Does being made to start playing tennis at age 3 and being forced by his father to continue when he hated it make Andre Agassi an abused child?
Anyone who has ever seen a bio-pic of retired tennis great Andre Agassi has seen video clips of a tiny boy playing tennis like an adult. Every time I saw those clips I wondered if Agassi really wanted to be out there training like a pro and giving exhibitions when he was 7 years old. Now I know. He hated it. Even so, he kept on playing, became the number one player in tennis, fell to 141 in the rankings, then came back and completed a career Grand Slam and won 8 major titles. Now Agassi is retired and has published a tell-all book. He hated tennis. When his career fell apart he took drugs. Even after he made a comeback and became one of the elder statemen of tennis, he still hated it.
You can't help asking yourself: Why did Agassi continue to play tennis all those years? After he had made a few million dollars, why didn't he tell his father to take a hike and quit the sport once and for all? Many tennis players begin playing as very young children, and many have parents who push them to excel. We have heard the stories of Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce, who certainly were emotionally abused by their fathers, if not physically. But Andre Agassi? Here is a man who didn't retire from professional tennis until he was 36 years old, and then it took a severe back injury to force him out of the sport. What was he doing all those years he was playing a sport he hated? What was he thinking?
Andre Agassi's incredible return game and powerful groundstrokes did much to change the style of tennis. Being incredibly fit, playing from the baseline and running other players around, having the stamina to play on with ease after he had worn out his opponent--this is how the game is played today by most of its top stars. Yet it's hard to reconcile all that with hating tennis. Maybe a man who dropped out of school after the 9th grade didn't think he had alternatives. Maybe the money and celebrity balanced his hatred of the sport. Or maybe he is just spinning another myth around himself. After all, this is the guy who never quite escaped his early statement (in a commercial) "Image is everything." Maybe this is the new Agassi image?
3 comments:
Yeah it's interesting how he could hate tennis yet win 8 grand slams. I still remember when he won Wimbledon with his long blonde hair - he was my mum's favourite player. I always remember him giving everything on court. So it's hard for me to imagine he hated it all along.
I guess money is a big motivation.
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I am sures its not just money that kept Mr. agassi going even after he said he hated tennis.His story almost strikes a chord with my own life, my mother is a visual artist. She wanted me to be one as well but after a few years I realised I was natural. I was the best student of my teacher. I saw amazing results , and i was asking myself 'from where is this coming'. But my goals of life were different I hated to be an artist. It was my mom who decided it for me.Though i am very good at it , I am pro it still leaves me with some unsaid dissatisfaction. I hate to an artist (though I earn well) I can't leave it either (even when I have masters in compocom science and 4 years of work experience at a top American MNC). All the time I can think is in terms of art. A lot of times I fail to reach my own standards then it starts to create blocks. Then you start hating it all over again. The more you go away you feel attracted to it then starts one more round of obsession. Then I paint and read endlessly. One good work can enhance your love more than you expect. But one wrong work and put it down by no one knows how much. It is a different state of mind which cannot be said or understood , one can only experience it. What I have been able conclude what this sort of a relationship is, it's nothing but love for perfection. That makes this look so complicated
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