CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 5:06
Waking Up Hating Tennis: The Opening of Open
David Senra reads the opening of Agassi's autobiography, where Agassi wakes at the 2006 US Open, his last tournament, in a broken body. He hates tennis yet isn't ready for it to be over.
- •Agassi wakes disoriented before his final US Open at 36
- •He has a body worn down by decades of play and takes his thirteenth cortisone shot
- •His son hopes he loses so that he will retire
- •He sees the boy who hated tennis in the mirror and wonders what that boy would think
- 5:06 – 7:34
Self-Talk, Loneliness and Control What You Can Control
Senra explains why he has wanted to cover this book and points out ideas from the first chapter. Tennis is a lonely sport of self-talk, and Agassi's shower pep talks and his mantra of controlling what you can control echo what founders have told Senra.
- •Open is the most requested book for the podcast
- •Founders also talk to themselves aloud and describe loneliness
- •Agassi won many of his 869 matches in his afternoon shower
- •His repeated mantra is to control what you can control
- 7:34 – 12:11
Tortured Into Greatness: The Father and the Million Balls
Senra ties the book's first third to Jensen Huang's line about torturing people into greatness. Agassi's father drilled him relentlessly and made a prison of the backyard court, and Agassi hated tennis but could not quit.
- •Agassi at seven whispers to himself to quit but can't
- •His father demanded 2,500 balls a day and a million a year
- •His father was violent, with an ax handle in the car, and Agassi both loved and feared him
- •Senra says the father's domination suppressed Agassi's sense of himself for decades
- 12:11 – 16:47
Fear, Obedience and Internalizing the Father's Voice
Agassi describes how violent incidents with his father made him afraid to say he didn't want to play. After an early loss, he takes on his father's rage as his own. Senra notes that Agassi searched for a way to break the cycle that began with his father's own mother.
- •Road-rage episodes with an ax and a handgun left Agassi afraid to speak up
- •At eight a single lost set made him internalize his father's voice
- •Senra says Agassi works to fix what his father never did
- •His father's mother had been nasty to him, which helps explain his rage
- 16:47 – 18:15
Hustling Jim Brown and a Childhood Without Choices
His father uses young Andre as a hustler, including a bet against Jim Brown, and shows his need to win. The chapter also covers the shattered trophy, being pulled from soccer, Philly's warning about speed pills, and the boarding school where Agassi rebelled.
- •Eight-year-old Andre beat Jim Brown 6-2 in a money match
- •His father walked off rather than lose to his son
- •His father smashed a consolation trophy and pulled him out of soccer
- •Philly warned him about the pills their father gave out
- •At tennis boarding school Agassi rebelled with drinking, weed and rule-breaking
- 18:15 – 25:20
Turning Pro at Sixteen and the Redemption Arc
Agassi's father pushes him to take a $1,100 check at sixteen and turn pro. Senra frames the book as a story of redemption, from lost autonomy to number one, a fall and a comeback, and notes Agassi's hatred of losing.
- •His father told him to take the check, since he had an eighth-grade education and no other options
- •Agassi felt a shelf of possibilities fall away on his 16th birthday
- •Brad Jacobs says success in business comes from keeping your head in a good place
- •Great entrepreneurs hate losing more than they love winning
- 25:20 – 27:52
Image, Rebellion and a Differentiated Brand
Agassi's Mohawk, earrings and wild outfits make him a singular property. Fans imitate him and sponsors sell product, though he was confused by the attention. The Oakley story shows how it paid off.
- •He gave away his rackets to homeless men after a loss
- •His look and behavior led fans to copy him and sponsors to sell more product
- •He felt uncomfortable and flattered at once
- •A magazine cover with Oakley sunglasses led Oakley's founder to send him a Dodge Viper
- •He accepted the role of the villain
- 27:52 – 33:19
JP and Gil: Confidants and Surrogate Fathers
Citing Charlie Munger's point about needing someone to organize your thoughts with, Senra describes Agassi's friendship with JP, who separates God's voice from his father's. Gil, his trainer, becomes a surrogate father, and Agassi says his life never belonged to him.
