← Served with Andy Roddick
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- [00:01]
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- [00:33]
Andy
Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes. So you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download Today everyone. Welcome to Served. I am Andy. This is a special episode for me personally. We've had a lot of fun over the last 18 months. What was going to be a little side hustle has now become like a thing. It's been amazing. We've had great players. I have yet to sit across from someone who I consider my idol on, on this show. It was one of one but eight time grand slam champion tennis icon, my friend Andre Agassi. Welcome to Served.
- [01:33]
Andre Agassi
Well, what's up? So good to be here, dude. I mean, let me just start off by saying like props to your contribution to the sport through this format because you are not only like, like thoughtful, you're insightful and you're fair and your takes are, I really enjoy it. The sport's better off for it.
- [01:56]
Andy
I'll tell you this. I think my favorite thing, and I've told producer Mike this before is doing a show and then getting feedback loops from people I really respect where it's like we will talk about Zveris for him and you'll have this take and I'll have this take and we just start trading barbs. And that I think is the most fun for me for this entire show is basically, basically it's, it's, you know, a reason for feedback and to kind of engage and get in the weeds on, on stuff. So we're, we're so pumped to have you. Thanks for carving this out. I know you're going to over to Paris in a couple of days. We're in South Carolina because you're doing everything. Like I'm, I'm reading about, like Agassiz Sports Entertainment, your partnerships with Julo, with Lifetime, you're the Laver cup captain. And then after, you know, almost two decades of everyone wanting you to go weigh in on tennis in a formal capacity, you're going to fly over to Paris and start and do the last four days for tnt. It seems like we weren't getting hardly any of you for a long time and there was this kind of void in our sport and now we're getting a lot of. And no, your words, not mine. But what, what changed? Like, I don't want to ask. Why are you back? Why are we lucky to have you back?
- [03:11]
Andre Agassi
Fair enough. Thank you for the way you phrase that too. I mean, those are kind words. I, I can't say I look at my life in sort of decades because I'm really not the kind of person who maps out anything, but I sort of follow the ripples and, and it was really important to me to stay true to something I promised Steph when we first met, which is like, after she really kind of knew me, it was like, I'm not going to be too busy, I'm not going to be too bored because I'm really dangerous in both scenarios. And I think when the kids sort of, you know, that empty nest thing, and all of a sudden that chapter, you kind of move into a different season in life. I sort of had this bandwidth and wasn't quite sure kind of what to do with it. Wasn't stressed about it at all. I found interesting ways to engage. I've always wanted to stay engaged with the sport. Like, I've done stuff for people who have been good to the sport, like title sponsors of different things. And I've always tried to be good behind the scenes to the game, but now it's like I kind of have more bandwidth. And that's the problem. Sort of when you commit to something, you can't control the workload because, like, you do a little bit and then you're, you're in the front of somebody's mind and then you end up doing something else and it's just continued.
- [04:16]
Andy
Work begets work. But I mean, it can't be a surprise to you that you just, I mean, you've been so successful. I'd say a lot of us hackers don't have the ability to, like, choose when to come and go. You've been such an important figure to this game for, for so long, you know, one of its main crossover stars. You can't be surprised that when you decide to come back that there's work that follows.
- [04:37]
Andre Agassi
Well, I don't, I don't see it in context. I think that's where I probably get a little too much credit from maybe you or, or outsiders in the game. Like, I, I don't have a perspective of myself in context with the game. You know, I try to be as authentic as possible. You can do math well in shit times, right? At least it was authentic. So, like, that's how I engage. It's, it's is so real time that I'm starting to realize the implications and I'm getting the data now of what choices mean in a whole new, you know, arena. But, but I'm comfortable as long as everything's in balance, generally speaking. And, you know, it really is.
- [05:11]
Andy
How do you, how do you feel about going over and working at, at the French Open?
- [05:19]
Andre Agassi
That's a tough question for a guy like me. I mean, I think if there's.
- [05:22]
Andy
Okay, so that's a better question. What are you excited about and what are your stressors?
- [05:25]
Andre Agassi
Well, I didn't mean to judge it as better or worse or not a good or bad, but it's. What's tough for me is like, I have my own process when I care about something and I do care about contributing if I choose to do something. And so my stresses are, quite honestly doing it, you know, doing it, adding. Right. Contributing, not, not, not be, not, not distracting or not sort of lowering the bar of any kind. So I want to do it well, and I have my own tortured process in doing it. It's not, it's not unfamiliar with how I played the game. So am I looking forward to going. And I'm never looking forward to my skin being stretched. There's something, I begrudge it, you know, like, oh, God, here we go. It's going to hurt. I'm going to stretch my skin. But then I settle in and then I'm usually glad I did it.
- [06:12]
Andy
It's funny because we've been, you know, trading some texts about. Or we'll be watching something and we'll start trading. And I can assure you, whatever stresses you have about doing it, nobody else has for you. Like ask a good question, put you in front of a microphone. It's never been, it's never been an issue for you, at least not to us.
- [06:32]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, well, here it is all of a sudden, right. I can't even find a word. Just. You say that. It's a whole different thing when you're around your peers and you're around the game in such a real way, and it's meant such a significant part of your life, you know, and you've had sort of this big, you know, this, this conflicting relationship with the sport and you've accomplished a lot and you've failed a lot, and then you've accomplished a lot and then you're, and then you're gone and then you do something in a whole different arena and then you come back to it. I mean, I could let you inside my head on that level, but it does, it does kind of stress me out. I mean, you called me like your idol, man. I'm sitting across from you. I was like, so cool. Like, we competed against each other. We, you know, we live the same hamster wheel of life of sorts. And now we get to sit here and about it. It's like, I mean, I'm pretty, pretty, pretty honored to be here.
- [07:20]
Andy
That's nice of you. One tournament that I'm, and obviously it's the time of the year and you're going over to cover it, but one tournament that I kind of want to dive into, on, on a little bit of a deeper level is, is your run at Roland garros in, in 99. Right. And I felt like it was you automatically. Anything you want to share before you get into?
- [07:41]
Andre Agassi
Just that I should have lost that tournament four times, but.
- [07:44]
Andy
Yeah, so, but it was, it was an interesting kind of inflection point in your career. You might say you were, you come back from playing Challengers. 98 was fine, but not by your standards, fine. Right. And then, you know, 99, I talked to B.G. he said you hadn't played tennis in like seven or eight days. Going in, you hit the ground before you mentioned you lost like three or four times. You were down, you know, set and something to Squalari.
- [08:12]
Andre Agassi
And then four, four, one.
- [08:13]
Andy
And then two points away against Clemont.
- [08:15]
Andre Agassi
Two sets of one down, four or five, love 30. It's a winner. And they called it out by getting an overrule that would have been triple match point. He ends up cramping in a 12 deuce game the next game, and I beat him 60 in the fifth. Moya 6, 4, 4, 1, 2 breaks.
- [08:29]
Andy
Yep. Then you get her body, who you'd lost to in Miami, you know, two months before, and, and then the final. I mean, but let's, let's, let's level, set the historical context of, of this tournament. Any Grand Slam for any player is the most important thing you're doing up to that point. Right. It's just they all take on kind of their own thing. Looking back, you can say you, we can be objective. I wasn't ready for that one. I was ready for this one. This is what happened there. But I wasn't actually able to be super objective going in. I was in the business of lying to myself. I'm ready. I can do this. I can win this. Yeah. Whatever it might be. But that one specifically, it was for the career Grand Slam, for the career golden Grand Slam. You hadn't been in a semi in a major since 96. I think at the US Open, there was something that needed to happen to kind of rejuvenate your career on the level that you knew. Right?
- [09:21]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, no question. So, yeah, 97 I went from which the year before. Don't underestimate how tough this was. You say it was average and it was from a Grand Slam performance perspective, but I went from 141 in the world to number six.
- [09:35]
Andy
No, it was a joke.
- [09:35]
Andre Agassi
I mean, yeah, that, but that, that wasn't because I was doing well in big tournaments. That's because I made up my mind that I need to climb back from one of the lowest points in my, in my, in my life. And, and I just went after it with full intensity week after week after week. You know, small tournament, big, didn't matter. I was just. I lost round of 16 pretty much in every Slam, if not earlier. And then I start 99 and it's like, you have those now. Your Questions go at 141 in the world. Your questions are, can I really even do this anymore? Then you get to number six in the world and then you're confronted with, well, I can, but I haven't been here in years. So now I had this whole nother level of intensity and pressure to deal with. And I was. And I kind of failed miserably at it. Right. Like, like, I went into the 99 Australian Open and, and had a real curve thrown at me with my like, first wife at the time, but we can skip over that if we want. And, and it was like I just, I tapped out mentally and again had an early loss and I got a shoulder injury. I went to the clay season not having a good hard court season, lost first round of cubis gain. So for me, in the way my game was maybe a bit like you, I don't know. But like, I felt like if I don't do well in the hardcore season, it really had a monstrous effect on, on, on My whole year, because I did not expect to do well on clay. So I went over to Europe for the clay. It wasn't fantastic. Had a shoulder injury. Didn't even think I was going to play Paris. It was the last four of the four Grand Slams. For me to win, it was one I should have. Well, when I say should have, it's been represented that I should have. I was favored twice in the finals almost a decade earlier.
- [11:14]
Andy
90 and 91.
- [11:15]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. So it's like I was out there going, I'll never have a chance to win this thing anyhow. Why even play it? And my coach at the time, who was yours for a while, Brad. I'll never forget his comment to me, he goes, dude, he goes, like, how can you win the French if you don't play? That was. That's how he simplified it.
- [11:33]
Andy
Like, big concepts, just dummy adaptive, where it's like, oh, yeah. I mean, that makes sense.
- [11:38]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. So I was like. So I really was looking at 99 French Open as a way for me to grind out some sets, maybe grind out some matches, but be ready for the rest of the year where maybe I could do something. So that was a context I went. Went in there with and talk about.
- [11:53]
Andy
That, because I did. I did make it too easy. I'm like, every. Like, everything I hate about media, but 141, flipping your own scorecards. The infamous challenger in Vegas that we all remember where you're, you know, flipping your own. Naomi referenced it a month ago because she was kind of doing the same thing. Definitely a point for, you know, inspiration for, like, it's possible, you know, Andre ate some. Some humble pie. I can do this too. Right.
- [12:20]
Andre Agassi
Like.
- [12:20]
Andy
And I say that in the most flattering way. But then. 141 to 6. Now it's important to kind of point out how we have to reframe things in our mind continuously as tennis players. If you're sitting at 141 and someone tells you you're going to be six, I don't know the number 14. Fifteen months later, whatever it would, whatever it might be, you're going, great. Done. That's the best. And then you get there, and it's like, there's. There's more. There's always this kind of fight of more. And you, you, like, once you're six, you almost forget about the 141. Right. Like, you're just kind of awesome result. Yeah. Like, but it's. People don't see. They see the numbers and they know the talent. They know what they've seen from you before. So in a way, we don't give enough credit in real time. Right.
- [13:05]
Andre Agassi
It's true. I mean, I always kind of look at, like, we as tennis players are a car uphill with no brakes, like in our own minds. Right. It's like. And sometimes we forget that. That, you know, you can't. You know, you can give yourself a little bit of a break if it's. If. If you design it into your overall methodology or your overall game plan, but if you don't do that, you end up getting sucked in that vortex of, like, torture perfectionism, because you're always fighting a ghost. You're fighting something better than you are right now. And that's. That's what I was. That's. If somebody told me at 141 I was going to get number six, sign.
- [13:38]
Andy
Me up, I'm happy, you would have said, I'm happy forever. And then it comes. And it's not the case.
- [13:41]
Andre Agassi
No, it's never the case. But that's the shit part for me with tennis was always that it was like winning and then having to prove it again next week. But the flip side is losing and then getting a chance right to the next week. So it's like anything in life. It's perspective.
- [13:56]
Andy
Yeah.
- [13:56]
Andre Agassi
And unfortunately, it's tense. We usually don't have it because we're so damn young, too. Right. I mean, that's another thing to consider.
- [14:02]
Andy
Yeah. So you find your way to that final and you're playing, and this is a way to show kind of the human side of you that I think people hear about and know. I certainly experienced it. I have firsthand stories that I'll tell later. But you end up playing a guy named Andrei Medvedev, who was a really good player, won Monte Carlo, I think, when he was really young, was four in the world, was kind of the guy that people were pointing to as, like, that next guy. And then he just kind of. He was really good, but maybe not great. Right. And you had had a conversation with him at the beginning, like, 14 days, practice week of the. Of the French Open.
- [14:40]
Andre Agassi
Monte Carlo week, actually.
