Open by Andre Agassi (2009)
The sports autobiography. It is a tough nut to crack. They often find themselves falling somewhere between 'mildly disappointing' and 'woeful'. For further reading on the matter, there is a fantastically hilarious piece written by the great David Foster Wallace on why this appears to be the case (the appropriately titled 'How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart'). The abbreviated conclusion is along the lines that what makes these people outstanding sportspeople is the same thing that hinders their ability to be in any way interesting when it comes to the topic of discussing their achievements - example "Then we won the Champions League, which was amazing".
However, up steps Andre Agassi with a frankly quite astonishing book about not only his career in terms of achievement but also the inner self required to reach such heights. From the opening chapter, which begins with his last victory at the US Open, you are instantly thrust into the thick of the action. You can feel the sweat, the pain, the elation, the dejection, all of it. This is not only down to mere descriptions of what is happening in a remarkable five-set thriller, but Agassi's ability to open up his soul and let you into how it actually feels to be what Theodore Roosevelt referred to as 'the man in the arena'. The level of loneliness, self-loathing, and sheer pain one feels during one single rally is quite eye-opening and makes for a thrilling start to this novel.
From there we take a step back from the end to the beginning and it reads more like a greek tragedy than a your typical sports biography. Little Andre was earmarked by his borderline psychotic father at an early age as the family's best chance at world-beating success, and so locked his poor son in a cage (both proverbial and physical) in the heartless deserts of Las Vegas for 12 hours a day, pummeling him with 90MPH serves until either death or greatness would be achieved. Never mind how this poor child felt about this endeavour, this was what was going to happen whether he liked it or not. All of which, as you can imagine, had a lasting impact on Agassi as a human being, both in his personal life and with regard to his relationship with tennis - which could accurately be described as 'complicated'.
Despite all of his internal anguish, the father was indeed proven right as Andre began to utterly dominate every opponent who came across his path and very quickly became a top prospect in the USA. Now, this should be the part of the story where the hero makes his charge up the rankings, joyously dispatching all in their way on the path to everlasting fame and fortune. Yet this story proves to be quite the opposite, with young Andre seeming to find existential strife at every turn and finding that the only thing he is good at is also the thing he seems to resent most in the world. Thus making for an unhappy marriage in his little noggin. However, pulling from the seemingly endless well of mental resolve that athletes of this calibre seem to possess, he ploughs on and slowly but sure becomes not only a grand slam champion, but the number one tennis player in the world and one of the most recognisable names in all of sport.
You could argue that is the 'plot' of his life, for want of a better term. This is fine and well as a story and would likely make for a decent read. Indeed most sports biographies offer not much more than this. However, where this book excels and transcends the genre are the insights into the mindset of someone in a position that most of us can't begin to fathom. Professional Tennis, along with probably golf, is the most difficult of sports to conquer. There is no clock. You can't ride it out and wait for an opponent to make a mistake. There are no teammates to rely on. It is all on your shoulders and your shoulders alone. The fact that Agassi is able to articulate the utterly crushing sense of this so poignantly is what makes this a truly fascinating read. The amount of mental fortitude one needs to not only become a professional in the first place, but to succeed in such an environment is absolutely staggering and the way some of these matches are described conjure up images of Roman Gladiators trying desperately to kill the other before they are killed first. It is adrenaline-pumping stuff.
Added into this mix is the fact that, despite himself, Agassi become something of a cultural icon in his day as well. He may be second only to Michael Jordan in terms of pioneering sporting style as a Nike athlete. His original shoe collections (the '91 Agassi collection, which are fire) go for thousands online and, with his earrings and his rockstar mullet and neon pink clothing, he became a poster boy for the early 90s. What is interesting about this is that, while seeming to be a swaggering, cocksure, impresario, what actually drove all of this was a deep-seeded insecurity about his looks and a desire to cover up his male-pattern baldness with a ridiculous wig, which pre-occupied most of his thoughts. Just goes to prove the saying might be true - "the loudest one in the room is often the weakest". And, as if this wasn't enough, there are celebrity wives, bitter rivalries (particularly with Boris Becker) and an assortment of Vegas weirdo hanger-ons to enjoy.
This is all good stuff, but the real meat in this book is the one thing almost all other books in this genre seem to woefully lack - the ability to give us mortals a glimpse into what goes into becoming a superhuman athlete. And I'll tell you this folks, it ain't for the faint of heart. The way he describes some of the losses to Pete Sampras still haunt me weeks after reading, such is the brutality. The wins are great but the losses, to use Andre's words "you never forget". All of which makes this an outstanding, slightly troubling, addition to the genre and an endlessly fascinating insight into the mindset of the very elite of the elite. There are many questions this book faces you with, the primary one being 'was all the success worth it'? Only Andre Agassi himself can answer that and, based on this book, he is still searching for an answer. But maybe it is the question itself that drives us all on.
★★★★☆
JB.
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