Agassi Hated Tennis.

[SAFMAN69]

did he really hate playing tennis? hate winning those grandslams? and crying at victory?

[pabletion]

We'll have to wait and see what the deal was about, when the book's available...

He was a kid that was pushed a lot by his father during his childhood, and remember he turned pro when he was 16 and at the time he did meth he was almost out of tennis for good..........

You dont come back when youre 28 yo and play all the way till youre 36, and you dont need the money, if you hate tennis.

[volkl-viper]

obviously he was disillusioned enough to screw around with crystal meth....his life could have taken a very tragic turn. the turnaround he accomplished is pretty impressive. his new book sounds like a good read.

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by pabletion

We'll have to wait and see what the deal was about, when the book's available...

Originally Posted by volkl-viper

the turnaround he accomplished is pretty impressive. his new book sounds like a good read.

Well then, the pre-release revelations have done their work and all that's left is for AA to appear on Oprah and Larry King to sell some more copies.

[wyutani]

hes on meth.

[eagle]

Every pro player who is thinking of writing an autobiography should go with Agassi's publicist/pr person.

His revelation has stirred so much press which of course will translate to $$.

Very effective. It'll probably sell more than Sampras' book because of it.

What ramifications it will have on his reputation we'll simply have to wait and see.

I personally think he'll ride this out and will have it as a small footnote on his legacy.

r,
eagle

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by eagle

Very effective. It'll probably sell more than Sampras' book because of it.

Yeah, for sure. I'll bet a lot of publishers require some sort of juicy tidbit like this in an autobiography to jump-start the publicity tour for the book. Plain-vanilla bios like Sampras' and Blake's probably didn't sell that many copies, but Andre's sure will now.

[EKnee08]

Originally Posted by Nuke

Yeah, for sure. I'll bet a lot of publishers require some sort of juicy tidbit like this in an autobiography to jump-start the publicity tour for the book. Plain-vanilla bios like Sampras' and Blake's probably didn't sell that many copies, but Andre's sure will now.

I don't think he is making this confession in his book for the money. He does not need the money. Back in the day for many years, he was #2 in endorsement deals of all male pro athletes right behind Jordan. In addition, Steffi has plenty as well.

Its refreshing for an athlete to be brutually honest. Everyone makes mistakes on the journey but its the end product which counts.
I have always been a bigger fan of Pete and read his book. Pete's book was fascinating because it focused on his tennis. His personal life discussed in the book was mostly as it related to his tennis career.

Even without this revelation regarding meth , Agassi's book promised to be very interesting-the ups and downs and ups again of his personal as well as professional life and his metamorphosis into a well-rounded person who gives back.



Interesting column on ESPN website http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...ick&id=4601145

[eagle]

^^ Well, if not to fatten his wallet, then perhaps to supplement his Agassi Foundation. Now, that would be a noble thing to do, wouldn't it? Expose your skeletons to help raise money for his Vegas school?

r,
eagle

[pabletion]

^^Two birds with one very very big stone: Agassi will go down as a resurgent phoenix who came out with a secret he very well couldve taken to his grave, instead he chose to come clean and reveal his dark times and how he came back from that......
AND, by revealing himself his story is gonna sell like beer in Oktoberfest in Berlin.

[JRstriker12]

I'm sure being a kid pushed into pro tennis, he secretly hated it. I think some have said that same about Safin.... I think you could point to Agassi's waste of his talent early in his career to some of this resentment - BUT there's no doubt that later on he realized what he had in tennis, appreciated it and an took advantage of it.

[jimbo333]

Originally Posted by wyutani

hes on meth.

Well yes, it sounds like he used meth, not crystal meth, which is a completely different drug isn't it?

And all the headlines are saying crystal meth, this is really misleading. Crystal meth is a really dangerous addictive drug, whereas meth is just speed isn't it?

[MEAC_ALLAMERICAN]

How about somebody open a thread tiled " Open" dealing with Andre Agassi's book. There will be plenty to discuss, sort of a book club if you will.

[pc1]

It promises to be a very interesting read to say the least. It could be a biography in which they reveal virtually everything and that is something that is very rare.

From a pure tennis playing point of view I hope he is just as honest in his revelations about his opponents and what he thought of their play and their weaknesses.