- [14:42]
Andy
Oh, it was. It was before the French Open. Walk us through what happened. And. And then, like, how, you know, tennis does its magic, and then all of a sudden you guys are battling for, you know, an important title.
- [14:51]
Andre Agassi
So I don't know what the rules are now at tennis, but back then, if you're going to pull out of an event for medical reasons or whatever, you know, to avoid fines and penalties with Rankings, you got to kind of see the doctor on site. I was going over there to. Honestly, to pulling out of Monte Carlo just to. Just because I wasn't playing it. So Andre Mevede was playing Monte Carlo and lost. And so we both looked at that night the same way. I'm in Monte Carlo. I have nothing else to do. I'm going out. He's in Monte Carlo. He has. He lost. He has nothing else to do. He's going out. So we were out at this, like, it was kind of like a dinner that transforms into a nightclub kind of place, and we're already deep into the nightclub side of things. Just sitting there and just. I'm just. I'm just basically waiting for my flight the next day. And he sits down. I was like, oh, dude, what are you doing? Are you playing here? He goes, yeah, he lost today. He goes, I lost today. And I'm like, you know, bad luck. And he goes, it's not bad luck. I just suck, you know? And I'm like, what are you talking about? Like, so he starts Go. He starts walking me through his head right where he's at. He's going to quit tennis. And I'm like, dude, you just. You can't do that. I mean, he goes, why not? I said, well, first of all, you can't quit, because changing that scenery is not going to change you quitting on yourself. So that ain't happening. So just get that out of your head. You got to ask yourself, what. What's it take to make you better? And. And. And the first question I have for you is like, why do you think you suck when you can do this, this, this, this, and this? Like. Like. Like, what's going on? You know? And so I kind of became weird for this, like, stretch of an hour. I became, like, this coach to him, you know, just personal coach. Like, dude, get your head out of your ass and use the strengths of your game, and the only weakness you have, you can get around multiple ways. And. And he was like. I mean, he hugged me afterwards and just said, thank you, you know? And sure Enough, here comes 99 French Open and a draw. And, like, we were always playing on opposite days. So he would see me and he'd come over and be like, man, go get him today. And I'm like, yeah, well done yesterday. And then I'd see him the next day, and I'm like, you know, it's your turn.
- [16:51]
Andy
When does that start getting real for you, too?
- [16:52]
Andre Agassi
Oh, shit, that got real. Real. Like. Like, quarterfinals. Like, I'M going. I look at him, I'm thinking to myself, you looked a lot nicer to me like, a week ago.
- [17:04]
Andy
I didn't think it would actually work.
- [17:05]
Andre Agassi
No, I know. And he just starts laying wood to everybody. And semifinals. Here we are. It's like a collision course. And it's, like, poetic, like. Like. I mean, how. The irony of it that I'm playing my greatest opponent ever, Andre. Like, my. My mind, I'm thinking myself, right? I'm playing my. I co. I literally coach this guy how to not only beat the people he was bitching about, but how to beat me, right? And it's like. And here we are playing my biggest match ever against each other. It was just. Yeah, it was a little too much to emotionally kind of process. I was not only nervous, I was kind of scared out of my mind, to be quite honest.
- [17:42]
Andy
And you get down the only cloud in Paris that day finds you for, I don't know, 40 minutes, something like that. Brad yells at you a little bit. Gil gives you a pat on the back, and you go out, find your game, lose a second set, come back from two sets to love in a Grand Slam final.
- [17:58]
Andre Agassi
Dude, it was worse than that. The first two sets were gone in 47 minutes. I mean, you don't know what it's like to lose in 47 minutes because you can hold serve, right? Like, when you lose your way. As a guy that played, like, the.
- [18:08]
Andy
Way I lost to you, three and one before, like, that. That was about four. That was about 56 minutes. So if I can't relate to 47, I can relate to 56.
- [18:16]
Andre Agassi
Do you know, actually, ac. Four times in a row that day. It's the only time I've ever done it.
- [18:20]
Andy
No, you've told me.
- [18:20]
Andre Agassi
Oh, okay. Sorry. So what was. What we were just talking about?
- [18:27]
Andy
Just walk us through basically coming back 47.
- [18:30]
Andre Agassi
So this was my point. In a Grant, there's one thing to be in a grand semifinal and lose. And I've done that plenty of times. The first three ever played, I did that, lost many more, you know, and it's a feeling of heartbreak. Like, I'm not sure if I'd rather lose in the finals or lose first round, because then at least I can turn my mind towards, like, I can use this time back to that tortured perfectionist kind of tennis player mentality. You lose in the finals, it's just like. Like you're leaving a loser. Like, that's how. That's how. Like, I won six, lost one. And somehow, like, the heartbreak Right. So I go out in that tennis court, and it was like 47 minutes, two sets down, and it was so bad, I actually looked at the crowd and absorbed it and just said to myself, I. You can't do this to them. I mean, you got to give them a match somehow, some way. My feeling was one of empathy for the people watching this train wreck, right? This. I mean, this natural disaster take place in front of them. I mean, this absolute carnage, right? I'm dragging people to my funeral, for God's sake. And it's like. And then the rains came. And when that rain cloud came, I didn't. I thought it was just delaying. The. The. The beat down is just. But at least the clock might move. And at least in historical scorecard, it's going to say the match lasted an hour and 40 minutes now. Right. But we get into the locker room, and as you know. And anytime you want to feel free to interrupt me on this. But you know what it's like when you got 128 guys in the draw doubles mixed, right? And you got just. Just a guy's locker room. Yeah. And then it's like deathly silent, and there's two people, and it's a rain delay, and, like, you know, you can hear the other one breathe in there. And Brad comes in and he just. I mean, he just lost his mind.
- [20:13]
Andy
With me, which isn't his. He doesn't.
- [20:15]
Andre Agassi
He's not a yeller.
- [20:16]
Andy
No, he's not a screamer. Like, that's for the listeners who wonder. I mean, they've seen our episodes. But he doesn't, like, never screamed at me. And I'm sure I give him many, many reasons to.
- [20:25]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [20:25]
Andy
Not a yeller.
- [20:26]
Andre Agassi
No. Not a yellow at all. I mean, but I was. I didn't even. I couldn't eat that more. I was so nervous. My feet were. I was a deer in headlights, right? So he had to slap me out of it. And he's. And I just looked at him and I was like, what? I mean, this guy's like. He's like, too good. And he goes, how the f would you know if this guy's too good? You're not even. You're not even moving. You're not even. Like, you're not. You're not even hitting the ball. Like, Just like. Here's an idea. If he hits the ball over there, why don't you run? Right? He starts giving me, like, this. He goes, no. Right. You can picture him doing this.
- [21:01]
Andy
It's a good start. To be fair.
- [21:02]
Andre Agassi
I Mean, yeah, but he. This was after he slammed the locker.
- [21:04]
Andy
Yeah. I mean, that's so jar. Like, I can't even imagine. Imagine Brett doing that.
- [21:07]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, yeah, he lost his mind. Then he said to me, and. And by the way, if you're so confused on where to hit the ball, you know, wherever he is, hit it the other direction. Right. He's just like. But for God's sake, how can you tell me this guy's too good if. If you're not even doing anything? I just like, let's go down swinging. We've been here for, you know, almost 20 days, and you've been laying it on the line. You've been leaving your heart out there. I mean, he gave me one of the talks that just. It. And then I was still convinced heading back on the court. I was just now going to lose different. I was just going to lose on my terms and just start scorching the ball. But in any case, I. It was the. Probably the only time in my life where I was so disconnected emotionally and mentally from what was. From where I wanted to be on the court that I found myself, like, gathering my senses, sort of digging in and then getting over the hump and then playing in what athletes kind of call the zone, right? Like, I've never. I've gone out there in the zone. I've lost the zone. I've never gone from, like, Mars to, like, the zone. Like. And it happened in the one. In the biggest match of my career.
- [22:15]
Andy
How much of that match the deer in headlights. And I know we're. We're making it about Medvedev for this conversation, as it should be. How much of that was from. And you mentioned it a little bit before. You go in your first Grand Slam in 90, and you're playing Gomez, you're the favorite. And it doesn't go your way. The next year against gym, it doesn't go your way. You go into 99. It's a tournament at that point where your game had kind of shifted to where you were probably better on other surfaces. Right. Whereas early in your career, maybe that was your better surface. Was there a sense of, this is it, I have to do it now?
- [22:54]
Andre Agassi
I had the curse of knowing too much at that age. Right. And being at the end of myself in 97, where I was sitting in my living room, you know, self inflicting harm and just going from 1 to 141. So I had the luxury or the curse of. Of just knowing too much. I knew I'd never have another chance at This. I knew I probably didn't even deserve this chance at this. You know, that was the real fight inside of me is how, how do you, how do you get. I think that's why nerves come in in any sport. You see golfers as they get older, something happens to their, to their, you know, they just, they know what saving a five foot par putt means. Even though it's the middle of the third round, right? It's like they know it, they just lived it too many times. I knew what this opportunity was. I knew how important it was that I don't waste it. But at the same time you're handing me like a suicide pill, right? And I could just, I could just take it and go home. I guess how I felt. It's like I'm. I was petrified and I was, I was just dying in front of everybody. So it was, it was, it was a hard deal. I, I kind of wish I was young and naive and, and just letting it fly, but I lost to, to, to, to Gomez where I was favored in the finals of French. I then went to the US Open. 1990 lost to team where I was big time favorite. He was like, like who's this guy?
- [24:11]
Andy
He's seated 12.
- [24:13]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. And then I went back to the French against Courier. So that, that feeling is, is an intense one. I even told Jim in 93 when he beat me in the semis or 90. Yeah, 93. Beat me in the same. Then he beat court in the finals.
- [24:28]
Andy
It was 92.
- [24:28]
Andre Agassi
92. 92. I told him in 92 after he be quartered. He came in the locker room at Wimbledon, you know, respectfully went over to congratulate him. But I added this little bit which is like, like respect for just being favored and just going out there and just like taking care of business. Like I, I'm. I admired that because it was so not who I was. And it was. He was so able just to go to work, you know, and I was so unable to do that.
- [24:55]
Andy
It's interesting because that leads me into kind of another conversation. I had these. I'm going to move order here, but 88 make a couple semifinals of the only two Grand Slams you played. You didn't play Australia because apparently you didn't like the conditions down there.
- [25:14]
Andre Agassi
I only missed 10 of them.
- [25:17]
Andy
You'd have ripped off four out of five. But yeah, you might. You just. Life advice. Maybe you should have played those.
- [25:23]
Andre Agassi
So I mean it's just more. I'm not that insecure. I'm not like my Wife, for God's sake, who insecure. Multiple times.
- [25:30]
Andy
So insecure. Not just beautifully humble. Three in the world. You've become world famous, right? You've basically taken this sport that Mac and Connors have kind of lifted into the mainstream, but then even taken it a step further. There's every ad campaign that comes. So you're more famous than people who have won a lot more at that point. And then I've always wondered, and especially as we Americans were playing against Americans. But then, like a story that didn't get talked about ever now, and it did at the time. You know, history is easy when it works out for everyone. Chang comes in and wins out of nowhere in 89, when he's 17, you know, and then we mentioned Pete in 1990 over you, comes out of nowhere, wins. Then Jim beats you in his final in 91. And then all of a sudden, we're sitting here in 92 and these three guys have won and you haven't yet. And you were kind of the first one that was actually burdened with, With. With the expectations to kind of continue on with, you know, Mac and, and Connors and that whole, that whole deal. Is that something that, that you thought about? Was it important to you? Did it matter that they were Americans? Did you care about other people's expectations? Were you aware what was the fame versus not winning dynamic? Like, what was that whole kind of four years?
