"I wish he had loved me less" - When Andre Agassi threw light on his father's "American dream" vision amid complicated relationship
Andre Agassi often spoke about his upbringing and his complicated relationship with his father, Mike (Emmanuel). In an interview from 2010, the former American tennis player emphasized his father’s “positive sides.”
Agassi was introduced to tennis at the tender age of three, with his elder siblings already taking up the sport. The American seemed destined to become a tennis legend, courtesy of his incredible prowess as a junior.
However, over time, Andre Agassi developed “hatred” for the sport, which was triggered by his father, Mike, forcing him to attend Nick Bollettieri’s academy at the age of 13. Mike, a former boxer who was born to Armenian parents in Iran, served as Agassi’s childhood tennis coach.
While the former World No. 1 later understood that his father did not mean harm by sending him away to a tennis academy, he perceived the treatment as “unfairness” toward him.
Despite the disconnect, Agassi spoke highly of his father’s virtues while acknowledging that he had created a “plan” to live the “American dream.” However, he wished Mike had “loved him less,” seemingly in hopes of escaping the strict upbringing.
"My father is incredibly loyal. I wish he had loved me less. He was always generous. He was just looking for the shortest route to the American dream," Andre Agassi told SZ Wochenende in 2010.
"My father had a plan and he himself was incredibly disciplined," he added.
"I don't know how he managed it" – Andre Agassi on his father Mike raising him and his three siblings
Andre Agassi’s father Mike’s tennis drills garnered a lot of attention. The former boxer, who worked at a casino in Las Vegas, trained all four children by himself, building a court and constructing machines that launched balls at them during practice. It was also said that he expected his children to hit 5,000 balls each day.
Speaking about his father’s relentless desire to coach him and his siblings, Agassi said:
"I don't know how he managed it: two jobs, four children, standing on the pitch with us for hours, this incredible discipline. He had many positive sides," he said in the aforementioned interview from 2010.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion also shed light on the downsides of his father’s hunger for discipline.
"To understand me, you have to imagine the pressure I was under as a young boy. At home, the mood depended on whether I trained well or badly, whether I won or lost," he said.