Open

Summary of Open

1. 1

   A Champion Who Hated His Sport

   

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   Seven-year-old Andre Agassi faces "the dragon"-a ball machine firing at 110 mph while his father screams "Hit earlier!" The court is deliberately littered with thousands of balls to limit movement, and stepping on one brings his father's rage. Mike Agassi, a former Olympic boxer from Iran, has calculated that 2,500 balls daily equals nearly one million per year. Their Las Vegas home is distinguished by its bright green wall and the regulation tennis court Mike built himself, measuring it obsessively until he found property that could accommodate the precise 36 by 78 feet needed. What young Andre doesn't realize while helping construct this court is that he's building his own prison. By eleven, he's competing nationally, internalizing his father's voice-his impatience, perfectionism, and rage-until he no longer needs his father to torture him. He can do it himself. This is how champions are made, but at what cost?

2. 2

   The Academy That Broke Him Down

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   At thirteen, Andre is exiled to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida-a place his father discovered on "60 Minutes," missing that the show was exposing Bollettieri's tennis "sweatshop." Built on an old tomato farm, the academy resembles a prison camp with barracks, terrible food, and relentless training. Students endure 4.5 hours of class before hitting balls until dusk, perpetually behind on schoolwork. Andre becomes the academy's most determined rebel-mutilating his hair with a pink mohawk, piercing his body, drinking whiskey, building pyramids of empty bottles. He finally explodes at Nick, detailing every misery. Nick surprisingly grants his demands: quitting regular school, taking correspondence courses, and receiving wild card tournament entries. At fourteen, Andre has won his freedom from formal education-and sealed his fate. With only an eighth-grade education, what else can he do but play tennis?

3. 3

   The Professional Trap Closes

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   On his sixteenth birthday, Andre accepts an $1,100 finalist check, officially turning professional. When he calls his father for advice, Mike's blunt response-"What the hell else are you going to do? Be a doctor?"-seals his fate. Andre accepts, feeling like he's starting down a long road into an ominous forest. His first U.S. Open proves overwhelming-the crowds, constant tipping, and logistics leave him perpetually late. He loses in the first round, beginning a demoralizing streak. Things worsen when Nick forces a racket switch for financial gain. Despite Andre's protests that he feels completely off, Nick insists he could "play with a broomstick." Nick eventually doctors Andre's old racket to look like the new one. By 1987, Andre wins his first professional tournament in Brazil, earning $90,000. He buys a white Corvette, though his father's rage over a $50 paperwork fee leaves Andre both mortified and envious-wishing he could channel that anger into his tennis.

4. Chapter 4

   When Image Becomes Everything

   Despite media criticism calling him a punk and fraud, corporations beg Andre to promote their products. Canon films him in the Nevada desert exiting a Lamborghini, declaring "Image Is Everything." This commercial slogan becomes his unwanted identity-fans and media weaponize it against him, treating a tagline as his personal philosophy. The backlash is excruciating. He develops an edge, stops giving interviews, and lashes out at everyone. Around this time, Andre meets Gil Reyes at UNLV's gym, who becomes his strength coach and mentor. Gil revolutionizes his training, explaining that tennis isn't about running long distances but explosive starting and stopping. Andre spends evenings at Gil's home, even sleeping on his floor. On Christmas Eve, while assembling toys for Gil's daughters, Andre confesses that with Gil he finally feels he belongs somewhere. At the 1990 French Open final, Andre is paralyzed by his hairpiece disaster-too self-conscious to play without it, fearing worldwide mockery. His timid game plan backfires, and he loses to Andres Gomez. He begins dating Brooke Shields and confesses his secret about the hairpiece. She takes it in stride, saying it's his eyes and heart she finds attractive.

   Chapter 5

   Breaking Through to Become Himself

   Andre's partnership with coach Brad Gilbert begins with losses, but Brad's philosophy-that perfectionism is voluntary-hits like revelation. After each defeat, Brad insists "good things are about to happen." At the Canadian Open, down two match points against Wheaton, something clicks. Andre fights back and wins, then storms through the tournament. At the 1994 U.S. Open semifinal, Andre notices Todd Martin's tell: when serving long, Martin aims opposite; when glancing briefly, he serves there. In the final against Michael Stich, Andre wins the first set 6-1, breaks him at 5-all in the third, and serves out the match. As he falls to his knees, he looks to his box-Perry, Philly, Gil, Brad, and Brooke-seeing pure happiness. He's the first unseeded player since 1966 to win the U.S. Open. Taking Brooke's advice, Andre shaves his head, making a party of it with friends. Looking in the mirror, he sees a stranger but one he's ready to become. This freedom translates to his tennis-at the 1995 Australian Open, he blitzes through without dropping a set, defeating Pete Sampras for his second consecutive Grand Slam title.

   Chapter 6

   The Fall That Led to Rising Higher

   Andre and Brooke marry in April 1997 in a stifling Monterey church with paparazzi helicopters overhead. The marriage quickly crumbles. When Brooke's "Friends" role requires her to lick another actor's hand-something she never mentioned-Andre flees the studio and smashes his trophies against the walls. His tennis collapses: annihilated by Pete in San Jose, losing to Chang at Indian Wells, defeated by Alberto Costa in 54 minutes while fans whistle and catcall. When Brooke tells him she can't fix him, Andre calls Perry requesting the fastest divorce possible. Despite his turmoil, Andre enters the 1999 French Open with renewed determination. In the final against Andrei Medvedev, he falls behind two sets to love. At 4-4 in the third set, he makes a crucial stand. The crowd erupts with "Allez, Agassi!" as Andre breaks Medvedev to win the third, then the fourth. When Medvedev's final shot sails beyond the baseline, Andre completes his career Grand Slam-only the fifth man in history to achieve this feat.

   Chapter 7

   Finding Love and Purpose Beyond the Court

   On the Concorde to New York, Brad predicts Andre will marry Steffi Graf by 2001-they're the only two people to win all four slams and Olympic gold. Their first date in San Francisco is awkward since Stefanie has a boyfriend, but they bond over their foundations and shared hatred of tennis. When she visits Vegas for what becomes a month-long stay, she leaves her birth control pills in his shaving kit-a silent message. They marry simply at home in October 2001 with only their mothers present, using raffia twists as wedding bands. They name their son Jaden Gil after Andre's mentor, moving Gil to tears. At thirty-three, he becomes the oldest number-one-ranked player ever. His final U.S. Open in 2006 ends with a loss to Benjamin Becker-poetic symmetry in the name. The man who hated tennis discovered his greatest victory wasn't on any court-it was transforming pain into purpose. His Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy achieved 100% college acceptance for its first class, and his foundation raised over $180 million for underserved youth. The boy trapped by his father's dreams found freedom not in escaping tennis but in choosing what came after. Your legacy isn't what you're forced to do-it's what you build when you finally decide.

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