- [26:50]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, that's a lot right there. Let me start with this. It's like. It's like the peloton, right? You got four guys, right? You have to work together. You have to. You have to help each other believe they can win also, too, right? Like, I helped them believe that we can do it. I turned pro first, and I was actually succeeding, you know, really succeeding on some level, you know, that made them believe, well, well, then I can do it, right? And then, like, Chang comes in and says, well, I can win a slam, you know, wins it. And then like, Pete's like, well, I can do that too. Then Jim's like, well, I can not only win slam, I can be number one. And meanwhile, like, yeah, I. I definitely went from leading to, you know, second place in the. In the peloton, to, like, third to, like, fourth, and then just fighting to keep drafts, right? I'm just, like, just trying to not let everybody run away. But I was coming off a generation where Americans didn't. They didn't really. I mean, besides maybe Vetus and Mack, but Videos is never competing for number one in the world. Connors And Mac never really got along, right? And then, you know, like me, Pete Curry or Chang, I don't think there's anything more classic than watching us on the same Davis cup team. You know, like the dinner room becomes like a Fellini movie. It's. It's like, it's crazy. Everybody sort of has their own thing and it's so individual and it's so like we're trying to be a team, pretending like we're a team, but we just really want to be better than you. Because if we're better than you, then I'm. That means I'm number one. And that you throw Mac in the mix, who was still a factor. Right? It was just. It was. It was crazy. But that's why I envied your generation so much. Right? I mean, like, I looked at you and Marty and John and er, and, you know, Brian's and, and. And others that you guys, like, you guys were like, you were like the Aussies or like the French or like, you know, you guys actually went out and sat in the other one's box and supported them during the match. You know, it's like you guys were like, I. Like, I never experienced that. Me, Pete, Jim, Chang, we're fighting to be number one in the world at the other one's demise. So you always felt that edge and you. So what did it do to me in real time, as they started achieving way more than me, it made me feel worse about myself, quite frankly. And that, that, that heat and that pressure was twofold, right? It was, it was. It was burdensome, but it was also a sneaky accelerant. It was a sneaky motor. It was a sneaky, like. Because, you know, I. I've always sort of have fought tennis like an underdog. It's the way I was raised. You know, it was circumstances I had to go against and, and they just, they just raised the stakes. And, you know, in some strange way, I used it.
- [29:27]
Andy
And you were obviously always going to win your first major at Wimbledon.
- [29:30]
Andre Agassi
That was a given. Yeah.
- [29:33]
Andy
But walk us through. Like, it's just. There's so many parts of your stories that are. Or that of your story that just don't make a lot of sense, right? And then you start putting in the human element. You start layering over, you know, certain factors in life, and then it kind of makes sense at some point, but you got to kind of dig a little bit. Like, you played in 87. You didn't play Wimbledon for four years during this whole upswing of fame. And Success and the whole Jean short, Moulay, the whole deal. You didn't play Wimbledon again until 91. You took four years off, then you come out and win in 92. How does your brain click to where you're obviously not playing it because you think you're. Maybe I'm putting words in your mouth, but obviously they make me wear stuff I don't want to wear. And I'm a baseliner. All these guys are hitting bombs and coming in and correct me where I'm wrong. But then when do you feel like, oh, you know what? Not only should I play it, I should I. I think I can win it? Like, that's a.
- [30:32]
Andre Agassi
That's a.
- [30:32]
Andy
That's a lifetime of. Of mental gymnastics for most. And it seems like you're able to, like, once you can get it in your grasp, then you feel like you can actually wrestle with it, right? Yeah, but what is that process?
- [30:45]
Andre Agassi
I've been known to be the person that paints myself in the corner in order to, you know, find a way out. I mean, let's, let's. Let's get to the heart of it, right? I mean, because you're saying, how do you make sense of it? I never chose tennis, right? I. From day one. From day one, right? News alert. Most controversial, controversial thing in my book came on page one that I hated tennis. All right? Now, that's not. I'm not making that up. Like, I saw what it did to my family. I saw what it did to relationships. It just. It always meant too much. I always resented it, right? It didn't mean that I wasn't good at it. But you can be motivated through two things in your life. Fear or love. And it was fear that was driving me, right? It was fear of my father, last of youngest of four children. It was just fight, get sent away from home. Nick Bolletary TENNIS ACADEMY it was like. And it's like Lord of the Flies with forehands and backhands. I mean, teenagers raising each other, no adult supervision. This place is a hell. I want to burn it down. I mean, like, rebellion kicked in at the age of 13. Told my dad to piss off basically by then, too, right? Like, I mean, when I tell you I'm living a real life rebellion, and my anger is directed at tennis. Misdirected, but nevertheless directed at tennis. I mean, rage is an interesting thing, you know, And I chose to use my intuitiveness of my resentment of tennis. And that rage is something that I knew I didn't want to ever use to hurt people. So I. I had to direct it somewhere, so I directed it, you know, at the easiest thing in front of me, the thing that was responsible for the misery of my whole life at the time, which I concluded was tennis. And so getting out of the academy was about survival. It was about if I. Here's how I can get out. Win, you know, win, like, just, okay, now I'm pro, and now I'm mountains, man's world with this teenage rebellion. And then everybody's telling me, sticking microphones in my face, asking me who I am, asking me to make sense of why I'm wearing jean shorts. So I'm wearing jean shorts because it's a big fuck you to the whole world. It's like, that's how I felt at the time. It's a reality, right? And it's like. So there was this. There's this push, pull that was always going on in my decision making. I didn't play Wimbledon because I felt like I was playing in a giant, like, dollhouse. I mean, like on Bambi, on ice, it's like grass. I mean. I mean, you could tell me to smoke this stuff and I understand it, but to play on it. I mean, like, how do you play. How do you play on. How do you play on this surface you can't even stand on? I didn't get to practice it. They treat you like a stranger in your own club. I mean, it's like in your own tournament. It's like you're not seated. You can't go over there, right? And you can't practice at Wimbledon because, I mean, I'm 16 years old going, you know, anti establishment, anti everybody. It's like. And I'm in a man's world, trying to pay bills, right? So it's like traveling the world with my brother, just not being begrudged in the locker room. At least that's my perception. But nevertheless, I start to then not go to the locker room, which makes them think I'm begrudging my peers. And then it's just. Everything was just compounding, compounding. So my whole life has been about. I didn't play. I didn't play Australia because I didn't. I wanted something normal. And that's called Christmas, and it's called New Year's. I mean, that's how simple, simple it was.
- [33:56]
Andy
You just. That was. That was it.
- [33:58]
Andre Agassi
Oh, as little as I could play and get away with it. I was. I was thrilled.
- [34:03]
Andy
It's amazing to me, though. And then we'll. We'll get back on top of it, because I think that 90, I, I, like, I remember. It's so funny because, like your matches, I remember where I was for them, like the biggest ones. Like, I remember I was at 92 women finals at Jeff Lau's house and we were playing ping pong and then we were like. And we, we sat there as, you know, nine year olds at the time and, and, and, and kind of dialed it in and then he misses the volley and you go down. It's like, I think even at that point I understood like the weight of expectation and pressure and the release valve and accomplishment and the whole thing. I get asked about your quote a lot about the I hate tennis. You know, what does he. And I'm going, yeah, I mean, it's his truth, it's his reality. But I also know that he spent a lifetime perfecting a craft, appreciating the winds of tennis, appreciating tennis as a teacher. So has it changed in your mind from, Obviously when you're 16, you're playing against something I used to not want to lose because my parents would be mad at me. That changes when you're 25, right? That's a very different scenario. How did your relationship change as you got older and maybe accomplish some goals to where there wasn't that thing that you had to do anymore? Well, like I hear you talk about, I'm like, this person loves the game.
- [35:27]
Andre Agassi
Well, yeah, so it's not a. When did I go from love hate to hate love? And I think that happened. I think that happened probably in the fall of 1997. I was at my lowest point. I've fallen from number one in the world. I was doing Crystal Method. All right. I mean, let's talk real terms here, for God's sake. Right? Like, like I'm, I'm doing one of the most addictive drugs, recreational drugs, in that, that exists. I'm, I'm trying to harm myself. I mean, like, I hated my life. I hated it because I didn't know who I was. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't choose it. Was there a contradiction in, in the good that came with it? Yeah. When I, you know, bought a house for my parents and I bought another house for so and so, and I got, you know, you get, you have these, these contradictions that I had to reconcile, but I couldn't reconcile it until I went full circle, you know, and full circle meant getting to the end of myself. It meant staring across that abyss. It meant, it meant feeling so useless, that Augusta Window Blow you off the edge, you know, it's like. Like. Like, you want to talk about Rios going to Stuttgart, getting a wild card because I'm 141 in the world, because I can still sell tickets, but I can't hit a damn tennis ball. And I'm overweight. You know, it's like, I lose first round. Brad. Always Brad. To simplify things, you know, it's like in the hotel room, locks the door and says, you know, dude, like, I care about you too much, and, like, you gotta quit or. Or we gotta start over. I mean. And I never hated tennis more than that moment, if you can believe it. Because it's like, if Brad lost hope in me, I mean, Brad, right? I'm down two sets of love at the French, and he's going, what's the matter with you?
- [37:22]
Andy
Until you got him right where you want them, you might just believe them.
- [37:24]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. No. No question about it. And here he was just going, I'm, like, I'm gonna walk, like. And I think you might need to walk, too. You know, it's like. And I just never remember. And then I remember looking out. It's like the epiphany. And mind you, and you're way too smart for this, so I'll say it up front. Epiphanies don't change your life, but what you do with them can. And that moment, I had an epiphany. It was an epiphany was. Just because I didn't choose my life doesn't mean I can't take ownership of it. Just because I didn't choose my life doesn't mean I can't choose to choose it, right? Like, it was this abstract intangibles, like. Like, hope is fragile and hard to kill, you know? Like, I'm sitting there with no more hope. But there's a glimmer, right? Like, there's a glimmer. Like, if I feel like a piece of shit, well, isn't that a good, like, growing ground for a seed? Like, maybe something can grow out of this. Like, it's like. It's like hope is hard to kill. And I held onto that epiphany, and I held onto it, and I. I spent the next couple months trying to figure out what my reason was going to be to use, obviously, a gift that I had and a life that, in a lot of ways, gave me so much. But in a lot of ways, it took so much, right? Like, my childhood and, like, right? So again, perspective. And I saw the show on 60 Minutes. It was Kip program, knowledge is Power Program. It's a charter school operator. And I watched these two guys, Dave Levin, Michael Feinberg, and they were educating these children in the most economically challenged areas. And they were empowering them and changing the trajectory of their lives. And I remember watching those kids and I saw myself, you know, like, oh, man, I saw myself. I said, you know, maybe that is my reason right there. Like, those kids don't have the luxury about bitching about being number one in the world, right? It's like, like that's when I committed to, like, building my own charter school. I took out a $40 million mortgage. A $40 million mortgage. Ambien is no match for a $40 million mortgage. And I built my own charter school when I was 141 in the world. Because you know what? I'm going to.
- [39:36]
Andy
Then you had to do it.
- [39:37]
Andre Agassi
I'm going to use tennis like it's used me, right? I had to. I didn't have a choice. But I had my reason, right? I had my reason. My reason was something that I was connected to, but was much larger than me. And that's why I would have always been a better team player if I was a team sport player, if I had any athletic ability. You know, it's like I was connected to my team and it was like I was on a court and all of a sudden it looked different. People are saying, I'm playing the challenger football scorecard. I don't know how Naomi sees that. I can tell you how I see it. Like people said, like, he's humble. No, no, no, no. That's not humbled. Humbled smoking meth in your living room. That's what humbled is. Being out here having your reason for what you're doing. That's called. That's called grace. I mean, that's just called a gift. And I had that the rest of my career. So when did that epiphany, when did that change go from, you know, love hate to hate love? I would say it went that fall of 1997.
- [40:40]
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- [41:31]
Andy
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- [42:24]
Andy
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- [42:30]
Andy
Adobe Express, the quick and easy app to create on brand content. Learn more@adobe.com Express Business so we met in 2000, okay. And so at that point you had, had, you know, 97 has happened. You've had this run of Roland Garros in the US Open and all this other stuff. And I kind of found myself in the next lane of a swimming meet sometimes where I could draft sometimes. And you would use me if you needed a body to play an exo somewhere. And I got to fly with you and I got to see how you operated and I got to see the way that you lived and see the way that you processed the game, see the way that your mind worked about the game. And so from where I sat, I only saw the part where, where you had gone through all of this, this, this torment. But that was. I was 17 also. So what I'm seeing is basically my reality at that point. Right. There's no retrospective when you're 17. So ever since I've known you, it's, it's like this obsession which, which presents outwardly as, as, as love for the game. So I don't know the back. I haven't lived your reality. I'm just saying from where I sit and when we had a personal relationship and, and when I was close to you, I would see you, we would go play Birmingham.
- [43:54]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [43:54]
Andy
And I would see the way that you would interact with the. With 12,000 people there and treat them as if this wasn't the 478th one night exhibition that you had done in the last 10 years. Right. And so that was love to me. And it was going into whoever the sponsor, it's a local car dealership and I'm making these parts up. But the sentiment is truth. We go in and it's a local car dealership and I'm seeing you off the phone on your foundation talking, handling life around. We get to the venue and it's simple things like you asking someone, hey, the sponsor I know remind me of his first name. And also I know the last name because it's on the dealership, but what's his wife's first name also? And you walk in and it's a group full of people who don't see live tennis all the time. They're not. They know you, they don't know me. And we walk in and it's, you know, Tommy and Buffy, thank you for your hospitality. And the room melts. And that's love. And so anything that I've seen of you with my own eyeballs has come across as love with this game without the baggage. So I don't say that for a response for you. I say that it's admirable that you've taken this thing that caused you pain and caused you torment and caused you family issues and. And without you knowing it, as a 17 year old coming up, it presents as complete and total love.
