A friend recently gave me a copy of Andre Agassi’s new autobiography, Open. Agassi didn’t actually write it, but that’s okay. If you’re one of the best tennis players ever I can cut you some slack for not also being an author.
A man named J. R. Moehringer penned the book. He wrote his own autobiography called The Tender Bar. I haven’t read it, but based on the reviews on Amazon. com it sounds good.
Andre lived an interesting life, and the book is hard to put down. It is told in a fast-paced, first person voice that pulls you in and drags you along. I really enjoyed learning about Andre’s childhood, and how is father pushed him to be a tennis star. I’ve always been intrigued by the globetrotting life of a tennis star.
There were a couple of things that rubbed me the wrong way, however. I’m sure there is a tendency when telling your life story to cast yourself as the hero, to gloss over your failings, to have a ready explanation for any egregious act. Andre definitely fell into the trap. But the bigger issue I had were some of the cheap shots I felt he took at Pete Sampras. Andre doesn’t shy away from criticizing Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Michael Chang, and others. But it was the negative things he said about Sampras that turned me off. I detected the smell of sour grapes. I’m sure he would just say he was being honest, “Open. ”
Still, this was a good read.

View full post on tennis « WordPress.com Tag Feed