Even thought we're just a few days into 2010, I just finished reading what has to be one of the best books of the year. Andre Agassi's Open is an amazing, inspiring page turner that I simply could not put down. I'd always been a fan of Andre's, mainly because he brought such flair and attitude to a sport that frankly, I could care less about. (Also because we're both follicly-challenged and have world-class return games). But in this book you learn that he literally hated the sport that made him a worldwide icon.
It's all in here: his admission that he smoked crystal meth. The epic battles (and frequent losses) to Pete Sampras. The horror over going bald and even wearing a hairpiece that was falling apart before one of his biggest matches. Hustling NFL great Jim Brown out of $500 in a game of tennis at the age of 11. Dating Streisand and finding himself in a marriage to Brooke Shields that he wanted to escape.
But at the heart of the story, is an epic father wound. Andre's father building him a home made tennis ball machine (Nicknamed "The Dragon") and making a 9 year old boy return thousands of tennis balls shot out at over 100 mph a day. Andre's dad pulling him out of class to play tennis and sending him to an infamous tennis "boot camp" at the age of 15. All in the name of one day becoming the #1 tennis player in the world.
Which Andre did, at two different points in his career. He was also one of the few players to win all four slams. He's used his fame from his game to create his own school for disadvantaged youths in his home town of Las Vegas and has donated millions of dollars to the cause.
But his new identity and purpose came at a great cost. Open captures all the highs and lows, like the best VH1 Behind the Music episodes do. (Think Motley Crew)
Read this one now.
