‘The Only Way You Are Going to Be No.1’ – Andre Agassi Once Blasted His Father for Crudely ‘Banishing’ Him to Nick Bollettieri’s Academy

The eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi is famous for bringing rage to the sport. Outspoken professionals such as Nick Kyrgios got an opportunity to be themselves because Agassi denied going by the orthodox way of playing the gentlemen’s game back in his playing days. However, his rebellious behavior wasn’t something that was tagged along while transitioning from childhood. Agassi was surprisingly obedient when he was younger.

He accepted whatever his father decided for him. In fact, it was his father’s fondness for tennis that mapped his career. Here’s an incident explaining how powerless Agassi was in the matters of his own life.

How Andre Agassi joined a tennis academy

Agassi has disclosed many intricate things about his life in his autobiography, The Open, published in 2009. One of those details was how he was enrolled in Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy against his will. He after explaining how his father, Mike Agassi, made the decision, wrote, “he’s banishing me. He says, you’ve got to eat, sleep, and drink tennis. It’s the only way you’re going to be number one.”

“I already eat, sleep, and drink tennis. But he wants me to do my eating, sleeping, and drinking elsewhere.” Thereafter, he added, “How much does this tennis academy cost? About $12,000 a year. We can’t afford that. You’re only going for three months. That’s $3,000. We can’t afford that either.”

“It’s an investment. I don’t want to go. I can see from my father’s face it’s settled. End of story. I try to look on the bright side. It’s only three months.” Agassi lived up to his father’s dream and became the world no.1. However, he never got a chance to explore his interests, and that’s something that still has a certain level of grip on the veteran.

Read more: ‘I Have a Steel-Trap Memory’- Andre Agassi Once Revealed How He Hated ‘School’ Just to Please His Disciplinarian Father

Speaking of Agassi’s career, he became the 14-time Grand Slam champion, Pete Sampras’ biggest rival. He asserted dominance on the hard courts of the Australian majors. Further, he represented and won America a gold medal in the 1996 Olympic games.

What is Agassi up to these days?

The veteran decided to hang his racket in the year 2006 and post that he got inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Agassi at first tried his hands at coaching. He worked in collaboration with the 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic for some time and then took the Bulgarian professional Grigor Dimitrov under his wings.

Watch this story: When Andre Agassi openly defended preferential treatment given to Serena Williams at Wimbledon

The 52-year-old left Dimitrov’s team in 2020 and is currently focusing on strengthening the Andre Agassi Foundation. The organization focuses on providing underprivileged children with education and helping them build their careers.