Andre Agassi: OPEN quotes. - Part 1

1. "The afternoon shower is for encouraging myself, coaching myself. Tennis is the sport in which you talk to yourself. No athletes talk to themselves like tennis players. Pitchers, golfers, goalkeepers, they mutter to themselves, of course, but tennis players talk to themselves--and answer". (pg.8)

2. "Tennis is so damned lonely. Only boxers can understand the loneliness of tennis players--and yet boxers have their corner men and managers. Even a boxer's opponent provides a kind of companionship, someone he can grapple with and grunt at. In tennis you stand face-to-face with the enemy, trade blows with him, but never touch him or talk to him, or anyone else. The rules forbid a tennis player from even talking to his coach while on court. People sometimes mention the track-and-field runner as a comparably lonely figure, but I have to laugh. At least the runner can feel and smell his opponents. They're inches away. In tennis you're on an island. Of all the games men and women play, tennis is the closest to solitary confinement, which inevitably leads to self-talk and for me the self-talk starts here in the afternoon shower". (pg.8)

3. "No matter what happens, hold your head up. And for God's sake, enjoy it, or at least try to enjoy moments of it, even the pain, even the losing, if that's what's in store". (pg.9)

4. "I told Baghdatis that he played a little like me, and he said it was no accident. He grew up with pictures of me on his bedroom wall, patterned his game after mine. In other words, tonight I'll be playing my mirror image". (pg.10)

5. "I shut off the water and stand, shivering. How much easier it is to be brave under a stream of piping hot water. I remind myself, however, that hot-water bravery isn't true bravery. What you feel doesn't matter in the end; it's what you do that makes you brave."(pg.10) 

6. "For a second I forget my nervous butterflies. Butterflies are funny. Some days they make you run to the toilet. Other days they make you horny. Other days the make you laugh, and long for the fight. Deciding which type of butterflies you've got going (monarchs or moths) is the first order of business when you're driving to the arena. Figuring out your butterflies, deciphering what they say about the status of your mind and body, is the first step to making them work for you."(pg.11) 

7. "How aggressive do I want to be tonight? Tennis is about degrees of aggression. You want to be aggressive enough to control a point, not so aggressive that you sacrifice control and expose yourself to unnecessary risk ."(pg.12) 

8. "I obsess about my bag. I keep it meticulously organized, and I make no apologies for this anal retentiveness. The bag is my briefcase, suitcase, toolbox, lunchbox, and palette. I need it just right, always. The bag is what I carry onto the court, and what I carry off, two moments when all my senses are extra acute, so I can feel every ounce of its weight. If someone were to slip a pair of argyle socks into my tennis bag, I'd feel it. The tennis bag is a lot like your heart--you have to know what's in it all times."(pg.12) 

9. "A string job can mean the difference in a match, and a match can mean the difference in a career, and a career can mean the difference in countless lives."(pg.13) 

10. "When I pull a fresh racket from my bag and try to serve out a match, the string tension can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because I'm playing for my family, my charitable foundation, my school, every string is like wire in an airplane engine." (pg.13)

11. "I like order and cleanliness, and that means no stencil-specked balls. Disorder is distraction, and every distraction on the court is a potential turning point."  (pg.14) 

12. "I told James that when I was seven years old I saw Jimmy Connors make someone carry his bag, as though he were Julius Caesar. I vowed then and there that I would always carry my own." (pg.14) 

13. "I opened my eyes this morning, when I thought of forfeiting.I might be able to do this. Of course, tomorrow there will be severe physical consequences, but I can't dwell on tomorrow any more than I can dwell on yesterday." (pg.15) 

14. "I talk to her and the children for a few minutes, but I can't hear a word they're saying. My mind is far away. Stefanie sees. She feels. You don't win twenty-two Grand Slams without a highly developed intuiton. Besides, she was the same way before her matches. She sends me back into the locker room: Go. We'll be here. Do what you need to do. She won't watch the match from ground level. It's too close for her. She'll stay in the skybox with the children, alternately pacing, praying, and covering her eyes." (pg.16) 

15. "Then I walk out. Now the cheers triple. Baghdatis turns and realizes the first cheer was for him, but this cheer is mine, all mine, which forces him to revise his expectations and reconsider what's in store. Without hitting a single ball I've caused a major swing in his sense of well-being. A trick of the trade. An old-timer's trick. The crowd gets louder as we find our way to our chairs. It's louder than I thought it would be, louder than I've ever heard it in New York. I keep my eyes lowered, let the noise wash over me. They love this moment; they love tennis. I wonderhow they would feel if they knew my secret. I stare at the court. Always the most abnormal part of my life, the court is now the only space of normalcy in all this turmoil. The court, where I've felt so lonely and exposed, is where I now hope to find refuge from this emotional moment." (pg.19)