- [45:18]
Andre Agassi
I accept that.
- [45:19]
Andy
And so that's where when I hear it and people ask me about it, I am completely confused by it. Not to say that's not your reality. Not to say I like, I know your history backwards, right? I've read about it. I've. You did me the favor. One of the coolest things, and I think I've told you about it before, but when your book was going to come out, obviously, by the way, it's my favorite book I've ever read because I feel like there's two things that great former athletes do. They either write a greatest hits album or they throw everyone else under the bus. You put a magnifying glass on the things that weren't your greatest hits while throwing yourself under the bus. So it was raw, it was authentic. You had been retired for a couple years at the time. I think it came out in 08. Right.
- [45:59]
Andre Agassi
Nine.
- [46:01]
Andy
Maybe I've read. But I remember Brooke and I were early on in first year of our Relationship. But I remember you called me and said, hey, I'm sending you this book. Don't give it to anyone. Don't let anyone read it. I'm not sending this to you so that I can coach you on a response. I'm sending it to you so that if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. There's a lot of shit in there. And I remember I read it. I didn't. I think you understood the pro. Like, if this book comes out and then I get asked about it in a press conference and I haven't read it yet or whatever, then I don't know how to respond. That was a very nice gesture, which I appreciated. My wife read the book, and we were still early days. It was probably first year. We had just gotten engaged or something. She read the book, she's crying. She goes, I feel like I understand your universe better from having read your book. Like, it has to. I mean, that's love, too. Like, basically telling your story to where other people understand, like, creating, like, a lever for. For communication. It had an impact not just on me, because, you know, I admired you, and I did all the bad fashion choices right along with you.
- [47:06]
Andre Agassi
My apologies.
- [47:07]
Andy
But anyway, yeah, we overpaid for him, though, so that was good. But there is, like, a lever, and that presents as love. So it's. It's. It's not me telling you that what you're saying isn't true. That's the last thing I'd ever tell you. I'm saying from what I saw with my own eyeballs, it presented very differently.
- [47:26]
Andre Agassi
I've. I accept it. I appreciate it. That matters to me. It's. And it's reflective of. Of this. It's because of the baggage. It's because of the garbage that got me to that place, you know, it's because of it. And when you say it in that context, it. The gratitude I have is the distance I've traveled and how thankful I am that that distance was traveled when we met, because that's just another person that was affected positively by. By a lot of heartache and a lot of successes and a lot of this thing called life, you know, And. And my entire objective with communicating that in my book was recognizing that we all live different. Well, different experiences. It's kind of the same journey. And. And if you can find that overlap in that journey, because I think people look at athletes as unidentifiable because, like, somehow they're so good at something. But. But what you have to go through to turn pro at the age of 16 or like my wife turning. Playing Wimbledon at 13. Like, I mean, think about what you have to go through every day of your life. Right? It's like, you don't. In some ways, we're so overdeveloped, you know, in growth and experiences. In other ways, we're so underdeveloped, you know, we're so not ready for what these things mean. And for me, that conflict, you know, started as a child. I mean, it started as a kid.
- [48:58]
Andy
It is amazing how. I also think. And we'll. We'll move on to something more fun and fluffier on the other side of it. But it is weird because I think because people talk about it, and then you get the generations. Like, it's. You're allowed to talk about it now, and it's allowed to be okay. You know, it's. It's. It's Naomi talking about it. It's, you know, Roger going about his business in a very different way that was less tortuous that I have. Like I've said, I don't have an ounce of jealousy for Roger for what he accomplished. My jealousy is for his ease of operation. Like, he was able to be his best self daily. He was allowed to, like, do all the.
- [49:37]
Andre Agassi
So we think.
- [49:38]
Andy
Yeah, so we think. But even so, I would. You would have seen it some way, shape or form in the toughest moments, like a crack.
- [49:45]
Andre Agassi
It's not meant to question it. It's just meant to say there's a lot we probably don't know, too.
- [49:48]
Andy
That's probably right. Yeah. I mean, there's a. There's a million things, but I think because someone actually, like, rips the Bandit off and has a conversation about it, I do think it matters to the people following. So congratulations for that and kind of walking through that door. One thing I want to do, because it would be malpractice if I didn't just turn this into what I want to know about now. Because I have you here.
- [50:11]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [50:13]
Andy
Your brain, the way you view matchups, the way you break things down. I expect it'll be on full display at, you know, on tnt.
- [50:22]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. Set the bar low. Thank you.
- [50:24]
Andy
I'm not worried. We. I already set the bar. I'm not worried about you. I know you're going to worry about yourself, but I'm. I'm not worried. I'm just going to go through some names, lots of which I haven't played, and I just want you to tell me what was a nightmare about them and where you thought you could make progress a little bit. Let's start with someone that I never played, Mats V. Lander.
- [50:49]
Andre Agassi
Well, that's a generational question, right? Because when I came into the game, the first time I ever played him, I was 15 years old. I lost to him. Second round after qualifying at the Quinta, which is, you know, the Palm Springs tournament. And I. I won my first round of main draw, and I played him. I lost one and one and came off the court and told my brother, like, I want to play that again. I can beat that dude. He can't break it.
- [51:08]
Andy
He lost one and one.
- [51:09]
Andre Agassi
I lost one. He was.
- [51:10]
Andy
To you, when I was 17, two and three. And I said, like, it wasn't that close.
- [51:15]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, but my point is, is that he hit the ball like I was the first one to come into the game. Everybody that gets the number one in the world brings something the game hasn't seen on some level, Right? You did it. I mean, everybody who. Who gets the number one and has any outcome of. Of staying there or winning Slams, I always do something that the game has to adjust to. And for me, it was about taking the ball off both wings, whether it's low or high, and being able to hurt the ball and being able to do it as early in the court as I wanted to. Right. So the game hadn't seen it. So somebody like Matt's vlonder, who won three of the four Grand Slams in 1988, beat me in the semis of Paris. In the semis. 6, 0 in the fifth, because I crammed. Like, I came off the court going like, I could have ran him all day. I mean, like, all he's doing is.
- [51:57]
Andy
So you feel like it wasn't about tennis at that point?
- [51:58]
Andre Agassi
No. Physically, I mean, not to say I would if I didn't cram, but my point is, is that that's the way. That's the generational gap. So playing Matt's Vlon, when I started to, let's say, you know, beat him was just a fundamental of, like, he. He made and respect to Matt's because he's. The guy never got tired. He got as fast as when the guy wouldn't miss a ball for hours. I mean, total respect for everything he's done, but, like, he made me feel like there should be weight classes in tennis. That's how I kind of thought of it. It was like at 18, 19, 20 years old. So for. For me and the way I played, the game matched up against him was literally about driving the train through Main Street. It was just like, you just deal with what I'm bringing.
- [52:37]
Andy
I'm going to get back to that because I think there's a weird end around with. With someone else for the dental list. I'm finally excited that you. A story that I had heard over drinks for a couple of years finally made its way mainstream with the Becker tongue situation.
- [52:52]
Andre Agassi
Oh, God, yeah.
- [52:53]
Andy
Where you. But like talk, talk about Boris. Like, I went back and watched that documentary and it's. I'm happy he's doing well.
- [52:59]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [52:59]
Andy
Again, obviously. But I mean, that guy was a. Like, you watch him in the highlights from 85, he looked different than everyone else. You talk about someone that like, shook the fabric of the sport.
- [53:09]
Andre Agassi
Manchild.
- [53:10]
Andy
Man child.
- [53:10]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [53:11]
Andy
Right.
- [53:11]
Andre Agassi
With Boris, I mean, I mean, he's, he's. I don't know if he's an underrated athlete, but he's a greater athlete even if he didn't underrate him. I mean, he's a better athlete when you face him than when you watch him and respect what he's actually doing. I mean, he's 6 3. He'd crouch in a position at net and you think like, you have this big target and he could swallow that space up like nobody. Even if it meant rolling on the ground to cover it under control. Right. And if you couldn't deal with the serve, that's a real problem. I mean, the one thing about him that was, that was tough and I had an inroad to his game because of the serve, but, you know, he could absolutely drive backhand, second serve returns or forehands. Either direction. He. From the deuce court. If you serve body backhand, he could pull that thing and compliant in with his athleticism, he could hit the off one bit like Leighton Hewitt would, except offensively and move forward. Right? So now you're on the full one trying to pass him forehand, he could do the same thing. He could pull it or he could go offline and just come flying in with total athleticism behind it. Nothing stressed me out more than somebody that could stress out my second serve. Right. It's like, it's like you just feel like, okay, what's the deal today? So when I played him, my first serve percentage had to go way up and I had to have something else. I mean, Boris to this day probably denies that he did that with his tongue. But then I would challenge him with this comment, which is like, are you actually admitting I can beat you 10 times in a row? I mean, I mean, I mean, that's. I mean, I Mean, let's be serious. I mean, like, you're like Boris Becker, for God's sake. I mean, how. How's that even possible? Unless. So the guy. No, talk about somebody that. That. That added flair. And, I mean, he. He came into the game not just on the court, but also off the court. He changed the marketplace from the standpoint of sponsorships, and he could take the oxygen out of a room, you know, pretty, pretty quickly. Edberg, Eddie, he was. He was classic. So. Edberg. Yeah. You know, when I. When I played Edberg, I can tell you now, looking back more than I really understood it at the time when. But the thing that would always surprise you about Edberg is you thought he had this real weak forehand, right? Which. It wasn't his better. It wasn't his best shot, but it was like. It was like he would.
- [55:29]
Andy
It looked weird, but he could flight it and kind of put it in corners and.
- [55:32]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, he could knuckle it, right? Like, he would knuckle it. So you have to generate a ball off nothing, right? So nowadays with the spin and the strings, it might be easier to manage, right. Getting the ball down if he comes forward or what have you.
- [55:43]
Andy
Not as easy with pro blend.
- [55:44]
Andre Agassi
Not as easy with pro blend. You could. I mean, you could reel in a marlin with that stuff. Um, but with. But what he would do is he. You know, I would go after his forehand, and then. And then all of a sudden, he would use the pace that you give him to his forehand. He'd find a hole for it. Then you go safe to the back end side of the court, and he would just let this off. Backhand, fly up the line. That was. That was the most. His volleys might be the greatest of all time as far as just fundamental. First volley, his first volley was like, just rocks. Like, I don't know if he's ever missed the first volley. Like. Like if he hit a kick serve, he came in and you were off the court and you. That thing at a shoe, and he had that court to work with. He's not missing that, like, 99 out of 100 times. He's not missing that. That volley. I mean. I mean, Pete could do some incredible things at net, but he can miss that volley. You know what I mean? Edberg's not missing that volley. But his shot that was most underrated was you hit a routine ball to his backhand, and he would just hit it routine back. So you're always managing that cost risk. Why do something you don't have to do. Then the next thing you know, you go, okay, well I'm not, I don't need to really take risks, so I'm not going to. And then he would just hit this off one handed backhand, like flyer, like line and come in behind it. And he was one of the hardest guys in the world.
- [56:58]
Andy
How would the way that Becker and Edberg cover the net differently? Because, I mean, you said you couldn't find space against Boris, but Edberg, the footwork was more intense, whereas Becker felt like he was tumbling towards things a little bit, at least just watching.
- [57:11]
Andre Agassi
Fair enough. Becker, Edberg read the play and he was there 85% of the time. It's because he like, he read it like he. Boris waited till you hit it and.
- [57:23]
Andy
That would explode and then would just.
- [57:24]
Andre Agassi
Then would just swallow the space with sheer athleticism, size and, and ability to lay out for it, right? So he's taking athletic 6:3 and turning it into, you know, 6:6 with good hands, right. So that's how I would differentiate the two. I always felt to me like I went to pass Becker, he was waiting for me to hit it. And I felt like Edberg was like maybe a step ahead on the percentages of where I'm gonna hit it.
- [57:51]
Andy
Talk about Mac.
