Talk about being Open, Mr Agassi

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I'm a huge fan of humility and self-discovery. Strange that I should use that to descibe the punk god of tennis, the "enfant terrible" of the '80s , Andre Agassi? Not if you read his poignant autbiography Open, co-written with the Pulitzer-Prize winning JR Moehringer.

So right off the bat, of course you've heard the entire tennis brat-pack, the kids who grew up on the Agassi legend (among others!) crinkle up their noses in distaste over his admission at using crystal meth, lying to the ATP about it, and then (the sheer audacity!) coming clean years later. But read it, it somehow makes sense, it goes with what he's going through... he's talking about a time in his life when he's so confused he doesn't know whether he's coming or going, he actively embraces the void, to get outside his own head...

Clearly no one in their right minds is condoning drug use. But the snorts of surprise and the superciliousness we can all do without. Here's an honest, very engaging description of what it's like on the inside, to be that incredibly focused gerbil on a treadmill and to be freakishly talented and to live up to that for decades!

This goes way beyond his record, which of course speaks for itself... 21 years on the circuit, one of only six men to achieve the Career Slam and the only man to have the Career Golden Slam (4 grand slams and an Olympic gold). Fitting indeed that his wife Steffi Graf is the only woman.

For starters he keeps saying he hates tennis. And not in that cutesy way either. Your heart really goes out to the kid Agassi, driven mental with his father's obsession with the game... and the fact that he spends the rest of his life trying to undo what he's internalised. What's awesome is that he's clearly got some mettle... his strength of character isn't always visible (not just the drug episodes but he does sound self-indulgent a lot of the time, and then you realise hey man this is Agassi, this isn't your normal life by any stretch!) but it shines through bright and clear.

I'm amazed at how honest he is, or seems to have been at least, on the Brooke Shields episode, and how the marriage essentially tanked... but that PALES in comparison to what he says about my childhood hero Pete Sampras (only god's gift to tennis!) but whatever, Pistol Pete is not only deadly dull according to the player who he consistently beat over a decade or more... but may have a stingy streak too (if a valet who he tipped a dollar is to be believed). Hmph. No thank yous there, Mr Agassi, I loved Sampras and adored him and his phenomenal game (which Agassi to his credit is totally on point about).

What makes this so worth reading is precisely the way he details those encounters, and several others, whether it's with Andy Roddick and Roger Federer (all hail!) towards the end of his career, or the intense dislike between him and Jimmy Connors (they hit balls together first when Agassi was FOUR! And trust me Connors comes off sounding like the Grinch) and Boris Becker, even!

There's so much more going on than what you see on court (on the telly)! I don't think Indian fans will be pleased with the reference to Leander Paes as a "bundle of hyper-kinetic energy" who essentially can't hit the ball. (Groan in unison!)

Apart from a healthy knack for finding the right people to help him thrive (for the most part!), perhaps the smartest thing Agassi ever did was marry Steffi Graf. (Again, a personal idol, and I know I'm not alone on that front.) The way Graf dominated women's tennis she apparently dominated his thoughts too, after a certain point...though it seems almost too pat, the anecdote he has about Brooke Shields pasting a picture of Graf on the refrigerator to motivate herself before the wedding, to get in perfect shape (or the "perfect legs"). Really?! Hmmm... And no matter that you learn the most endearing things about the two of them, their kids, and Ms Graf herself, I can't get used to Stefanie - even if she does prefer it. She'll be Steffi Graf to the world, forever!

Definitely one for the collection, especially if you like watching Agassi play (I personally didn't like him in the long hair phase, so how ironic the whole time he had such hair issues!) -- it reads well, and quickly... and has great recall value, especially if you remember some of those classic matches.

Open is on sale in India for Rs 599/-

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