Andre Agassi had an incredible tennis career, one of the best in history. He remains the only man to win all 4 Majors and a gold medal. More importantly he has done more off the court than any athlete of our generation.
It seems amazing the arrogant, flashy kid from Vegas has more substance to him than any other athlete I can think of. His personal mission to establish a school in Vegas for underprivileged youth and to overall improve the lives of children in Las Vegas is remarkable. It's a shame he's removed from the spotlight, because he openly talked about his school and was a true ambassador to the game, himself, America, and everything he cared about. He was on his own at 13, and so much older than his years as he was on tour. People that got to know him, loved him. People that viewed from a distance saw only flash, flair, and failure, but the more he stuck around and grew as a person and player, the more everyone came to love him. Nobody would have thought he would outlive Sampras on the court, but he so clearly did that. His magical run in the 2005 US Open showed a whole new generation who Andre Agassi was, while he was 35.
He truly shows that someone who believes in themselves, hard work, and without fear of failure is capable of almost anything they can dream of. He underwent incredible personal change to become the man he is today. I dare say there are very few people I'd rather spend some time with than Andre Agassi. It always bothered me the excerpts of his book were all about the two times he used meth and his hair weaves instead of the personal growth and greatness achieved by a man who had so little guidance on how to be a person. He refuses to sit on his laurels and drift away. He is out of the public eye, but moving constantly behind the scenes, I imagine just the way he wants it. Gary Smith, Sports Illustrator writer and author extraordinaire said in Agassi's tennis profile, he doubts another athlete has done so much off the court, and I completely agree.
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