- [57:53]
Andre Agassi
You know, Mac had an incredible ability to offset power, right? To neutralize power. So like he, he could keep the ball down with no pace, which kind of affected the way I came into the game, because I came into the game kind of going through guys. And Mack was that generation where I felt like, you know, maybe I can go through this guy, but I couldn't quite go through him because the balls he would hit were not only not much pace to it, but they were always low. He never, you felt like you were lifting on every ball that you hit against the guy. Plus his ability to cut angles was a joke. His speed was way underrated too. I mean, he was, he was quick. I mean, the guy had unbelievable footwork and he took unbelievable angles towards to the ball. I mean, especially in the forecourt, but even in the backcourt. I mean, if he shoveled a forehand from the lefty side, right, he shovels a forehand, you know, towards down the line and gets bad direction and you crank it cross. He's already committed to an angle at that ball and he's button that thing down and coming in. So now you're. You're actually behind. You're having to lift it and having to generate and he's on top of the net. You always feel like you're lifting the ball against him.
- [59:05]
Andy
Talk about Connors. Be nice.
- [59:10]
Andre Agassi
Listen, I mean, I've, I've. Connor's. When I looked at him as an 18 year old, I saw somebody I recognized in the sense that he always had his team around him. He always seemed like he had this appropriate, how would I call appropriate paranoia about him, right? Like, like he didn't trust anybody that wasn't on his team, but he trusted his team immensely. And I, there was, I identified with that. I mean, he, what he did for the game was incredible. And, and I mean, Jimmy surprised the hell out of me when I played him by, by his ability.
- [59:47]
Andy
Which would have been later on in his career.
- [59:49]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, it would have been later on. Although years later he was still got to the semis of the Open. Pretty incredible. I was, I was, I was really amazed at Jimmy's ability to, to take pace and use it against you, right? So if I hit a hard ball to his backhand, he would maybe stay with one cross to my forehand. Then I hit it hard to get into his backhand. And then he would, he would take a two handed early, like inside out shovel like, like, like a, like a two handed side spin shot, like line. And he would come in, he was only like 5 9, but man, he only came in on his terms. And when he came in, he charged. Talk about a guy that never missed a volley. I mean, he made sure. I mean, he turned his racket into a, into a sandwich.
- [60:35]
Andy
We have this thing in tennis where if someone's a baseliner, that means we don't give them credit for the ball because like three of the best volleyers I've ever seen are watched. Connors, Hewitt and Rafa.
- [60:45]
Andre Agassi
Thank you for saying Rafa.
- [60:46]
Andy
Right?
- [60:47]
Andre Agassi
Like completely like, but we were so lazy.
- [60:49]
Andy
If they're like a baseliner, that means they don't. Like, just because they don't come in a lot doesn't mean they're not golden when they get there.
- [60:54]
Andre Agassi
Do you know what I would have loved to have seen? I would have loved to seen Rafa play a match where he had to come in 68 times.
- [61:00]
Andy
He still would have won it.
- [61:01]
Andre Agassi
Just, just, just to watch what he could come up with to set that record straight.
- [61:06]
Andy
Jim Currier.
- [61:07]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, Jim was the first guy that was a bigger bully than I was. I mean, you know what I mean? Like, he was, he was. When I realized the game is changing, you know, Jim had a heavy serve. Don't kid yourself. His second serve was, was heavy. It was hard to hurt his second hard for anybody. I mean, he had a winning record against Kreichek. Kreichek couldn't even come in behind the second serve. You know, he had a real heavy second serve and he had a big first punch like no tomorrow. I mean, this forehand inside out or inside in was monster. He was always looking to take it early. And although his backhand was awkward and I could imitate it at will and probably tell you his grip just by how many times I saw from the side of the net, but if it was in his pocket, I mean, he could bat that thing. And it was, it was like a.
- [61:48]
Andy
It was like a flighted kind of. It would like, sail almost.
- [61:51]
Andre Agassi
It was low. And you're going, please go long. Why do I have this feeling like it's not going long, the last two feet? It's just it, I mean, it eats you if that ball bounces. It's like, so it's like I, you, you want to get it to his backhand, and he, he squeezed that court as good as anybody. I mean, you had to go out.
- [62:08]
Andy
Even with your ability to hit it to both corners, it's still like it was, it was heavy enough to. Where you didn't feel like you could take shots there.
- [62:15]
Andre Agassi
You know what? I didn't. When Jim did most, his beating on me was before Brad, and I didn't really have a coach. So, like, I like, I mean, so I know how to use the weapon. Nobody ever told me, go after his forehand to open up his. So he couldn't get that ball in his pocket. Right? Like, nobody ever told me that. But, but even if somebody told me that, he's still hard to execute against because he's still going to get that first ball every chance you don't hit it. Perfect.
- [62:44]
Andy
Michael Chang.
- [62:46]
Andre Agassi
You know, here's a, a great thing I'll say about Michael. Maybe one time I've ever played him where the second set was easier than the first. It did not matter what scoreline was happening. That match was going to get harder as a match went on. He was a problem solver. He was a competitor. He had incredible speed defensively, but I never minded his speed defensively. If I could get on top of the point early, he was content to run. And like, I have a great relationship with somebody on the court if they like to run and because I like to make them run right. So that was my deal. But he also had this incredible offensive ability to take the real estate if you hit the ball a little short. So he would he would burn you so many times. He could.
- [63:33]
Andy
He could. He could. He could thump a forehand if it was hanging, and he'd get up to.
- [63:36]
Andre Agassi
It quick, and he'd get under every volley. So even if he hit it off forehand, off serve, out wide, off forehand, and you get the ball down, he never quit with his legs. He was always under that ball. And it wasn't an easy guy. It wasn't an easy guy to pass because he never came in when it was just about his size. He always came in when he could use his legs. And so he kind of presented challenges. I don't know what our career was. He beat me four times, but every time, it was like, in big matches. I mean, he beat me in some big matches because I knew. And that's another thing he wear on you. You knew he was punching in the.
- [64:10]
Andy
Clock, and it's a tough one. Like, I had that with Hewitt. Like, you. You knew going in that it was just, you might win, you might lose. You were going to feel horrible at some point in the afternoon to where it's like, this guy is tougher than I am. He's fitter than I am. He's, like, gonna ask all these questions. He's not gonna blow me away. Which make. It's almost this weird pressure mechanism where it's like, okay, it's up to you. Which has its own, like, set of, you know, getting the wheels turning.
- [64:36]
Andre Agassi
Oh, yeah. And the gravitational pull of, you know, being so close to the finish line, yet the opposite, like, opposite magnet feeling against him. You're trying to close out a match, and somehow you go, why does the finish line feel so far?
- [64:50]
Andy
Talk about Lendel.
- [64:53]
Andre Agassi
So Lendo brought a lot of physicality. He was the first one to bring real training and, like, I can play for seven hours kind of thing to the. To the tennis court. But Lendo needed somebody who struggled with his. His slice, his slice backhand. He needed somebody to struggle with that. No, it wasn't. I was. You know, I mean, he got me early in my career, but that shot is a shot I kind of looked at as opportunity, you know, but if somebody can't handle that hard, you know, like, let's just call it like a Todd Woodridge kind of, you know, stick, slice, and they lift that ball to that guy. I mean, his. His serve was underrated. God, he could hit his spots on his serve.
- [65:32]
Andy
I. It's funny you say the Leno thing. That's how I felt against a lot. If I could get away with the chip to switch directions and, like, move it around. I was fine. But then the three. The three people you needed to beat to win a major had no issue with it. Again, it was a pro. Or if they like chip better.
- [65:46]
Andre Agassi
The three people you need to be to win a major had no problem with anything. I mean, for God's sake, we're gonna get to them.
- [65:52]
Andy
But even like Murray. So, like, I would. I would. I would chip to Murray, and all.
- [65:55]
Andre Agassi
Of a sudden, he would ship it back.
- [65:57]
Andy
Chip short. Yeah, it was a better chip.
- [65:59]
Andre Agassi
It's a Dr. Feel Good chip.
- [66:00]
Andy
And it was better chip, and it was going to worse spots. Like, you know, it's going to my back instead of his back in. But that's the way. That's kind of the way I felt. If I could get away with the chip, then I'm beating whoever was across the net 99 of the time. Yeah, and they were like you were to Lendel. It took away that option, and it was like, I'm. I'm having to deal with this now.
- [66:16]
Andre Agassi
I got a really whole serve.
- [66:17]
Andy
No, I got. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. It's seriously Leighton Hewitt. Another generation.
- [66:24]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, Leighton Hewitt. I mean, gosh, he was a. He was a puzzle for me. For first couple times I played him, it was a puzzle. He could absorb pace like nobody. And if you gave him pace and tried to go through them, do it.
- [66:35]
Andy
He couldn't beat him cross court.
- [66:36]
Andre Agassi
Do it at your own peril. Do it at your own peril. But I tell you one thing. If you gave him nothing, he gave you nothing. So it became this real.
- [66:46]
Andy
Like, the chip would see against him. My. It wasn't back in the backhand because.
- [66:50]
Andre Agassi
I could just chip right. You could get away. I mean, I don't. I don't own that shot. Right. I don't have that shot. But, you know. You know, hard it is for me to resist torquing a backhand cross court. I mean, just, you know how much discipline it takes to play Leighton Hewitt for four hours and not try to rip a backhand when I see space. I mean, the only time you could go aggressive on Leighton was one time a point. Like, it's like, go aggressive line, and if his shoes are screeching and he sounds like he's out of position, don't believe it.
- [67:24]
Andy
Yeah.
- [67:24]
Andre Agassi
And then if he gets himself back into the point, start again, but do not try to hit two big ones. No, don't do it. Like, he absorbed pace. Well, plus, you know, he. He was one of the first ones to really turn defense and offense. Like. Like, he was one of those defenders that can go from, like, scrapping, scrapping, then you don't quite do something. And he's gone from the forehand corner, inside the court, in the backhand corner.
- [67:51]
Andy
That's the thing with, like, their defenders. I mean, all the great defenders that we talk about throughout. We're talking about Chang, we're talking about Matt's. Could come in, we're talking about Leighton. They had the ability and they could recognize the ball to go get their lunch also. They would almost lull you into it, but it wasn't going to be predictable, Right. They kind of came on. On their terms, and some of them.
- [68:10]
Andre Agassi
Could have done it more than others. Right. But Leighton, I think, was the first one that said, careful, I'm on defense, and if you're not careful, I will get on offense. I feel like Matt was, say, saying to himself, I'm on defense. And I don't know how you're going to end this point, but you're going to have to have 15 more shots, right? Layton was the first one I ever played that could just get on defense. And he's actually, in his mind, getting fed up with that and looking for an opportunity to take that point over and using his speed offensively as much as defensively. Sometimes two or three times inside a point.
- [68:42]
Andy
And then the one that I kind of think is almost like the prototype for these. All these guys that are now six foot six that can run.
- [68:49]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [68:49]
Andy
Defend. And it looks natural. It doesn't look awkward. It's not like, you know, like, mark Rosa was 6 foot 7 when you played, but he looked like. He moved like he was 6 foot 7. He could punch in the face. But he was Marat Safin.
- [69:03]
Andre Agassi
Marat Safin was first of all. He's 6 5, right?
- [69:07]
Andy
Massive.
- [69:07]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. Yeah, massive. So Marat Saffin was my. Let's call it my days. Zarev, right? Like, big, tall dude, served from the trees. Monster backhand, better forehand. His forehand was. I mean, he absolutely could dismiss any ball in the mid cart off both wings. Moved. Well, he was like. Like, I remember when he beat Pete at the Open. I was. I was watching that and I said, if you were to build a tennis player, how do you not build that guy, right? First 6 foot 5 guy to just, like, leave leave tracks on a hard court and. And just snap balls off that are sitting mid court and could serve out of the trees and stop you from being in any service game. And by the way, he can just absolutely pound your second serve. I played him at the, at the Australian Open one time in the semifinals. Should have won the first two sets, lost six and six, then beat him seven, five. Finally broke him. Seven, five, six, one. I thought I was running away with it because he was going to do like that, that escape parachute, you know, Russian thing that happens occasionally with him, right. And he ended up beating me in five. But he could play fast. I was so sore from just the first move. Defending my serve, first or second, it was like you. I would hit a quality first serve and there was a lot of lunging. I mean, his return was look like.
- [70:28]
Andy
A toothpick in his hand. It looked like me holding a baton.
- [70:30]
Andre Agassi
Like a baton.
- [70:31]
Andy
It was nothing.
- [70:31]
Andre Agassi
It was. Yeah. No, and then, and then he knew what he was doing moving forward. How that, like how that guy doesn't have like double digits is confusing to me.
- [70:42]
Andy
Pete.
