Open - Andre Agassi

 

A rebel in his tennis career as he shunned the stuffiness of the sport for a rock and roll approach that earned him fans around the world, in Open’ An Autobiography  of and by Andre Agassi AKA  says that he always resented the sport that made him a global superstar because it has deprived him of the childhood he craved, so he made it his mission to ensure the next generation would not be denied the chances that passed him by. The book starts with the end, his last match and ends with the Beginning,  his dream project. 

He always had mixed emotions about this game. He didn’t enjoy it when he was out on court at times, but he appreciates what it did for him and now he is trying to use the platform it has given him to give something to others. Agassi’s Preparatory Academy opened its doors for the first time in 2001 and  providing young kids with the kind of chance to get an education the mastermind behind the project missed out on when he devoted his life to sport at a young age.

His favourite feature of the school is the code of respect that begins each day.  It says;

The essence of good discipline is respect, respect for authority and respect for others.

Respect for self and respect for rules. It is an attitude that begins at home, is reinforced at school and is applied throughout life.

As that's the beginning,  where the book ends, thought of starting  with it. 

Once upon a time, it was Agassi and Sampras's match that drew my attention  to  the sport and kept me hooked to it. I had always  been  a bigger fan of Sampras so am just waiting  to grab his book next. What was intriguing  was his marriage  to Stephanie when the tax controversy was going  on in Germany  on her father specially,  though the book dont speak much about it, it do say how both had similar  pops interested in sports especially  boxing  and thus tennis which are similar and how they both made their children great players who disliked the sport. For him having her in his life was a privilege. A goal written  down by his coach come true. Still I wonder about it. 

When he introduced (in 2004) Stefanie at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, he said the truest words of  life: “Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you the greatest person I’ve ever known, Stefanie Graf.” In 1992 when both won Wimbledon,  they were supposed to have the dance but got canceled.  Steffi was dating  a car racer in Germany,  and Agassi had different  girlfriends every two years, married  one of them and the wedding lasted for two years.

Life is a tennis match between polar opposite winning and losing, love and hate, open and close. It helps to recognise that painful fact early then recognise a polar opposites within yourself and if you can't embrace them or reconcile them at least accept them and move on.  The only thing you cannot do is ignore them.