Book review of Open by Andre Agassi

Book review of Open by Andre Agassi

The ex #1 tennis player Andre Agassi is an example of determination and focus. He had to work for everything he ever achieved in tennis. At one point he lost his motivation, fitness and world #1 ranking completely and went down to #141. He decided to quit the game but then changed his mind and staged a successful comeback against fitter opponents. He came back to #1 by setting goals, devising new strategies and working hard. I first came across his story in the book The Power of Focus, and it has always inspired me to never give up, so I am happy he has finally written his autobiography so I can get the full story, straight from the horse's mouth.

Agassi tells of how he lost many tournaments and tennis matches in his career, and at first it was mentally devastating, but he never gave up. Over time he won more tournaments than most of his generation. He has won an Olympic gold medal in Tennis, and is one of only 6 people to have also won the 4 most major tennis tournaments, a career golden slam.

Andre Agassi is just a normal man, but the records, and the critics, rank him to be the number 3 tennis player of all time. Of all time! He put the effort in, and trained hard. Agassi did not even like tennis, he hated it, but he put the work in anyway. He is currently the 3rd highest ever earner in tennis (about $30m). The only 2 people to have earned more, are Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. It shows that you can even be successful at what you hate, as long as you put the work in.

When Agassi lost his tennis consistency and world #1 ranking (down to #141) due to his depression, he worked out an exercise routine with his trainer and spent lots of time running up and down a nearby hill (Gil Hill). He then went back to the basics and entered into amateur tournaments to re-learn his game, and had to endure people laughing at his downfall and telling him that he was too old and should give up tennis. Agassi kept working, and he worked his way back up to world #1 beating the best tennis players of that time, and adding more tournament victories to his record.

Agassi has set up his own charitable foundation, and also a school to educate children, using millions of his own money, and public donations.

Agassi is popular because he is so human. In his struggles with his age, his lack of motivation for tennis, his determination to do his own thing, his self-doubt. He provided inspiration by never giving up when he was ranked #141 and everybody thought his game was over, but he worked his way back to the top of tennis.

Autobiographies are always the best books. They are the story of success, straight from the horses mouth. This is a well written autobiography which defines the struggle with winning and losing, and everything in between. I can't wait to read it again.

Moneyseeker3000 rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5

Andre Agassi had to work for everything in tennis, from hitting millions of tennis balls from his dads dragon machine when he was ten years old, to putting in lots of effort when working with tennis coaches and his personal fitness trainer 'Gil' for the rest of his tennis career. Like many of the millionaires in the book The Millionaire Next Door, Agassi knew he was not as good as his opponents, so found a way to win by working harder, training more effectively, and devising better strategies to win. When he made his comeback, he had to deal with being older than his contemporaries, self doubt, and the embarrassment of falling so far in the rankings. He took on the challenge, and came out fighting. I can use the same approach for making money by: reading more books, doing more and better research, taking more action, setting better goals, and above all never giving up, even when everything seems stacked against me, just like Agassi.