- [70:43]
Andre Agassi
Oh my God. So everybody knows what Pete was great at, right? And you had the, you know, privilege of playing him. I had the privilege too many times of playing him. But we all know that a serve might be one of the most fundamentally great shots in all of sports. I mean, I mean, what he could generate with, with his serve, I mean, it was, it was like his poetry in motion. It was so connected. Serve was unbelievable, right? Speed. I mean, he, he was selective about his speed. So you could actually think to yourself, maybe he's not. Doesn't move that well. But then when he sees opportunity or smells blood in the water, he turn on those jets. That dude had a 40 that would just blow out anyway. So speed. We knew his hands, we knew. Here's the one thing I think people didn't really get about what Pete was so good at, at least as it related to how it matched up against me.
- [71:37]
Andy
He refused to let you get rhythm.
- [71:39]
Andre Agassi
To let you get refused it. I mean, when I say refused it, it was like that dude would hold serve and then he would try for two points on your serve. And then if he didn't win those two points, the game, he didn't, the game's over. He didn't care. His goal from that point on the rest of the game was for you not to actually hit another ball, right. And, and, and so that what you end up realizing is, geez, here we are, we've held serve uneventfully. He held it, I held. Because he shank a ball. You know, this games are going by.
- [72:10]
Andy
In a hurry, and all of a sudden it's 30 all and he's hitting three chips in a row to you.
- [72:13]
Andre Agassi
Or all of a sudden it's 30 all, and he hits something off the frame and it floats and finds a piece of real estate. And then he uses his speed and darts forward with his hands. And you go to hit what you would call a routine passing shot. And you realize, I haven't hit this shot in 25 minutes. And you have to now hit it to not lose the set. I mean, Pete's one of the only guys that ever played in the finals. When you get to the finals, you know you're playing well, and you don't worry about playing well. You just hope you can do it better. When I got to the finals and played Pete, I worried if I was going to go from playing great to just not playing well, because that was his ability to sort of lull you into this abyss. It's like. Like you just felt like, okay, nothing's happening. Nothing's happening. Why is. Why is this set over? Can hold on timeout. Can just, like, somebody tell me, like, what just happened there? I mean, I thought I was playing just fine and the set's gone. I mean, yeah, Pete deserves all the credit for that.
- [73:07]
Andy
I think might be the most clutch player of all time. He was unconscious about, like, just he. He would do, like, he would do this thing. And I don't think we operate this way. I'll speak for myself. I definitely don't operate this way. He could lose a set in practice Saturday before a Monday to some chucker who's ranked 400 in the world, and it wouldn't even affect him a little.
- [73:28]
Andre Agassi
And do you think he even played a set in practice?
- [73:30]
Andy
I saw him lose to so many bad players when he was training at Saddlebrook. I was there. I mean, it was like. But doesn't. And I asked him, I said, how do you.
- [73:37]
Andre Agassi
How do.
- [73:38]
Andy
How do you even. He goes, I don't know. He's like, it'll be there. I'm like, what'll be there? He's like, I don't even know what that is. Like, I don't know how to. I don't know.
- [73:46]
Andre Agassi
So a quick little story about him. He was retired a couple years. Retired. I was still playing and they. They were trying to put this deal together where me and Pete play Mac and Connors. And there was this whole handicap system and. And it was for, like, huge dollars or whatever. So I called Pete and I'm like, you know, like, what do you think? And he's like, yeah, I mean, you want to do it? I'll do it. And I was like. Like. I mean, like, you saw me last week, and, you know, I'm hitting the ball pretty well. You know, I haven't seen you in two years. Okay. I was like, how are you doing? Right? Like, talk to me about your game. He goes, I mean, just give me a couple weeks. I'll just roll the arm over.
- [74:19]
Andy
I could just imagine that conversation with you. If someone said you had to play. Like, you would have been. You'd have been like, I need to, like, get everything right. Like, I would have been into. I would have been. I'd be in a tail.
- [74:29]
Andre Agassi
I would have paid a million bucks not to put myself through it.
- [74:32]
Andy
Yeah. Pete, one time, look, we were on a flight, and I had him trapped because we were the only two people on it. So he had to talk to me. And I remember he told me, and it just broke my soul. And I knew he was absolutely right. He goes, you were just good enough from the baseline for it to be a problem for you.
- [74:48]
Andre Agassi
He. He actually. He told you that, too, huh?
- [74:50]
Andy
Yeah.
- [74:51]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. I'll never forget. I'll never. I use it as an example quite often. I mean, I don't mean to bring this up, but, like. And when we played in Cincinnati, yeah, it was a perfect example, is, like, you held serve, like, quickly, one zero, and then. And then I think I got down, like, 15, 40 of some long points back to deuce, add deuce, whatever. I finally hold at one all. I felt ready for any pressure opportunity that might present itself because you'd have hitting balls, because I was. Everything was kind of, you know, like the radar had come on, right? So, like, if you gave me a chance, that next game, on your serve, whatever it was, it was like I felt like I could take it. I never felt that way against Pete. I felt like I might. Might miss this, like, shockingly bad.
- [75:37]
Andy
Now, I. I had a hard time with your pace because I can. I can let it go. But I needed, like, when I had two feet under me, if I was playing, you know, one of the old school Spanish guys or what, like, I knew that I was going to have time where both feet were set.
- [75:51]
Andre Agassi
Yeah.
- [75:51]
Andy
And then I could go. But I needed. I didn't have, like, that quick, you know, trigger like Pete, where he could just, like, move on one quickly. And so against you, I felt like I was always kind of backing up, backing up back. I just didn't feel like I could. I could force it forward.
- [76:07]
Andre Agassi
So I always saw you as, like, let's just take away the the personal side of things, I always said, I always saw you like I always saw you in my own mind. Like, pace to the forehand. Safe. No pace of the back end. Safe. Paste to the back. And I have to worry line because you can redirect that like nobody's business. No pace the forehand, I got problems. No pace the backhand. Where you get around it, I got problems. So if I go no pace to your backhand, and I don't like the way that thing came off my racket immediately, like I had full attention for you getting around it, but if I like the way it came off my shot, I knew you were gonna have to generate with the backhand, then I could physically kind of position myself in a court to then go faster to your forehand. Right. If I went fast to your forehand right away, I knew that unless you hit it perfectly, I could pick the next one up and get it down to your backhand. Right. So those two elements that work together always made me feel good. Only in the baseline exchanges.
- [77:00]
Andy
I love that problem.
- [77:01]
Andre Agassi
The problem was getting to the baseline exchanges with you. That was the problem.
- [77:04]
Andy
Love that for you.
- [77:06]
Andre Agassi
Sounds awesome, but come on, I mean, I still got to find a way to get into the game a couple more and then.
- [77:13]
Andy
Yeah, you've given us so much time, Roger. You played them in the people. People forget you played them in a grand slam final.
- [77:21]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, I mean, played him in a quarters. It was two quarters too. I played him in the open quarters and Aussie open quarters. You know, Roger was the first guy I ever played against where I could hit a ball exactly how I wanted. I knew it and I, and I still didn't feel safe. Like, like, like I knew I was gonna bleed him with a backhand and he was going to slice it. Normally that's pretty good territory to be in, but you always comes off weird, though. You always had to have like, you.
- [77:53]
Andy
Have to like get really kind of create that like friction mechanism against it.
- [77:58]
Andre Agassi
Right.
- [77:58]
Andy
Like it just like doesn't get to you. And then if it's it, his slice comes off different.
- [78:02]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, there's no doubt. But you know, what he did so so much differently is like he would take one big step with his right foot if he's gonna hit over a backhand and he catch that ball later than most one handers catch it. Right. So. And then he could throw that thing right. So like he'd step back and just letting the ball travel that much deeper in the strike zone just made you pause that, that, that, that Split second. And then if he didn't hit it all that well, I never felt like I was.
- [78:30]
Andy
That pause meant you couldn't take that step in. And then, then.
- [78:33]
Andre Agassi
So on a side note, from a strategic standpoint, in tennis, the hardest, the easiest thing to do on a tennis court is to expect opportunity and then abort. Expect opportunity, then abort. The hardest thing to do on a tennis court is to not expect opportunity. Then all of a sudden you get it right, and then you're up to it a second late, your mind's going a mile a minute and, and then you can over, over juice that you can under juice it. You could talk yourself into. It's like, it's like we, we're always looking to slow down our side of the court. And if you look for opportunity and it's not there, you keep it slow by aborting, right? So with Roger, I, I, I, I would hit a ball and I would, and I wasn't allowed to look for opportunity because if I, even if I looked, I could be in trouble, right? It's like it's, it was, he could just hold it and then penalize you. I mean, I, the way he, he was magic. I mean he's just absolutely magic. When he beat me in the finals of the Open, I mean I was, I was saying hello to the, you know, to the next player of the next future generations. Little did I know, you know, we'd have two guys named, you know, Rafa and you know, Novak come around.
- [79:45]
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- [80:34]
Andre Agassi
Pro baller. Lonzo ball for buzzballs ready to go. Cocktails take 12. Buzzballs just dropped their biggest blue balls. Script says Biggie's blue balls. Lonzo take 13. Blue balls just dropped their biggest Buzz balls.
- [80:47]
Andy
Ugh.
- [80:47]
Andre Agassi
Let's try a vocal exercise. Buzz balls, biggies, blue balls. Buzz balls, biggies, blue balls.
- [80:53]
Andy
Big balls.
- [80:54]
Andre Agassi
Just drop. Get bl with Buzzball, please.
- [81:00]
Andy
You're responsibly. Buzzball's available in spirit, wine and malt. 15% Alco, Bavo and Buzzballs, LLC. Carrollton, Texas I still say there are people who serve bigger, but I still, when people ask me, as far as pitching a ball game, I think you and Roger were really great at pitching a ball game. You have 17 tosses. Like, you would throw them into different things. You would hit one out of your ear, you'd let one, it would get a foot past where it normally. And so, like, just for our listeners, like, you get rhythm off of someone's serve and that's when you time your split step and that's when you, you know, start looking. And when you're picking them off clean, you're finding that rhythm. This motherfucker would, would literally like, toss the ball up two feet higher than serve one out of his ear. And Roger had that game too. He could quick serve, he could lay off, he could, you know, hit one wide, he could slide. And I thought you two were the ones where, like, you would toss it up and I know you wanted to get to your kick to open up, but like, you would make, you would kind of save it for certain moments. You two, like. Pete served great. His second serve was, was way better, but he had all the options. Also with speed, I think you guys had to negotiate your speed in a way that was the most effective that I had ever seen.
- [82:07]
Andre Agassi
Well, yeah, I mean, listen, I, I, I don't disagree with that. I was very purposeful in every serve I hit to set up the rest of the point. But I tell you, people forget that Roger was just a straight serve volley or for a couple years early on his career. And he, he played me at the Open just surviving. I mean, I was like, you know, thank you. I mean, I was like, thank you. Like, literally it wasn't until he actually stopped doing that.
- [82:30]
Andy
But I'm like, oh, 1 or 02 or something like that.
- [82:32]
Andre Agassi
I, I, those years run together because I actually like the game at that point. But, but no, but he, he, yeah, because I remember, like, Pete was even congratulated. He even came out of the shell and congratulated me. And then the tournament because he, it was going to be a problem and it was a bad round, it was round of 16 or something. But he served, volleyed, and it was like, whoa. I mean, like so his serve dropped off to me dramatically. If he got predictable behind it, like when he's. When he. All of a sudden, you didn't know on top of it if he was going to Servali versus stay back.
- [83:03]
Andy
I didn't see that. It was like he would pull the string at certain points and like, to this day, we've played however many times I don't know where he's going on a breakpoint in the outside.
- [83:10]
Andre Agassi
Oh, yeah. Like anywhere he wants.
- [83:11]
Andy
Yeah. And it would be different paces. There's the 117, there's the 128. There's a similar to you. It's, you know, same swing. It's like a change up versus a fastball.
- [83:19]
Andre Agassi
And like a golfer scaring the cup on every roll, too, even if he misses.
- [83:23]
Andy
And by the way, like, just people at home listening to commentators going, like, well, they're not, you know, they're not making returns, like, against you, against the players that we're talking about. If you don't stick that first ball against them, it's not a matter of making it. We're not just missing returns because we don't know what to do. Like, it's because that first ball, if I lay it in the middle against him, I might as well have missed it.
- [83:40]
Andre Agassi
Like, it's.
- [83:41]
Andy
You kind of have to create.
- [83:43]
Andre Agassi
My whole objective is to get any ball that isn't hit purely. I mean, when I say purely, not just off the string stock, but, but, but depth or direction is getting penalized. And when you walk off the real estate of that tennis court, that's about everywhere, except maybe two feet from lines.
