"I feel like I am an underachiever, I could’ve done more" - When Andre Agassi reflected on his biggest strength & weakness with a 'perfectionist' eye
Andre Agassi once reflected on the biggest strength of his career, which he also considered his weakness. The American looked back on his illustrious career with a critical eye, expressing his belief that he hadn't lived up to his potential.
Throughout his remarkable 20-year career, Agassi won eight Major titles, completed the career Grand Slam, won an Olympic gold medal, and held the World No. 1 ranking for 101 weeks before retiring in 2006. Despite all his achievements, the American felt he hadn't done enough.
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2018, Andre Agassi cited his perseverance and meticulousness as his biggest strengths during his career. However, the American acknowledged that the skill also worked to his detriment, since his "perfectionist" nature made him believe he could have achieved more.
"My biggest strength in my career was probably my perseverance, my attention to detail. I mean, everybody’s strength is their weakness, so that worked against me also, right? So, I do feel like I am an underachiever, in the sense that I could’ve done more. But I think any perfectionist always feels that way," Andre Agassi said.
Agassi took pride in his ability to overcome adversity while maintaining his self-respect, asserting that such a skill was inherent and couldn't be taught. He also admitted that he was often both his "greatest threat" and biggest strength.
"But the ability to fight through adversity and come out the other side with a level of self-respect — that takes something that is hard-wired. I am not sure that you can teach that. But I definitely believe that adversity reveals character more than it develops it," he said.
"I always had a look in the mirror, and the person I looked at in the mirror came with a lot of strengths and a lot of weaknesses. So, depending on what day you’re talking about, my greatest threat was myself, my greatest strength was myself as well," he added.
Furthermore, Andre Agassi shed light on the highlights of his career, mentioning his eight Major titles, Olympic gold medal, and three Davis Cup titles. Apart from his success on the court, the American also described convincing Steffi Graf to marry him as another high point of his tennis journey.
Andre Agassi: "No matter how much she wins, Serena Williams could always be considered an underachiever"
Like himself, Andre Agassi felt that Serena Williams could also be considered an "underachiever" despite her remarkable tennis career. Williams had just matched Agassi's wife Steffi Graf's record of 22 time Grand Slam titles when the former World No. 1 made the remarks.
In an interview with CNN before the 2016 US Open, the eight-time Grand Slam champion explained that the label stemmed from his disbelief over all the titles Williams missed out on over the years.
"It’s remarkable. I’ve kind of joked for a long time, quite frankly that she is probably one of the only persons I’ve ever seen that, no matter how much she wins, she could always be considered an underachiever. Because I remember years when all of a sudden she didn’t and you’re going: 'Why didn’t she?' She’s so good," Andre Agassi said.
Serena Williams provided more fodder for Andre Agassi's belief by failing to triumph at the New York Major that year. Despite making a stellar run to the semifinals, she fell short against Karolina Pliskova, who went on to lose to Angelique Kerber in the final.