Love what you hate
As we are bang in the middle of the 2023 French Open, with rising superstar Carlos Alcaraz making a name for himself in the tennis world, now seems like a good time to remember one of the sport’s greats, Andre Agassi, and his truly remarkable life journey…
Indeed, the life of Andre Agassi is unique in many ways. Born to an Iranian-Armenian Olympic boxer, who was therefore no stranger to elite level sports but didn’t come from the most favorable socio-economic background, the logic of fighting to rise to the top was ingrained in him from a very young age. Essentially without his consent: his dad, who had emigrated to America and met Agassi’s mother there, didn’t have the perfect life by any stretch of the imagination, but was intent on his kids reaching levels of success he could only aspire to. And so he decided that would play tennis to get there, devised training regimens for them, coached them, even built a custom ball throwing machine… Anything to make it.
And it worked — for Andre: through years of arduous training, he rose to the very top of the tennis world, making it to #1, winning every single grand slam there is (some more than once) and becoming a global star in the process. The thing is, however, he was largely unhappy during most of that time: as he grew older, he also grew more conscious of the fact that he hadn’t chosen this life — or the very sport that made him successful. And the upbringing that he had had was arguably traumatic, all the way to being sent to tennis school at age 13 with no real adult supervision. It is therefore no wonder that he eventually fell into a depression, which included a now notorious bout with drugs. Note: as Ellen commented in an interview with the man back when he published his autobiography, it is actually surprising that not more athletes at that level don’t fall into the same pitfalls, as so many have had to endure incredible hardships to get to where they got. Here’s to hoping that 20-year old Carlos Alcaraz knows how to handle all of this…
Back to Agassi: the most interesting part of the story is how the man overcame his downward spiral. At age 27, as he was sinking down tennis rankings into oblivion, he came to the realization that, although many decisions made in his life had not been made by him, he could now choose to embrace them for the better. And so he started to properly play again, this time with intent. And that is when his tennis rose to its best levels ever, with Agassi winning most of his grand slam titles, as well as meeting his current wife, fellow tennis legend Steffi Graf. Not to mention that he also started his own school in Las Vegas — and eventually an entire education-lead investment fund — in the hopes of helping other children avoid some of the mistakes he had to go through. Make his experiences valuable to others.
Now standing as a retired athlete-turned businessman and philanthropist, his voice is precious in showcasing the unique heights one (wo)man can achieve, as well as the equally unique pitfalls that come with those. And how one can navigate that situation, regardless the cards you have been dealt, regardless how much you had a say in some of your most formative life decisions. Mindset is an incredibly powerful thing…