"I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have." So writes Andre Agassi in his new autobiography, Open, published this week. It is 2006 and one of the world's most feted sports stars has just woken up in a New York hotel room, poised to play his last tournament.
But why would a great sportsman hate his sport? Why wouldn't he love everything about it and all it brings to his life – travel, glamour, money, mass adoration, endless free tennis rackets and barley water, not to mention the surely sustaining thought that he is doing something for a living that makes many of us sick with envy?
Read Full Article »
Recommended Articles
Peter Bodo, Tennis World - May 17, 2012
Some of you may take this as yet another post having to do with the recent controversies in Madrid, but I tell you truthfully that I've been wanting to write about Rafael Nadal for some time now. More specifically, I've... more »
Tim Joyce, RealClearSports - May 14, 2012
Roger Federer has nothing to prove. He must accomplish nothing, short of finally beating Rafael Nadal again in a Grand Slam, to secure his legendary status. He is one of a handful of players to earn the right to be mentioned... more »
Steve Tignor, Concrete Elbow - May 11, 2012
Ion Tiriac had been dreaming of this moment for months. Finally, vindication was at hand, and all of the haters and whiners and traditionalist nitwits could stuff it. A left-handed Spanish star was on his knees, kissing the... more »
Tim Joyce, RealClearSports - May 8, 2012
With two key warmup events before the French Open remaining, the talk in the tennis world is not about the return of Roger Federer after a relatively extended break. Nor is the conversation centered around the possibility of... more »