Wow, time really flies! It seems like only yesterday, I had the poster of young Andre Agassi, blonde hair flowing as he was swinging the tennis racket, hanging up in my room. Okay, maybe it was about 15 years ago because Agassi, now 36, just announced the he would retire after this year’s U.S. Open.
Andre was, to me at least, the first rock star tennis player. He had the rock star hair, the shades, an earring, and a brash attitude. But then he was born in one of the flashiest cities in the world – Las Vegas. He was known for wearing bright colors, even to the point of refusing to play Wimbledon between 1988 and 1990 because they would not let him wear anything but white. I believe it might have been a partial cover up for the fact that for the longest time, grass surfaces gave him trouble.
But, over the years, Andre put his money where his mouth was in winning eight major titles, including Wimbledon in 1992. He also won the French Open in 1999, the U.S. Open twice (in 1994 and 1999), and the Australian Open four times (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003). Agassi managed to do something many of the greats of tennis, including Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, and Ivan Lendl, failed to do – win all four Grand Slam events. He won a Gold medal at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. He has won the Cincinnati Masters, the Miami Masters, Rome Masters, Madrid Masters, and the Canada Masters. He helped the U.S. win the David Cup in 1990 and 1992.
Agassi suffered through many injuries over his career and by 1997, he was suffering both physically and mentally when his marriage to Brooke Shields broke up. In 1998, he recovered, making the biggest ranking jump in ATP Tour history by moving from # 122 to #6. By 2003, he was ranked #1, being the oldest male to hold that position.
In 2001, he married Steffi Graf, a #1 rank female tennis player. Together, they have two children, a son named Jaden Gil and a daughter named Jaz Elle. If genes have anything to do with it, these kids are going to be sensational tennis players!
Read more about Andre and his life at Amazon.com.