Andre Agassi

Talent may not always be an inherent trait; sometimes it is a learned one enforced by parents. Such is the case with famous tennis star Andre Agassi. Agassi was born on April 29, 1970 to Emmanuel “Mike” and Elizabeth “Betty” Agassi. His father, Mike, was obsessed with fathering a famous star tennis player. He was so obsessed in fact that he hung tennis balls from Andre’s crib and even sent him to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy.

The early conditioning he received from his father allowed him to be extremely masterful in the art of hand-eye coordination. This skill is one of the main characteristics of his unstoppable playing style. He would center his games on the baseline so that he may strike at opponents from angles and make it more difficult for them to swing back. He also made it a point to make his opponents run way more to get to the ball and in so doing, wore them out.

In 1986 Agassi turned professional at the very ripe age of 16. His first tournament was in La Quinta, California. He won the first match of this tournament against John Austin but wasn’t so fortunate in the second match against Mats Wilander. A year later he won his first top-level singles title at Itaparica and was ranked number 25 in the world by the end of that year.

The year 1994 did not begin as a good one for Agassi’s playing. He was losing in the first week of both the French Open and Wimbledon. He regained momentum in the Canadian open and in 1995 became the number one tennis player in the world.