- [84:01]
Andy
Talk about Rafa. And I want to get it back to the. I drew a line from Matt's because you said, you know, he likes playing defense and I like making people play defense. I want to say Rafa might be the one that, that, that changed that. You guys played in 05 in the final in Canada, if I'm not wrong. I remember watching that one and it felt like, oh, he's taking Andre's shots to the corners, but he's creating this spin profile that, like, it was the first time I'd seen you uncomfortable after you had gotten kind of on top of the point.
- [84:31]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. So unfortunately that year it was a high bouncing Canadian open court, which is just a bad. It's just bad, bad math there with Rafa. He was the first guy ever played where I, I looked at him going out there not knowing better. I looked at him like, okay, lefty, a lot of spin if you go after his forehand, he's gonna leave a lot of balls short. You can dictate from there. I don't mind if he's going to get to extra. Same thing you're saying. But I went out there early in the match. I pounded one backhand cross court. He tried to fight it off and go deep. I took the next one early and I moved him around and won the point. And I literally think I physically saw him like the Terminator, go, okay, I got it. Next time he does that, I'm going so high and so short that in order for me to take that thing on the rise, I had to, I had to commit so far into the court. And what I never had is that speed, Right. I always had good footwork. I always, you know, had a decent.
- [85:31]
Andy
It wasn't line to line. It was controlling the middle and the circle C move.
- [85:34]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. And if it was windy, it didn't matter because, because my feet were going, you know, but so all of a sudden, I bake a backhand cross court. He'd throw that thing up in the air where it's landing on the service line. If I don't get up on top of that ball, I have to now back up, else it's going to be way over my head. So I'm literally going, okay, so I got up on top of it and I hit it.
- [85:53]
Andy
You hit it perfectly. He's bruising you.
- [85:55]
Andre Agassi
No, no, you're stuck in the middle of the court. You're done on your shoe top. So then I said, okay, I got my play. Now he's going to do that thing and I'm going to commit and come forward and just screw it because he's way over there, right? He throws a spin up. Just take it early up the line. I'm already at net, like, like, like, literally, I'm already there. He's in the corner. He still finds a way to throw that thing at my feet. I actually hit a great, for me, drop volley, right? Because it's the only play I had underneath the net. And he runs and throws that thing over and around me. It wasn't until it bounced and then he, then he throws a vamos like, like three feet away. And I'm going, respect, respect. I mean, that's, that's too good. That's too good. But I've, I've, I, I, I, I got his weakness. So you know what his weakness is, right?
- [86:44]
Andy
Tell me.
- [86:44]
Andre Agassi
The only way I broke serve that match.
- [86:46]
Andy
Tell me.
- [86:47]
Andre Agassi
I just. Here's this guy that had all these corkstone.
- [86:50]
Andy
I just kicked over his water bottle. Yeah, I wanted to do that one.
- [86:53]
Andre Agassi
Time I kicked over his water bottle.
- [86:54]
Andy
Did you, did you really do that?
- [86:56]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, I tipped it over. Oh.
- [86:57]
Andy
I wanted to go full grammatic on it one time.
- [86:59]
Andre Agassi
No, no, no. I didn't want to do that because it would. I didn't want to cause an issue. I just wanted to see how he reacted.
- [87:03]
Andy
And you did you just kind of just.
- [87:04]
Andre Agassi
So he walked to the. So then he goes and he starts doing the.
- [87:07]
Andy
I've talked about this so many times.
- [87:09]
Andre Agassi
The headband, the eyes, the nose. He. He goes through his whole routine he just done a million times. And then just before he serves, it's like his eyes turned to his water.
- [87:17]
Andy
Bottle and it was.
- [87:18]
Andre Agassi
And it was like, not perfect.
- [87:20]
Andy
It was dead.
- [87:20]
Andre Agassi
Yeah. Anyhow, I got it. I broke him for the second set. But that didn't last. Short term fix Bandaid.
- [87:27]
Andy
I don't, I don't think you played Novak, right?
- [87:30]
Andre Agassi
I actually played him in a. In a pre Wimbledon exhibition grass court thing.
- [87:35]
Andy
Okay.
- [87:36]
Andre Agassi
Useless. I mean, he was over 100 in the world and.
- [87:39]
Andy
Give us, give me your thoughts. A lot of times I use you as the example of him being able to control the middle of the court. But then you add 5 inches, you add the length, you add the defense, and it's like, I don't know where to go. What, what, what do you see when you spent the last 20 years watching, watching Novak?
- [87:59]
Andre Agassi
I see the greatest defensive player the game's ever seen. And shockingly, this might shock you, but when he needs to be, not when he needs to be possibly the greatest offensive player the game's ever seen, in the sense that he could open a court up from the center with a forehand cross if he feels panicked at all. You know, he's the kind of guy, if you think about it, he's like the boxer that needs to feel the glove hit him before he even engages, right? He gets out there on a tennis court and he just goes into this lockdown mode. Let the match come to me, right? And you start throwing punches at him, and then you get away with a few. And then you start getting him like a little bit engaged. And then he goes into hyper lockdown mode. And then he starts making. You have to hit five winners a point to win a point. And then all of a sudden he gets a little agitated at that point. Then he throws a little offense in and you're thinking to yourself, where did that come from? Now, now that there's A little offense. Like I couldn't win the point when he was on defense and now he's on offense and he just like slowly. It's like he. If you're swimming in the Ocean, like with 15 foot swells and Novak's like the wet blanket that gets thrown on you and you're just like, but I'm drowning anyhow. And, and now you're just, you just, it's like he's like an amoeba that just, that just swallows you and drags you under. It's like he beats you defensively. He beats you offensively. It's like he wants to beat you like he wants to beat your mom too. Like, it's like, like take it easy. I mean, it's okay. You're gonna get through this. We don't like just this, you know, but the guy is world class. I mean, I mean, how many different ways can you say it? He can hurt you from any part of the court in a defensive position. He can hurt you from any part of the court in an offensive position.
- [89:44]
Andy
Return wise. Like you were an offensive returner. You can make him when you needed to. Every great person could be better at something, but he was like, simultaneously he had like the Murray length thing where he could stretch and put a return in play and you on second serves where you're putting it on their shoe tops with, with, with force. Like the offensive, defensive thing doesn't just end during the point. He was able to do it with returns.
- [90:06]
Andre Agassi
So here's how I saw his return, both as, you know, as an opponent and also being around him up close. You know, he. The whole purpose of a return is to get to neutral. That's the whole purpose of return, right? Like if, if you're better than somebody in the, in the, in the meat potatoes you want to get. But neutral means something different depending on how well you move, right? So like for me, neutral meant I had to get ahead on the return because if I just hit the return that Novak hits, somebody's going to move me and I'm behind, right? Novak's not behind. So his need to panic on being offensive with his return is non existent. I mean, he doesn't need to. Now the question is, if he had to be aggressive, what would it look like? And of course, if he did it over and over again, I think he has the ability to do it better than anybody. But for him it was always about direct. It wasn't about. I don't feel like with Novak's offensive returning that it was ever About. He had to. He had to be pissed off. He had to have a reason. Like, it was hard to get him to think he even has to be aggressive on the return. Yeah. But if he had to, I mean, he can do it.
- [91:21]
Andy
Talk about just quick couple lines on each this new, you know, when the. The Big Threes, you know, Novak will eventually retire. We had this, you know, where they swallowed up 60, some odd grain slams over time, and we're like stingy bastards. Okay. Yeah, we're. We're get. We're getting parody. And then Carlos comes in as 14 by 22 center is looking like an extension of Novak. Maybe not the defensive skills, but when he gets on the front foot, he doesn't just hit it through the court, he hits it through the court. I was amazed at the amount of shape that he has on it and how heavy he hits it. He's an algorithm. And so you have these guys again. What are you seeing when you're watching these two players?
- [92:02]
Andre Agassi
Oh, yeah. I mean, the same thing you're seeing. I mean, Alcaraz. Alcaraz's upside on anything that isn't sure. Footing concrete. Yeah. Is. I. I think is. Is. Is a little. Is a little higher. The thing that amazes me most watching, you know, Carlos play live, like, was how little his speed diminishes on clay and grass. Right. Like. Like. Like most people who are fast, they go to grass and their speed comes down. You know, their court coverage comes down 5% just because you have to be really careful in the corners. You got to be careful on your first step. You got to let your body weight move before you start to run through shots.
- [92:42]
Andy
Also, you can't stop and hit at the same time.
- [92:44]
Andre Agassi
There's. But he could. You can slide into him. Even if you slide into him, the first step out has to be very careful. Second step has to be your push. So everybody's movement comes down a touch. His didn't. It was like. It's like he trusted himself so much on the power of his. Of his second push that him running for a drop shot that caught him cold center court. Wimbledon would. It would have. It would have broken my groin to think about going to that ball. And he just trusts that pause till his weight goes. And then he sticks on the jets and he gets there like a. Like a flying saucer versus the F15. It's like everybody's flying a plane and he's. He's like changing altitudes and reversing, and his speed doesn't diminish. So on Slippery surfaces. I mean, his upside is incredible, and he's still so raw. I don't know if I hope. He should learn how to maximize and we should enjoy watching him before he maximizes because it's so much fun for the fan to watch the way he plays the game, but he still has so much more upside from a standpoint of longevity. And now Sinner's the exact opposite, right? Sinner is, like, constantly maximizing. He's never hit a ball. He doesn't really need to, you know, and when he does let one rip, it makes you wonder if, you know, if he was forced to, what that gear would really look like. Because, because he's playing. He's taking 85 cuts, and they're, they're, they're, they're like his jab is like.
- [94:09]
Andy
A, just smothers straight right.
- [94:11]
Andre Agassi
It's like a straight right, you know, so. But then don't kid yourself from the corners. I mean, you don't put them on. Maybe Novak from the corners, because Novak's greatest.
- [94:19]
Andy
He's absurdly great. I'm just saying, like, you know, maybe gets on the front foot sooner versus Novak is more likely actually invite.
- [94:26]
Andre Agassi
Right.
- [94:26]
Andy
The test to the corners.
- [94:27]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, Young just wants to take over it and never look back.
- [94:33]
Andy
He just smothers.
- [94:34]
Andre Agassi
I mean, let me ask you a question. You had to call it today. In hindsight, whose career do you think is better? Resume Alcarez or Sinner when it's all said and done, if he had to. We're popping off because life can throw curves.
- [94:49]
Andy
One there. I, I, I, I don't know is the answer. My thing would just be on the early, the early things we've seen with Alcaraz and injuries. I don't know how a body moves that fast for 15 years and that unnecessary. But I said the same thing about Rafa, right? So I was wrong about Rafa. I thought, I thought, there's no way this guy plays past 27. There's just no way. Yeah, but there's a difference cycle a different.
- [95:14]
Andre Agassi
I mean, isn't there a difference between running for every ball and trying for every ball like Rafa did, versus creating unnecessarily unnecessary like, like, like duress on yourself.
- [95:24]
Andy
Yes. The, the. I would go center just because I can see him doing the same algorithm. I view him as a piece of software like input output, input output, input output. And with Carlos, I'm just like, is he one? He's an artist. Is he gonna get tired of It Is he gonna like.
- [95:41]
Andre Agassi
Speaking of. He's a little edgy. This tournament. Yeah. I don't know when you're airing this, but we're talking about the French Open tomorrow.
- [95:47]
Andy
Yeah, it's Monday. Where you'll be out on Tuesday.
- [95:49]
Andre Agassi
A little edgy. I don't know.
- [95:50]
Andy
I don't.
- [95:50]
Andre Agassi
I don't hate it.
- [95:51]
Andy
I don't hate it.
- [95:52]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, let's see what happens.
- [95:53]
Andy
Curious to see it. I would go center just because it seems like every Tuesday is kind of the same, you know? Like, you know, but neither would surprise me. I say that with zero, zero confidence. One thing I want to. I want to touch on real quick before. Before we finish is can you talk about how you scheduled your practices at Wimbledon in 1999?
- [96:16]
Andre Agassi
I didn't.
- [96:17]
Andy
You didn't. But Brad did. Did he have any instructions? He seemed to think that it was supposed to either be before or after someone. Oh, so that's become.
- [96:26]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, so I. I wed Wimbledon in 92 alongside my now bride, Steffi Grab. I guess if he ever win Wimbledon, it was probably next to her during those years. And there's the first year they canceled the dance and. Yeah, I was just bummed about that. Tried for a few years. Wasn't. Wasn't worthy enough, apparently. But then we won the French together in 99. Maybe gave me the confidence. Maybe. Maybe I'm worthy now. I don't know. So it was her birthday, and I knew that, and so does the world. But I was flying back to London, and I was like. I wanted to just accidentally run into her and accidentally give her a birthday card that I made and accidentally leave my phone number on and what have you. So I just, you know. So Brad would schedule practices, like, just. It was simple. It's just. He'd go to Graph plus one. And then I just. I mean, I stalked her the whole tournament. So I show up early, and I'd act like I stretched.
