Every journey begins today–Andre Agassi
View(s):Inspiration and motivation are two engines that propel Tennis players. ‘Thank you Tennis’ were the words of Andre Agassi in his speech when the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Andre Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall Of Fame in July 2011 in Newport, Rhode Island. In his speech he cites the inspiration and motivation he got from his own home, People, country and the difference it made to his life.
Tennis has not only given Andre Agassi much, it has also taught him much. He said it’s no accident that tennis uses the language of life, service, advantage, break, fault, love; the lessons of tennis are the lessons of life. Tennis makes ones perceptive, proactive and reactive all at the same time. Tennis teaches the subtlety of human interaction, the curse and blessing of cause and effect.
Perfection and standing alone
Agassi went on to say, after you have played competition tennis for a while, you never forget that we are all connected, and there’s nothing quite like a tie break that teaches you the concept of ‘high risk and high reward’. Tennis teaches you there’s no such thing as ‘perfect’. We want to be perfect, we hope to be perfect, then we are out there, we are far less than perfect even by our own standards. Only then we realize we need not be perfect to win, just have to be better than one person on the other side of the net. It’s true. All players must remember that.
Agassi’s experience has proved Tennis to a lonely sport, probably the loneliest and also intense. You’re out there with no team, no coaching and no place to hide. That’s why tennis players talk to themselves and also find the answers alone. All that loneliness eventually teaches you to stand alone. Tennis imposes high standards on us and demands self reliance, that’s the reason why tennis has produced so many of life’s great game changers; Arthur Ash and Billy Jean King to name two.
From 141 to number one
After speaking to Nelson Mandela, at a time when Agassi’s life was low and his ranking was 141, Agassi committed to taking care of himself and taking care of his tennis. Going from a world ranking of 141 to No. 1 was not an accomplishment; he said but it was the ‘reflection of an accomplishment’. It was the symptom of good choices; it was the result ‘of being careful’. That is exactly what Mandela told him to be in life. It was Mandela’s secret too. Mandela told him, “There is difficulty in all human journeys, but there is no ability in just being a journeyer.” From Mandela he learned that every journey is an epic, every journey is important, every journey begins today. Even when life’s challenges weigh us down, make us unrecognizable to ourselves, we can always begin again. There’s always time to thrive. It’s never too late to be inspired and change.
Agassi really fell in love with Tennis very late. This attachment opened doors and gave him the chance to meet many people, to travel the world and visit places where the human spirit shines brightest. Tennis taught him that the needs of this world are great but they are no match to the powers of human spirit. In his speech at the induction he thanked tennis, for his life and thanked again for enabling him find his life’s work. I dreamed about Wimbledon and I won. ‘Dream and every journey become possible’ he said.
Tennis and friends
When Agassi played his best it was also the best times of Pete Sampras. They played each other from junior days in the USA, to the Grand Slams. Beyond doubt they provided some of the best tennis in the post war era. Their rivalry propelled tennis interest and motivation for many youngsters worldwide. Players are the first and the last entity of importance in any sport. In individual sport like Tennis ‘strength of a player as a person’ was and will be the deciding factor. Some of the lifelong friends of sportsmen were arch rivals on the sports field. Agassi and Sampras treasure their Tennis days. Legendary Puncho Gonzales was Agassi’s brother in law. He too had a great influence on Agassi.
100 year events of Tennis
Wimbledon championship and the Davis up both originated Tennis. Both are well over 100 years. Andre Agassi appeared in both of these in decisive rounds and proved his mettle displaying electrifying moments of the game. These events are the equivalent of the ‘Ashes’ in Cricket.
Andre Agassi’s father who is of Armenian Assyrian origin, was an Olympic boxer for Iran. Nick Bolliteri the celebrity coach saw Andre Agassi at 13 and discovered more natural talent than anyone he had ever seen. When Agassi appeared first time in the world scene, beating Borris Becker in Wimbledon, he had long hair and a great flair for life. BBC named him as the ‘most charismatic player of his era’. He was ranked 91 at 16 years of age. In his career he won all four grand slam events, winning 60 titles and finished with a record of 870 wins and 270 losses. His career spanned well over 15 years and his prize money nearly 40 million. Andre Agassi retired in 2006 due to injuries. Now he is in the Tennis Hall of Fame. There he said ‘thank-you Tennis’. — George Paldano was an international player; Accredited coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR. National, Davis Cup and Fed Cup Coach. – –georgepaldano@yahoo.com-
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