"A glorified prison camp... It was primal and primitive" - When Andre Agassi bemoaned being sent to Nick Bollettieri's academy by his father at age 13
Andre Agassi once revealed how his father Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi contributed to his deep resentment for tennis by sending him to train at Nick Bollettieri's academy at a young age. The American detailed his struggles at the academy, likening it to something out of William Golding's novel 'Lord of the Flies,' in which a group of young boys suffer a disastrous ordeal stranded on a deserted island.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Agassi won eight Major titles, achieved the career Grand Slam and held the World No. 1 ranking for 101 weeks. However, despite establishing himself as one of the greatest players in tennis history, the American came to "hate" the sport with a "dark and secret passion."
"I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have," Agassi wrote in his autobiography 'Open.'
Andre Agassi was coached by his father in Las Vegas until the age of 13, when he was sent away to Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida after Mike admitted that he "had nothing left to teach him."
In a 2009 interview with Oprah.com, Agassi revealed this move set off his hatred for tennis, as it "interfered" with his relationship with his father and negatively impacted his own sense of self.
"That's why I hated it. Tennis interfered with my relationship with my father, and it interfered with the relationship with myself. I think when somebody doesn't have a choice, they never feel connected to their life. It doesn't matter if they're good at it or not," Andre Agassi said.
The American also shed light on his hardships at the tennis academy, referring to it as a "glorified prison camp" due to its "primitive" environment where teenagers were responsible for raising themselves.
"As a little boy, I internalized and did what I needed to do because that's what Pops wanted. I got sent away to a tennis academy when I was 13 years old. I called it a glorified prison camp and refer to it as Lord of the Flies with forehands. It was a bunch of these teenagers raising themselves, deciding the pecking order. It was primal and primitive," he said.
"I found myself having to play and succeed to get out of there. I was conducting a normal teenage rebellion, and suddenly I'm doing it on the world stage, being labeled and told who I was. I finally was doing what I was supposed to be doing my whole life [playing professional tennis], even though what I was doing, I didn't want to do," he added.
Andre Agassi on being sent away to Nick Bollettieri's academy: "My father doesn’t want to ruin me, so he’s banishing me"
In his autobiography 'Open,' Andre Agassi revealed that his father's decision to send him to Nick Bollettieri's academy was motivated by his desire to avoid repeating the mistakes that had "ruined" his relationship with his other children.
"My father doesn’t say the words, but it’s obvious: he’s determined to do things differently with me. He doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes he made with my siblings," Andre Agassi wrote
"He ruined their games by holding on too long, too tight, and in the process he ruined his relationship with them. Things got so bad with Rita that she’s recently run off with Pancho Gonzalez, the tennis legend, who’s at least thirty years her senior," he added.
The American also disclosed that his father "banished" him so he could focus solely on tennis and work towards achieving the goal to become the World No. 1.
"My father doesn’t want to limit me, or break me, or ruin me. So he’s banishing me. He’s sending me away, partly to protect me from himself. Andre, he says, you’ve got to eat, sleep, and drink tennis. It’s the only way you’re going to be number one," he said.
Mike Agassi's decision to send Andre Agassi away to train proved successful, as Nick Bollettieri coached the American to his maiden Grand Slam title at the 1992 Wimbledon Championships.