Open: Andre Agassi’s gripping autobiography written not just for tennis fans
As has been the case with most of the books I’ve read this year, they’ve mostly started on a note of skepticism. I started reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography with such a feeling simply because it was a book about the life of a tennis star. For a person like me whose maximum knowledge about the subject is the way you win points in tennis and the awareness of names of tennis greats like Roger Federer, Raphael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi. Before reading this book I had not seen a complete game of tennis ever before in my life. So obviously the first concern was that I wouldn’t understand most of what was written in the book. I had however heard a lot about the book when it came out and I had impulsively bought it so I felt it was my duty to give it a chance.
To my surprise however the book was an amazing read. It keeps the tennis jargon to a minimum and focuses more on the stories behind the matches and tells us what made Andre Agassi, Andre Agassi. The autobiography starts with Agassi telling us that he actually hates tennis and that instantly got me hooked on. How could an 8 time grand slam winner possibly hate tennis?!
Agassi goes on to describe his life right from when he was a child and stresses very specifically on his relationship with his father. The book focuses on his relationship with a few people specifically – His father, Gil (his trainer), Perry (his best friend), Brooke Shields (his ex-wife) and Stephanie Graf (current wife). Of all the people he talks about in detail, it is evident that his relationship with Gil and Graf is what he values the most simply because he doesn’t write a single negative thing about them.
“Open” provides the reader an in-depth look into the life of Andre Agassi and luckily he doesn’t end up leaving out the bad parts. In fact he focuses on them a lot. Agassi was always known as controversy’s child and in this book he tells us why he did what he did. He was most certainly a champion tennis player but he was by no means a perfect human being and he is not afraid of admitting all his flaws. On several occasions he just wanted to pack up and quit tennis but he doesn’t. And that is the sentiment that stayed with me through this book. Despite wanting to give it all up, Agassi fights on and in the process inspires us to achieve our dreams as well.
Open is a brutally honest story of a man who both loved and hated Tennis. For all those readers out there who like me worry about not understanding the tennis jargon, be rest assured that this book will still grip you and keep you interested. I would recommend this as a must read for all tennis fans and at the same time I would urge everyone else to give it a shot as well.
My Rating: 4/5