My Weekend with Andre

I just finished Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open.

It took more than a weekend--I think I polished it off in 9 days. It was so hard to put down.

Strangely enough, it's not so much about tennis. It's about growing up, making choices or being unable to make choices, friendship, family, celebrity, normalcy, luck, and accepting who you are.

It is hard to fathom that this guy started his career playing against McEnroe and Connors (yup) and finished it playing Federer and Nadal. I kept tabs on him through all of it. I recall the big hair, the no hair, Brooke-cam, the Barbara Streisand "he's highly evolved" statement, becoming number one and falling so far down in the rankings that he had to to play the qualifiers. I also recall the first time I saw him hit a ball in person--it was a backhand return of serve down the line that was absolutely on fire. Put his opponent on notice.

But the Andre I recall best is the one from 1999-2006, after he found Steffi and committed himself to the game for good. I had no idea that he endured such physical pain, nor that his psyche had so much scar tissue. Or that he dropped out of school in the 9th grade. Or that his personal life had such an affect on his game--that he brought home to the office every day and every match. I admire his honesty. Great read.