What became of Andre Agassi, the legend who hated tennis?

On September 3, 2006, just 14 years ago, Andre Agassi (Las Vegas, 50) played his last game as a tennis professional. It was at the US Open and with a defeat against the 112th in the world, the German Benjamin Becker (7-5, 6-7, 6-4 and 7-5). With a balance of 870 victories and 274 defeats, 60 titles (eight Grand Slam) and tears in his eyes (“You have helped me on the track and in life, I will thank you and I will remember it for the rest of my life,” he stammered then) who was twice number one in the world said goodbye to a sport he hated, as he confessed in his interesting biography entitled Open. Agassi left behind a brilliant as well as singular career punctuated by complex personal trauma, a busy love life and the use of methamphetamine because of the one who tested positive in an anti-doping control for which he was not finally punished.

Born into a middle-class family, the son of an Iranian boxer with Armenian and Assyrian origins, Emmanuel 'Mike' Agassi, and an American, Betty Dudley, Andre began to play tennis by the imposition of his obsessive father. This forced him to hit thousands of balls every day, because he had the eccentric theory that with a million a year his son would undoubtedly be the best. “My dad was very intense, he was eight years old and he was a burden that was sinking me and that resentment accompanied me,” said the tennis player. “I did not start in tennis by choice, I hated him with all my soul and I hated him most of my career”. Be that as it may, he soon stood out and trained at Nick Bollettieri's academy, where he was, among others, with Jim Courier and trained for free (“Save your check,” said the famous coach to Andre's father after watching the boy play ). He did not have a very good time due to the maximum demand to which he was subjected. His great support was always the physical trainer Gil Reyes, one of his best friends who accompanied him during most of his career and whom he grabbed during bad times. On the court he was groundbreaking because of his style of play (he started out very aggressive and became more methodical and with long tennis from the baseline), his short and arched steps, his false hair and short jeans with which he came to compete .

Outside the stadiums, as his career took off, Agassi had a brief relationship with actress and singer Barbra Streisand, after ending his beautiful history with his teenage girlfriend, Wendi Stewart. But soon after, she met another actress and model, famous for her role in The Blue Lake, Brooke shields, with whom he married in 1997 and who was fundamental in an important aspect of the player's life: his appearance. Andre played self-conscious about his growing baldness and in his biography he confessed that he sometimes did it with false hair: “Once, I prayed before a Roland Garros game, but not to win, if not so that my wig wouldn't fall off. “ Shields convinced him to show his true appearance (“You will feel liberated,” he said) and at the wedding he appeared already shaved by her personal hairdresser. Before long he made an advertisement for a cutting machine. The relationship lasted only two years and made him lose interest in tennis, so he fell to position 141 in the ranking. “I was not happy as number one, I feel better down there,” he came to comment. All his ills surfaced in those years. He took methamphetamine and tested positive for ATP, which however did not sanction him upon hearing his allegations (He lied when saying it was due to a mistake by a member of his team).

Agassi seemed doomed to downfall and failure. But he became intimate with Steffi Graf and everything, his life and his career, changed. With the German tennis player he found stability. She had retired in 1999 and they were married in 2001. They soon had two children, Jaden Gill (wants to dedicate himself to baseball), that same year, and Jaz Elle (2003). And while, Andre could enjoy a few more years of tennis, until the aforementioned September 3, 2006. He had had great rivalries with Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, Roger Federer and somewhat less with Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg , older than him. He played twice against Rafa Nadal (Canada 2005 and Wimbledon 2006), both with the Balearic victory.

After his retirement, his new becoming began. He continued to be linked to tennis, in veteran tournaments, some with his wife, but he did not want to be a coach immediately, as so many former players had done. He embarked on various businesses with rumors of ruin that were not true, but what filled him was his diversified philanthropic activity, above all, the creation of its own Foundation, dedicated to education, and the development of Andre Agassi Charitable Association, to help young people in Las Vegas, an area where he still resides with his family and part of Graf's. Together they opened a school there and in 2007 created the organization with other athletes Athletes for Hope (Athletes for Hope), which helps other professionals get involved in charitable causes.

In recent years he has been bitten by the tennis bug that he hated so much but actually loves. That's why he coached Novak Djokovic between 2017 and 2018, although they didn't do too well. “It's hard to get into someone else's mind. I was hoping to contribute something, but it takes two, and there were probably a lot of things that I was forcing teaching on and I don't know if that takes a while to process. I just introduced more anguish into her. life, but at the end of the day and in tennis you get the results you deserve, and in your case it is to be at the highest level. When we started, I predicted that I would win two great titles a year for the next three or four courses, and keep up with that, “he explained in an interview with AS.

Then he helped Grigor Dimitrov and surely he wishes he were in Nadal's team, whom he deeply admires and to whom he dedicated an emotional letter in May 2016 because he considers him a benefactor of his personality: “I have fought most of my career to achieve the herculean task of winning Roland Garros once. Watching your attempt to win the title for the tenth time, that's not just extraordinary, it's inspiring. You have made me believe that, in life, anything is achievable and nothing is impossible. “