- [97:21]
Andy
By the way, pause on that shit for a second. Because anyone who knows Andre, he would walk into the locker room, he'd kind of go, like. Like this. Like, do this. And then go practice. And then if he actually stopped at the locker room on the way to his car, it was. It was a miracle. Less time spent in the locker room than maybe anyone that's ever been on tour. So the fact that you're out, it didn't stretch. No stretching, no massage. No one's ever seen body work. It's like this thing. What happens. What happens when Andre goes home? We don't know. But it certainly wasn't stretching. So the fact that you're out there 15 minutes early, kind of pretending to stretch is the best part of the story.
- [97:54]
Andre Agassi
Oh, without a shirt on, too. Without a shirt. But you know who spent less time at a tennis court than at a tennis court than me was Steph. I mean, because she had the luxury of.
- [98:05]
Andy
Because she wanted to match in 46 minutes. Yeah, exactly.
- [98:07]
Andre Agassi
Totally. And then. But she was the same way. She just. Just like, zip, zip, zip. Gone. Like. Yeah, no, that was definitely. I was not. One time I was. I might have been on the table more than once, but I remember one time that I was on the table, I think it was Henman. He. He looks over at me and he goes, can I just say something? And I was like, what? What's up? He goes, this is a real honor. What? What? What's an honor? He goes, actually being on the table next to you. Because I don't think anybody's ever done that before. Ever. Yeah, because I was just. Never. Wasn't my. Wasn't my deal.
- [98:42]
Andy
The visual of you scheduling practices around her practices and actually getting there and stretching would have ended me. We didn't know each other at that point, but that would have. That would have absolutely killed me.
- [98:51]
Andre Agassi
You want me to tell you when I knew Rafa, I would never beat him?
- [98:55]
Andy
Yes. And that's what I would want.
- [98:58]
Andre Agassi
I was at the French Open. I don't remember what year it was, but it was one of the years where I said I shouldn't come back to this tournament anymore, but. Because I have no chance. But in any case, it was in 2000, and here's this 17 year old kid, and you remember those lockers where they used to click them, right? So you get your code and then you have to click the number. You couldn't just go to the numbers. Yeah. Click, click, click. And you look at his code. Click. And then I was the only one that I prided myself on how hard I worked. I was the last one, you know, leaving the job, so to speak. Except this kid comes in later than me, and we're the only ones in the locker room. And I could see him through lockers. And he looks at his code and I was like, oh, he's a rookie, you know, he doesn't know. He's trying to figure it out and click, click, click. And it doesn't open. And he's like, you know, and he starts again. He looks at his code and click, click, click, click. And it doesn't open. And he goes, bam. And he hits the locker. I'm not kidding.
- [99:46]
Andy
It's.
- [99:47]
Andre Agassi
God is my windows. He hits the locker, and then he's like. Shakes it off. And then. And I'm. I'm going, is this kid serious? Right? Then he's like, click. And it opens. And he goes, no, he didn't. You made.
- [99:58]
Andy
You're making this up.
- [100:00]
Andre Agassi
No, no, I'm not making it up.
- [100:02]
Andy
There was no one else in there. And he self. Vamos.
- [100:04]
Andre Agassi
He was, like, in a war with the locker. And he was gonna win it, and he won it. And I was like, I can't beat this guy. It says, that's too good. I mean, and then he proved it 14 times.
- [100:16]
Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Crazy. I'm gonna tell one more anecdotal story, and then we're gonna let you go. But, like, there are a million stories like this about Andre where it's this offset of being serious and also kind of loving as much as I love. So Doug Spreen, who is my trainer from 03 on, but used to be in the. The locker room. Andre wouldn't. Wasn't. He would only be in there before he had to, like, go on or something. It's like a hot day in Australia. So there's this. This is twofold. One I was in there is like, 01.02. No, 02. Probably maybe 03 something. And it was like, everyone's complaining about Haas. They're like, oh, man, it's hot out there. And like, I was expecting, like, oh, okay. And you go, fuck's wrong with you? I was like, what are you talking about? He goes, imagine a job. Imagine complaining about a job where you only have to be better than one person a day. I was like, damn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that lands.
- [101:14]
Andre Agassi
I thought you were gonna tell the prinosol one.
- [101:15]
Andy
Yeah, I'm gonna tell the principal one.
- [101:17]
Andre Agassi
This is my favorite.
- [101:17]
Andy
You know which one I'm telling? It's the best one. It was. Dougie Spreen was in there. Dougie Spreen tells the story. Who's Dougie Spreen? Dougie Spring is my trainer, and he was on tour trainer forever. So when you see someone right out on the court and have to fix something, that was. That was Dougie for a long time. And then he worked for me until. For my entire career once I won enough to make enough money to pay him. But. So you're playing. Prenasil is a good player. German dude, but, like, a lot of, you know, you go to Australia and especially Andre was in his run there. Like, he was in. You Know four to five. He was like. He was Novak numbers for half a decade. And Prenticel like, I don't know how to explain it. Had like, the short calf. Like, coming from Germany. You'd see people get to Australia and they were like, too pale to take the heat. Like, you would see. It's like that guy's freckles need to connect in order for him to handle this heat, you know, at some point. So dangerous player, kind of punchy, like, would get. Would bleed you a little bit, but, like, not super consistent. One of the last guys to finish on the opposite foot when he served kind of situation. But I guess Dougie, I guess Andre said to Dougie before he's going out, it's hot, hot in Australia. And I guess. I guess you said to him before you went out, you said, dougie, you're gonna have to come get him today. And Dougie is like, come get him? What do you. What do you mean, come. Come get him? He's like, you're gonna come get this guy today. And Doug, he's like, all right. Something else. And so sure as, like, apparently you go out and you're just bleeding in corner corner. One of those hot days, and he can't get you out of the center of the court. And you're just like. You have one story probably gets overtold, but you're laying off of it. Like, you're happy to extend pain. You win the first set. 13:11 in a breaker. And principle is like, it's the full thing. He's got the fan, he's throwing ice on himself. He's going, you know, and then sure enough, like, the heat obviously didn't get any cooler. Andre is doing the little walk up quick, you know, little jog out of the chair, you know, past him and the whole thing. Sure enough, Prinosil taps out.
- [103:17]
Andre Agassi
It's even better than that.
- [103:18]
Andy
Dougie Spreed comes out the court and had to get him. Tell. Tell me. I've heard this story retold 15 times.
- [103:23]
Andre Agassi
So I'm so ready to play. My bag's packed. Everything's. I'm standing by the door to head out of the locker room. And it's kind of a written rule of sorts. I understood code between players. Like, if you're ready to go, like, you're, you know, you're waiting. You've been there. You're like, you're gonna walk out, you're gonna go first.
- [103:40]
Andy
Yeah.
- [103:40]
Andre Agassi
And they open the door, give us a green light, and he blows over my shoulder kind of Bumps the bag and just passes me. And that's when I looked at Dougie and I went, you're gonna have to come get this guy today. I'm gonna kill him. I'm literally gonna kill him. And. And. And it's the only time this has ever happened on a tennis court. The only time. The doctor was watching from the side of the court. And the doctor called the match. I'm not kidding. No, He. Pernicill didn't ask for a trainer. The doctor was watching, and they wrecked. So I beam 1311 the breaker. He. He fist bumped me a few times. We start the second set, and it's the strangest thing in the world.
- [104:19]
Andy
A few times.
- [104:20]
Andre Agassi
It's like he, like, he couldn't find the ball. He was like. It was like he was seeing three. I don't know what he was. He, like, he just. He just looked gone. And the doctors came out. His heartbeat was like something in the 180s and he. And he's breathing fine. So they were like, this match is over. This guy, he doesn't know where he's at.
- [104:37]
Andy
They didn't let him come out of the corner.
- [104:38]
Andre Agassi
No, no, no. So they went, laid him on ice. He didn't even shake my hand. I mean, it was like, I'm sitting.
- [104:43]
Andy
There, like, sound like he wouldn't have recognized you at the time.
- [104:45]
Andre Agassi
Well, so they lay him on ice. But I'll give this guy so much props because I was practicing next day and, you know, going at it, and he, like, walked across five courts and just came over and just said, I never got to shake your hand for that display yesterday. That was like, well done.
- [104:59]
Andy
Oh, cool.
- [105:00]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, he gave me a lot of props for it.
- [105:02]
Andy
I love it.
- [105:02]
Andre Agassi
I said. He said, you put me in the hospital.
- [105:04]
Andy
But I've never heard a tennis player predict that the trainer's gonna have to come get their opponent.
- [105:09]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, it was. It was hot that day. It was hot. My shoes melted. And literally your bottom of your shoes, that was the rebound ace days where it would absorb the heat so much that literally your shoes.
- [105:22]
Andy
So going down in Australia, you'd have to. You'd walk down, you know, six steps or five steps, and then you'd have to walk up two or three steps. So it was like you're standing at the bottom and you're looking at it, and it looks like it's this rubber surface. It smells like burning tires. And you see the water, you see, like the old, like, you know, I don't know what it's called. You see in the desert and it smells like burning tires. And it's like, this is going to be.
- [105:44]
Andre Agassi
And there's Nothing worse than 110 degree day where it starts to rain, they close the roof and everybody's thrilled for the players. And you're going, no, it's more humid now.
- [105:51]
Andy
It's the worst now.
- [105:52]
Andre Agassi
It's the worst.
- [105:53]
Andy
The ball doesn't jump.
- [105:53]
Andre Agassi
Like it's good for the fans, bad players, horrible.
- [105:57]
Andy
Real quick because we've taken too much of your time. How much are you enjoying the current process of labor cup and how much are you going to enjoy getting in the mix with the guys and being able to retell stories? What you got right, more importantly, maybe what you got wrong. What made you say yes to the labor cup job?
- [106:19]
Andre Agassi
I went and saw it and I heard coaches talk about it. I heard some fans talk about people I know that went to it. You know, I heard business people talk about it from a hospitality perspective. I mean, I called bullshit on all of it. Right. So I had to go see it. And you watch those players, they're legit.
- [106:34]
Andy
I did the same thing and I'm, I'm came to the same conclusion that I think you're going to get to.
- [106:38]
Andre Agassi
Yeah, the players legitimately take pride and not just trying to beat the other one. Not just trying to impress their teammates, but they're actually trying to show them teammates. I think some things too, like, you know, there's like real intense competition going on. Captains into it. I mean, hospitality, unbelievable. Just, I, I talked to a few people when I was there and I said, you know, if I gave you tickets to the quarters of a Grand Slam or weekend at labor cup, what do you, what do you, what do you take? They said, no, we can labor cup because we know who we're going to see and we might even see him play doubles. And like, and like this is, like, this is like, it's like, it's like straight, straight to the veins. Like, if you love tennis, like, this is where this is what you want to see, you know, so they've really done an incredible job with what they've built. I mean, Mac and Bjorn done an incredible job. And you know, as far as what I look forward to, I've already engaged with many of the players, even the other team. You know, a couple of the guys have reached out to me just because they feel I'm accessible, which I am. And it's like, and I don't know if I, I wouldn't enjoy telling stories as much as enjoy seeing how they process, trying to. Trying to kind of figure that out. And just the smallest thing can make such a difference. And not just in one week in their life, but hopefully in the growth and trajectory of their career.
- [107:56]
Andy
Well, I can't wait to see it. We're gonna. We'll be out there. Producer Mike. That's Laver cup. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Producer Mike Andre. I didn't know how to pronounce when we first started the show 15 months ago. Yeah. So you're gonna love it. It's gonna be great. Andrew, thank you for coming on the show. More importantly, thank you for being a mentor to me for a million years. Your foundation is the reason. My foundation happens because of a conversation which you don't remember when we're 17. And basically the gist of it was, there's no time like the present. I wish I would have done it earlier, which was crazy considering everything that you've done for as many people as you've done it for. I think the magnetism, and this is just me, is because there's so much power in not being perfect, but then kind of having that manifest in perfection sometimes in what you do. And I think owning that is as admirable. I think that's the reason why you've drawn people in for as long as you have. You're like, almost perfectly imperfect. And so I thank you for coming on serve. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a mentor. I promise you, you've done harder things than TNT this weekend. You'll be fun.
- [109:11]
Andre Agassi
It was a pleasure, Andrew.
- [109:13]
Andy
Thanks for watching, sir.
- [109:23]
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