Locked into a career dictated by talent and upbringing, he found escape and solace off-court in the company of two men who were like a father figure to him - his physical trainer, Gil Reyes, and his coach, Brad Gilbert. Described as a “glorified prison camp,” this academy was operated by Nick, an entrepreneur, paid in thousands of dollars by parents who deported their children off for months, even years, of incessant drilling, lectures on motivational psychology and nights spent in barracks-like dorms.Īgassi rebelled by drinking, getting into brawls, body piercing and sporting “one pinky nail that’s two inches long and painted fire-engine red.” His next “prison” was the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in Florida. The jackpot came with Andre who was blessed with brilliant hand-eye coordination.
The eldest three crumbled under the pressure. Mike Agassi was determined to groom a champion and subjected all four of his children to abusive training, to the extent that he would take them out of school for extra practice time. His first “prison” was his own backyard, where a court was built by his immigrant father, Mike, behind their house in Las Vegas. According to Agassi, the game he excelled in was a prison, which he spent 30 years trying to escape.
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