OPEN: An Autobiography Paperback – 10 Aug. 2010

I Don’t even follow tennis, not any kind of a sports fan but this was a good enjoyable read. A well told story -

I'll compare it with the Boris Becker and John McEnroe bios and this one wins easily. The book is gripping; it made me laugh, made me sad, made me happy, made me want to train harder.It is so easy to read, I think it is a very nice book.I was never a big fan of Andre Agassi and quite frankly I don't remember that much of his impact on tennis during his time (may be because he was so inconsistent) and the book won't change me but he has an interesting story to tell and does it well.I have another 80 pages to go and I am slowing down because I know I will struggle to find a book to entertain me so much after this one.The only bad thing about the book in my mind is that it is unbalanced from the point of view of the joy and fun he must have had in his career against the pain/suffering he had to endure. I think more joy and fun would have felt more realistic.Then I get a sense of exaggeration in the book which is not uncommon in America but that's also why we love those guys.Anyway, if you like tennis and like even only a little Mr. Agassi, then this book should delight you.

Growing up I was a big andre agassi fan ,a fantastic player who was so different from the rest and played tennis like an artist at times to my mind,I thoroughly enjoyed this book very candid and truthful opinions of fellow players,tournaments etc.I particularly enjoyed the first 6 or so chapters,of a difficult childhood and manic obsessive father,these chapters flow like a novel and are fascinating,agassi himself is a very contradictory character ,who comes accross as too self pitying in many parts of his life,with a prima Donna attitude although large portions if the book are of him trying to denounce these allegations,however despite these facts you still find yourself unexpectedly fond of Agassi.An autobiography worth reading tennis fan or not.

Tennis fans generally and Agassi fans in particular will not be disappointed by this book.But anyone interested in professional sport at all - in particular, what it takes to be the best - should read this book. It's the most incredible piece of writing. From the first sentence, you are inside Agassi's head; feeling the torture and the pain of what it physically and mentally takes to be at the top. He strips away the pomposity of tennis and shows these players are almost gladiators who rip and tear at themselves to destruction, both physically and mentally pouring everything into a moment of winning. Yet as soon as that moment is achieved it's gone and you move on to doing it all over again.From a personal level, I've always had a fascination with why us Brits 'fold' under pressure; why we never quite make it, why we're never quite good enough across many sports. The answers for what's required to be one of the best are here and - incredibly for a 'celebrity book' - you can feel the energy on every page and right from page 1; it's exhausting even to read. It's not a fluffy celebrity life-story. This is why people across all sports who want to be the best should read this book.I'm not a huge fan of tennis but it's a sport with similar mental/physical requirements as a sport I play so the psychology-of-champions interests me. I once saw Agassi play Tim Henman at Wimbledon and Agassi fascinated me; although normally in love with Agassi the crowd were all over the 'home boy' even dropping into showing some 'uncontrolled enthusiasm' at Agassi unforced errors just in desperation of wanting Henman to 'do it'. As Henman did what all us-Brits seem to do - expand mentally outwards linking with the crowd and trying to run on their energy - Agassi went inwards; his eyes fascinated me. They never left Henman and his focus was unbelievable to levels you could physically feel the power of it - he didn't need anything from the crowd, he was a lone man against the world and was very comfortable there. The more the crowd bayed for Henman and the more he punched the air, the stronger and calmer Agassi became. You could see in his eyes there was no-one in the place except Henman, and he was going to take him down. I knew from looking at him Henman would never win - mentally they were worlds apart. Henman's energy was channelled wide into the crowd and he needed their energy to keep going; it's power was diluted. Agassi's energy was channelled inwards to a single point until it became laser-like and could cut through anything - and it's target was Henman. After Agassi won, he later described exactly what I'd seen when asked how he'd managed to overcome Henman's determination and the overwhelming energy of the crowd - he focussed his energy until there was no-one else there except Henman. I couldn't even tell you the score of the match but Agassi's focus and energy have stayed with me as a 'moment in time' memory ever since. The book opens up and explains what I saw - what was actually mentally and physically behind that moment; it explains it's that mental place champions are constantly chasing, trying to find, then trying to sustain and the physical effort required to fuel this mental state.Agassi conveys onto paper the mental torture, demons and physical strength required to do this. He shows it's not something top players 'have', it's something they find then lose, find again and constantly struggle to hold on to. Probably far better than any other book his descriptions of the torment and pressures indirectly gave me food for thought as to mysteries which shroud other players - for example Borg's sudden retirement.After reading this, I'll never look at two players calmly and politely leaving court after a match the same way again - I'll be wondering if as soon as they are out of the public gaze are they surrounded by teams of people physically and mentally rushing to put them back together. To me, this book has the keys to why us Brits are never quite good enough. An amazing piece of writing, Mr Agassi :o

I absolutely love this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves good writing - whether you're a tennis buff, an Agassi fan, both, or neither! It's about a man, it's about tennis (excellent, exciting accounts of the landmark games in Agassi's career), but more than those, it's about life. JR Moehringer does a stellar job of structuring the beguiling, impressively detailed stream of Andre's thoughts and making them enormously readable - and relatable. There are life lessons in this book, and not in a corny, didactic way, but in an honest, sincere and yes, 'open' way. Andre talks baldly about his childhood, his loves, his mistakes, his insecurities, his marriages, the important influences in his life... and so much more. By the time the book is done, you feel like you've witnessed, through Andre, a story that's larger-than-life, yet also a story that everyone can relate to. Again, I loved this book - it was one of the best books I read in 2010, and I know that I will return to it again and again.

I don’t normally read celebrity autobiographies because I find them boring and badly written as a rule with a few notable exceptions; David Niven’s, Tina Turner’s, Brian Keenan’s, Bob Geldof’s and now Agassi’s.I love watching a tennis player whose game flows and who plays with flair and instinctive inspirational genius when he or she is on form, more than those power house machines who play with cool calculation. Agassi was such a player and on form there was no one who could touch him.The book was as good as his tennis.I absorbed the tension and suspense of each match he described as if I was there, even the ones I watched at the time.I don’t know if you’d like this if you don’t like tennis but it’s probably one of the best autobiographies by a tennis player, or by any sportsperson I’ve read.