- •JP tells Agassi the angry voice in his head is his father, not God
- •After a loss, JP waits silently for Agassi's fire to burn out
- •On Christmas Eve Agassi tells Gil his life always belonged to someone else
- •Senra says Agassi is looking for a father in Gil
- 33:19 – 36:28
Winning Wimbledon and Learning That Winning Changes Nothing
Agassi talks himself through the fifth set at Wimbledon in 1992 and wins. His father cries on the phone, and Agassi learns that a win feels less good than a loss feels bad. Senra casts the arc as a hero's journey.
- •He coaches himself aloud through the Wimbledon final
- •His father's silence on the phone shows pride he can't express
- •Critics who had called him a fraud suddenly praised him
- •Agassi says a win doesn't feel as good as a loss feels bad
- •Senra describes the hero's journey structure
- 36:28 – 42:17
Brad Gilbert's Lessons: Winning Ugly and Rejecting Perfectionism
Brad Gilbert, author of Winning Ugly, becomes Agassi's coach and tells him perfectionism is his father's legacy and it hurts his game. He urges simplicity and says you only need to be better than one guy.
- •Gilbert is an overachieving junker, the opposite of Agassi's game
- •He says chasing perfection means chasing something that doesn't exist
- •Head matters more than game
- •A Slam takes only 21 sets, so count down from 21
- •He tells Agassi that suffering through close losses will lead to a breakthrough
- 42:17 – 44:03
Outside Opinions, Rivalry with Sampras and Feeling Empty at Number One
Senra warns against outsourcing your self-worth to critics, using Agassi's reaction to a column. Agassi reaches number one over Sampras, mentions Toby Lütke's comparison of the two, and feels empty.
- •A critic's column nearly destroys Agassi's confidence before the US Open
- •Brad's pure happiness at his triumph shows who believes in him
- •Toby Lütke contrasted Agassi's torment with Sampras simply liking tennis
- •At number one Agassi felt nothing and realized the goals were never his
- 44:03 – 49:02
Helping Others and Playing for Something Bigger
Agassi finds more meaning in helping Frankie with college costs than in winning. He also realizes his relationships need to change, gets engaged to Brooke Shields with doubts, and finds the Olympic gold medal moving because it isn't about him.
- •He set aside Nike stock for the restaurant manager's kids' tuition
- •He calls the perfection of helping others the only lasting value
- •He proposes to Brooke Shields while wishing he had thought it through
- •The Olympic anthem moves him because the moment is not his
- 49:02 – 52:59
The Fall: Meth, a Wedding He Didn't Want and Rock Bottom
Senra lays out the timeline of Agassi's peak, decline and rock bottom in 1997. He drops to 141st and plays challenger events, gets into meth, and marries while wishing he could leave.
- •Agassi fell from number one to 141 and played challenger tournaments
- •Anger in a match reminded Senra of his father
- •Rock bottom feels cozy because you are at rest
- •He tried crystal meth with his assistant and wished for a decoy groom at his wedding
- 52:59 – 58:12
Starting Over: Brad's Ultimatum, Mandela and JP's Advice
Brad tells Agassi to quit or start from square one. Agassi chooses change, finds guidance in Mandela, predicts he will be number one, and hears JP say fear is his fire and his mind should be a river.
- •Brad's ultimatum: quit, or overhaul body and mind and start at the bottom
- •Agassi recommits despite hating tennis and hating himself more
- •Mandela's words about managing one's life carefully resonate
- •JP says fear is your fire and wants his mind to be a river
- •Senra connects this to Rick Rubin's story of a musician who was nervous every night
- 58:12 – 1:01:03
The 1999 French Open Comeback
Down in the French Open final, Agassi tells Brad his opponent is too good. Brad shouts at him to stop being perfect and go down with guns blazing, and Agassi wins. He says the same court that brought defeat can bring triumph.
- •Senra ties it to having people who tell you the truth
- •Brad says to hit the ball and go down with both guns blazing
- •Agassi wins championship point and cries
- •He values even the misery that led him here
