Andre Agassi’s Daughter Adores Father’s Exceptional Rise From ‘Rock Bottom’ After Dealing With Adversity- ‘It’s an Interesting Place’
Andre Agassi started playing tennis “in diapers” and hung up his racket at the age of 36. During this span, he won 8 Grand Slam titles while going through a lot of hardships both on and off the court. His sufferings were so severe that in his autobiography he went on to describe tennis as “Torture” and the court as a “Prison.” But all these setbacks allowed him to start over and discover the purpose of his life. Recently, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf’s daughter adored her father’s journey so far.
Jaz shared a short clip from his father’s speech during his induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011. In this clip which she shared on her Instagram stories, her father was seen sharing true words of inspiration on bouncing back after falling into a pit. “Rock bottom’s an interesting place. I moved in and spent some time there. It’s actually not a bad place. It’s a place where you get to ask, ‘Who do I want to be? Am I ready to take ownership of my life?” Andre Agassi. But what is ownership of life?
He revealed how hard it was for him to get back to the top of the rankings after slipping down to number 141 in the world. Agassi added, “For me, ownership meant growing up, focusing every day on being just one day better. Ownership meant not only embracing tennis but celebrating it. Ownership meant going back to the Challenger circuit, feeling honored to be my own ballboy.”
Andre Agassi said ownership is the feeling that he gets while flipping his own scorecard. “Ownership meant feeling grateful for being and having the chance to start over,” stated Agassi. The 53-year-old American tennis legend has achieved some extraordinary feats throughout his career. But the tennis star has figured out the biggest mistake of his career.
“I wish I had taken ownership of…” – Andre Agassi
In 2015, during an interview with Alison Beard (executive editor at Harvard Business Review) at the ‘Life’s Work: An Interview with Andre Agassi,’ Agassi spoke about the biggest mistake of his career. He said, “I wish I had taken ownership of the business side of my career years ago instead of trusting certain people.” Agassi went on to add, “Nobody cares more, or represents you better, than you do yourself,” talking about his businesses.
Even here he had once hit rock bottom when his former business partner, Perry Rogers, sued his wife Steffi Graf several years back. Despite all these hardships, he has always been one of the most illustrious and charismatic figures in the history of the sport. His exceptional career and remarkable comebacks throughout his journey with a racket in his hand are still an inspiration for many.