassi’s Painful Revelation About How Father’s Dominance Changed His Attitude Forever

Andre Agassi is universally hailed as one of the legendary tennis players. The former world No. 1 won an Olympic gold medal for the United States of America in 1996, in addition to his eight Grand Slam titles. During matches, Agassi would often hit powerful down-the-line forehands, which earned him a reputation for power and precision.

Much of his success must be credited to Agassi’s father, Mike, who was once his childhood coach. However, Mike passed away at the age of 90 at Las Vegas’s Nathan Adelson Hospital. In one of his previous interviews, the 52-year-old Agassi talked about his father and his influence on him as a player.

Andre Agassi on his father being dominant and hard on him

In one of his podcast interviews back in 2020, Andre Agassi spoke about his dad and the kind of dominant influence that Agassi’s dad had on his game. “Well, yeah. My dad was so hard on me that by the time I was seven years old, I didn’t need him anymore to be hard on me, because I was harder on myself. That’s probably the best way I could frame it.” said Agassi.

He further stated, “Yes. When you don’t have options, fear is one heck of a motivator, you know, and is it ideal? No, It’s not ideal. It led to some pretty difficult times. If I didn’t have it. What I’ve done is much hard to say, but the truth was that was all motivated by fear, fear of failing fear of what else would I do If couldn’t do this, you know, and then the second half was the complete opposite?”

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Andre Agassi’s stellar career was greatly influenced by his father, Mike Agassi. He worked with Andre from 1970 to 1983, a period of 13 years. 

Agassi’s stellar career record

Agassi is one of only five men in the Open Era to have completed the Career Slam. His rivalry with Pete Sampras in the 1990s was and still is a pivotal event in tennis history. 

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In 2006, the eight-time Grand Slam winner bid goodbye to his professional tennis career. In later years, he returned to the sport as a coach to Novak Djokovic and worked with the Serbian for two consecutive years (2017-2018).