I loved to watch Agassi play. If he just had the mobility of an Edberg, Sampras or a Lendl no telling how great his record could have been.

[Moose Malloy]

Excerpts of Agassi’s upcoming autobiography published Wednesday by Sports Illustrated and the Times of London contain graphic depictions of his use of crystal meth, an account of how he wriggled his way out of a suspension by lying to the ATP tour after failing a 1997 drug test, and the jarring contention that he always hated tennis “with a dark and secret passion” because of his overbearing father.

Agassi, who won eight Grand Slam singles titles before retiring in 2006, is not explaining himself at the moment. His representative referred interview requests to his publishing company, which has set up a “60 Minutes” appearance on Nov. 8, the day before the book’s scheduled release.

SI and the Times of London are among four publications that paid for the rights to print parts of “Open: An Autobiography.” Among the material excerpted:

— Agassi calls his father “violent by nature,” and recalls being in the car when his father pointed a handgun at another driver.

— He writes about making money by hustling people on tennis courts and remembers when, at 9 years old, he beat former NFL great Jim Brown in a match to win a $500 bet for his father.

— He poignantly recalls a telephone conversation with his father after winning Grand Slam title No. 1 at Wimbledon in 1992. Dad’s initial reaction? “You had no business losing that fourth set,” Agassi writes.

— He writes about using crystal meth “a lot” and in sometimes-positive terms, including reference to “a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful—and I’ve never felt such energy.”

“Apart from the buzz of getting high,” he says, “I get an undeniable satisfaction from harming myself and shortening my career,” he writes. But the physical aftermath is hideous. After two days of being high, of not sleeping, I’m an alien. I have the audacity to wonder why I feel so rotten. I’m an athlete, my body should be able to handle this.”

— Agassi says he wrote to the ATP tour to explain the 1997 positive test and that “the central lie of the letter” was that he claimed he accidentally drank from a soda spiked with meth by his assistant “Slim.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

[tricky]

Agassi has always been pretty open about his relationship with tennis (and really, about his father.) And this is BTW not unusual for many top tennis players, given the demands and sacrifices, it requires to achieve that kind of elite level. That is, if you ever can.

Still, it was the one stable element in his life. It's like family in that way. Leave it. Return to it. Grow up. Make peace. All the things involved with becoming a man.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by tricky

Agassi has always been pretty open about his relationship with tennis (and really, about his father.) And this is BTW not unusual for many top tennis players, given the demands and sacrifices, it requires to achieve that kind of elite level. That is, if you ever can.

Still, it was the one stable element in his life. It's like family in that way. Leave it. Return to it. Grow up. Make peace. All the things involved with becoming a man.

Yes. This is no secret. Agassi hated tennis at times growing up, as did all his siblings. Agassi certainly had ups and downs in his pro career, and, for all of us who followed his career, the 97 time period was quite obviously, not an "up", for several reasons I won't bother elaborating on now, as I and others have posted about it many times before.

And, as you astutely point out, this is hardly a "revelation". I am sure nearly every single pro tennis player has at some point hated the game, hated the travel, hated the competition, hated the politics etc. Frustration, burnout, and many other things contribute, as does a lifetime of nearly nothing but tennis.

[CyBorg]

Interesting stuff. I guess Agassi didn't feel like keeping this bottled up anymore.

[Bjorkman & Johnny Mac]

I remember watching an interview with Agassi and Steffi.. Agassi said he hated the person he BECAME because of tennis. And when he got away from the game he felt he was a much better person.

[PCXL-Fan]

Originally Posted by jimbo333

Well yes, it sounds like he used meth, not crystal meth, which is a completely different drug isn't it?

And all the headlines are saying crystal meth, this is really misleading. Crystal meth is a really dangerous addictive drug, whereas meth is just speed isn't it?

Meth as opposed to crystal meth is still a horribly dangerous drug. Even if its digested, and not injected. It destroyed many peoples lives back in the 50s and 60s.

There is a reason the german wehrmacht discontinued almost all distribution of the wonderdrug after the first few years of the war. The drug was digested and not inhaled or injected.

And there is a reason why the pharmaceutical company Lilly (eli lilly) discontinued selling it. They too had it administered in pill format.