I came into Andre Agassi's autobiograpy, Open, with a lot of baggage.
W&C regulars know that I am a big tennis fan and Agassi's generation of tennis players (i.e., Americans Sampras, Courier, Chang) were the first that I followed from start to finish. That means, I know a lot about them. As far as Agassi goes, I'll admit to being enamored with him early on enjoying the "rebel" jolt he gave to this often staid sport and I'll even admit to owning a pair of those denim shorts. But somewhere I lost my way with him. The whole "image is everything" campaign was a turn-off and when he wasn't living up to his billing/potential, he was a bit surly.
Fast-forward to the 1990s and in the dawn of the Internet age, I find myself "working" for an online tennis magazine and covering tennis tournaments. No matter how well or poorly Agassi's career was going, the Las Vegan usually made a stop to the Scottsdale tournament. So, over the course of several years I got to see Agassi up-close and behind the scenes. Still not on the bandwagon, nothing I witnessed changed my mind. I remember one incident with his members of his entourage not being allowed into the press tent, which only confirmed some of the diva behavior that I had already thought... and while quite cordial after wins, he would always be a bit nasty after losses (which honestly I can't blame him or any other player for... can you imagine failing at your job and immediately being called in and peppered with questions).
It wasn't until the very end of his career, that I finally came around and enjoyed, and even respected him again. His career was very dramatic... a flashy start, plenty of stumbles, finally achieving success, falling into the depths (though little did we know the true reasons why until this book), and having the greatest moments of his career, including achieving a rare career Grand Slam, after the age of 30. Granted these tennis come-arounds are not uncommon... as a Chris Evert fan, it took me a while to appreciate Martina Navratilova and likewise as a die-hard Monica Seles fan, it was the same thing with Steffi Graf, who would to the shock of most of tennis world eventually become Agassi's second wife.
So you see, me and Agassi had a checkered past, but coming into this book, I thought things were in pretty good shape. But alas, throughout much of the book and certainly by the end of it, all that goodwill that had built up towards the end had been nearly erased and I was back to thinking he was quite a jerk. Granted the book was helpful in my understanding of why Agassi was so miserable throughout most of his tennis career, but there was still a general attitude throughout the book that consistently rubbed me the wrong way and sadly even Steffi ... excuse me, Stephanie... Graf suffered some collateral damage along the way.
Agassi's crystal meth use revelation got the most press upon the release of this book, but more surprising is that Agassi hated tennis pretty much throughout the entirety of this career. A domineering father who gave him no other choice was largely to blame and while I get that... after bankrolling tens of millions of dollars the whining about gets old. I had kind of suspected that there would be some ephiphany at the end of the book, but I did not find it... and what may be interpreted as one, I found to be quite insincere.
Agassi says he wrote this book for his children and also speaks of "The Code of Respect" that each student of his very successful charter school in Vegas commits to memory. But after reading page after page of Agassi calling linespeople some very nasty things, sharing consistently petty and often mean-spirited stories about his fellow players, and gleefully courting (ha!) Steffi Graf one month after separating (not yet divorced) from first wife Brooke Shields... and not expressing much, if any, remorse or regret about these actions, other than blanket statements like "I made mistakes" or calling himself a contradiction, playing the whole "do as I say, don't do as I do (did?)" card... well, I found to be all too terribly convenient and certainly left me a bit cold.
Agassi is indeed "open" in this book (though I would argue he does so in a very selective manner), and while I can respect his on-court accomplishments and most certainly his charitable contributions, in the end I did not find him to be a terribly like-able person. As far as separating the book from the man (is that possible?), while I raced through the book I still have yet to find a truly engaging tennis memoir. I had high hope as this was ghostwritten by Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer, whose own memoir, The Tender Bar, I so enjoyed but while I step up from some, it is still a fairly straight-up/standard tennis "autobiography." I've also just decided that it is impossible to recount a tennis match in print (certainly something I struggled with and felt I never succeeded at during my years of tennis journalism).
I know folks are finding this memoir quite inspirational, revelatory, honest, but going into this knowing Agassi's story too well and from many different angles made this an impossible book for me to take it with the proverbial grain of salt.
P.S. I actually read this book in hardcover! It's only my 3rd non-Kindle read of the year. Funny enough, my mom had bought this book before I did (more for the Brooke Shields gossip than anything related to tennis or Agassi), so it was even a hand-me-down. It was kind of strange feeling to have a big book in my hands again, but not too bad!
