Agassi

wr8_utd

Ripped :'(
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
39,172
Been reading his autobiography, "Open", and I really do feel if the guy had been mentally stronger and had made slightly better choices he really could have been the person with the maximum number of Slams.

His best Slam, the Aussie Open where he won 4 titles is where he played the least. For the first 8 years of his career he just did not play in Australia and for the first 3 years not at Wimbledon. That's 11 slams he just chose not to play. And also his recurring injury problems. The wrist surgery, the knee problems at the Aussie Open when he tanked his match vs Chang in the semis, the back problems and the hip problems which flared up in several slams.

Mentally too he was quite a mess at many times which is apparent from his book. The guy was my favorite and a hero since I started watching tennis and this book is a great read and it does leave you wondering about what could have been. He really could and should have won far more than the 8 Slams he did.

Anyway for all the tennis fans, it's a great read irrespective of if you were a fan or not!

Hard to believe that he told his coach back in 1990 that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. :lol:
 
Used to love Andre, always hated 'Pistol Pete' - what a tosser.

But tbf to Andre, he lost a fair few finals to Pete, Sampras really was something else, and it seemed no matter how hard Agassi fought in most of their encounters...just when it seemed like Agassi was going to go ahead, Sampras would send down a couple of thundering aces, and Agassi would lose all the initiative.

I can imagine how deflating it is to work your butt off to get to a break point situation only for the opponent to throw down an ace and undo all that work. That sort of scenario cost Agassi time and time against Sampras.
 
BTV_is_neutral said:
Used to love Andre, always hated 'Pistol Pete' - what a tosser.

But tbf to Andre, he lost a fair few finals to Pete, Sampras really was something else, and it seemed no matter how hard Agassi fought in most of their encounters...just when it seemed like Agassi was going to go ahead, Sampras would send down a couple of thundering aces, and Agassi would lose all the initiative.

I can imagine how deflating it is to work your butt off to get to a break point situation only for the opponent to throw down an ace and undo all that work. That sort of scenario cost Agassi time and time against Sampras.
Click to expand...

Yep same here. Always a huge Agassi fan and disliked Pete.

Reading his book you understand his mental breakdown vs Sampras at times.The lost in the 96 USO final really took him a long time to get over.

But despite his losing record vs Sampras he honestly should have won much more than just 8 Slams. At times he just lacked any motivation.

An Agassi with the concentration and mentality of Nadal would have been a fearsome combo.

Oh and it was interesting to read that Agassi said that he and all his fellow players always considered Laver to be the greatest ever.
 
yup, and as you said, the complete breakdown he had, when his ranking plummeted to 143 or something...cost him a couple of seasons in his prime. You'd like to think, he would have won at least 1 per year, so tack on a couple of more Slams to his already impressive total, and the debate regarding his place in history becomes even more interesting.
 
BTV_is_neutral said:
yup, and as you said, the complete breakdown he had, when his ranking plummeted to 143 or something...cost him a couple of seasons in his prime. You'd like to think, he would have won at least 1 per year, so tack on a couple of more Slams to his already impressive total, and the debate regarding his place in history becomes even more interesting.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Mental breakdowns and his stupid decisions not to play Australia for 8 years really cost him. I honestly think he would have easily won more than Pete's 14 and even more than Fed's 16.

But the fact that he hated tennis throughout his life maybe explains his mentality. He really was very very fragile.
 
BTV_is_neutral said:
Used to love Andre, always hated 'Pistol Pete' - what a tosser.

But tbf to Andre, he lost a fair few finals to Pete, Sampras really was something else, and it seemed no matter how hard Agassi fought in most of their encounters...just when it seemed like Agassi was going to go ahead, Sampras would send down a couple of thundering aces, and Agassi would lose all the initiative.

I can imagine how deflating it is to work your butt off to get to a break point situation only for the opponent to throw down an ace and undo all that work. That sort of scenario cost Agassi time and time against Sampras.
Click to expand...

Agassi was kind of unlucky. The Pete-Andre match up was not a good one for Agassi. It pits strength vs strength i.e. serve versus return. And you'd always choose a big serve versus a good return because it will win you the point more often than not. Sampras was just a serving machine.
 
Ole's_toe_poke said:
Agassi was kind of unlucky. The Pete-Andre match up was not a good one for Agassi. It pits strength vs strength i.e. serve versus return. And you'd always choose a big serve versus a good return because it will win you the point more often than not. Sampras was just a serving machine.
Click to expand...

Agassi kind of was like Nadal is. Just never had a good enough serve to get a lot of cheap points. However he also did not have the mentality and dedication to work on his serve the way Nadal has done now to try improve.

But Agassi was a brilliant returner :drool:
 
Started reading Open. One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Not overly cliched or sentimental, just brutally honest. Also, for an athlete, it's extremely well written.
 
Bear Attack said:
Started reading Open. One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Not overly cliched or sentimental, just brutally honest. Also, for an athlete, it's extremely well written.
Click to expand...

Yup I absolutely loved it. It's astonishing how much he hated tennis as a kid.

And reading about all his exchanges with players and his first impression of Sampras is fascinating
 
I've been reading it now and it really is brilliant. It actually answers a lot of questions because when you saw him playing, when you saw his up and downs, you kind of knew the guy had some demons, just not what demons and how many. I can't forget that match at Roland Garros when he was winning easily, then Clinton arrived and he just stopped playing. Haven't reached that in the book yet, assuming it's there.
 
Fantastic book. I have an e-book, if anyone wants it.
 
It's an epub extension book.. I think you can read it on your mobile also..

Message me your e-mail address.. I'll mail it.. it's a 3MB file.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.