You still need to respect it-and yourself.” Maybe doing what you hate, doing it well and cheerfully, is the point. As Agassi wrote about that moment in his autobiography, Open, “I hate tennis more than ever-but I hate myself more. Gilbert continued to believe Agassi could win plenty of tennis matches-that is, so long as he doubled-down on his training regimen. Immediately following that defeat, Agassi met with his coach, Brad Gilbert. One month after the US Open, Agassi lost in the first round of a tournament in Stuttgart. At the US Open, Agassi turned in what for him was a modest effort, winning three matches before losing in the round of 16 to eventual champion, Patrick Rafter. In ’97, Agassi skipped the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Deeply demoralized by his loss to Pete Sampras in the ’95 US Open final, Agassi felt increasingly unmotivated. Over the course of 1996 and ’97, Agassi’s ranking had plummeted. Two years later, Agassi returned to play another event in Las Vegas. In front of a national TV audience and 12,400 partisan fans that included his girlfriend, Brooke Shields, Agassi beat seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander in straight sets.

It was played in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. In September 1995, Agassi helped lead the US Davis Cup squad to a semifinal victory over Sweden. True to Agassi’s roller coaster-like career, they represented extremes of the tennis journey. Once a tennis player becomes a pro, he or she rarely-if ever-has the chance to compete in front of a hometown crowd.

Open agassi