Andre Agassi by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095143
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

1990–1992

Revival

The year 1990 began the way the previous three had, with Andre deciding to skip the Australian Open. At this point, no one was surprised. Clearly, young Agassi was having trouble putting his life — and his tennis game — in order.

He quit the Davis Cup team when coach Tom Gorman insisted that he bring only one guest with him to Carlsbad, California, to play the Mexican team.

Then, as if the fight with Gorman had awoken him from a long sleep, Agassi went on to win the Volvo Classic in San Francisco, the first event on the new ATP tour. He followed that victory up with another in March at the Newsweek Cup in Indian Wells, California.

But win or lose, Andre Agassi had become a very well known sports figure. Nike was making him a media star, providing him with ultrawild tennis outfits to wear on the court (including an orange-and-black “hot lava” ensemble), and featuring him on huge billboards all across the country, with slogans like “Just Do It” and “The Hair Apparent.” One of his ad campaigns, for Canon cameras, became famous for the slogan “Image Is Everything.” The words became identified with Andre, and still are.

Always flashy in appearance, Andre stopped shaving, started wearing an earring in one ear, and painted his pinky fingernail. His daring new look seemed to be matched by his play, as he went on to win the Lipton International Players Championship by beating the number 1 player in the world, Stefan Edberg, in the final.

Edberg was amazed at the quality of Andre’s tennis. He and Andre became friends, and they have a mutual respect for each other’s talent that survives to this day. On that day, Andre was the better player. “Andre is good for tennis,” Edberg said. “It would be pretty boring if tennis was populated by hordes of Stefan Edbergs.”

Though he was gaining the respect of his fellow players, Andre continued to excite controversy in the world of tennis. The head of the French Open, offended by Andre’s fashion statements, threatened to institute an “all-white” dress code, like at Wimbledon. But Andre stood his ground, saying that he would go home to Las Vegas if that happened. The French Open was just another tournament, as far as he was concerned. Of course he didn’t mean it, but the head of the Open backed down, and Andre appeared in full costume for his opening-round match.

Spectators at the French Open saw Andre play some superb tennis, but they also witnessed his bad behavior. He lost the first set of his opening-round match to Canadian Martin Wolstenholme, ranked 122 in the world, before beating him in four sets. During that match, Andre, in a fit of temper, cursed at the umpire and commanded him to come down out of his chair to check out a ball mark on the court. Andre also smashed an easy winner right at Wolstenholme, hitting him. He didn’t apologize, either. The crowd was horrified.

Though he was fined for his outburst, Andre refused to temper himself.

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