"Andre Agassi is clearly the biggest money generator in tennis" - When former player Cliff Drysdale heaped praise on the American legend for his flamboyance
Although Andre Agassi turned pro in 1986 at the age of just 16, he had to wait until 1992 Wimbledon to win his first Grand Slam title, which came in his 15th Grand Slam appearance.
However, with the help of his flamboyance, he had become a superstar in the sport already. In ESPN's SportsCentury documentary series that aired in 2001, a number of Agassi's rivals and players from his previous generation spoke about the eight-time Major winner and the impact that he had on the tour.
Former South African player and commentator Cliff Drysdale termed Agassi as "the biggest money maker and money generator" in the sport.
"Andre Agassi is clearly the biggest money maker and money generator in tennis. So to pay him $350,000 to show up at a tournament, where your prize money may be $600,000 just makes excellent financial sense," Drysdale said.
The American hung up his racquet in 2006, finishing among the very few players to achieve a career Grand Slam, which meant winning all four Majors at least once. He won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and also led the US to Davis Cup glory in 1990, 1992, and 1995. By the time Agassi won his 60th singles title, his earnings exceeded $30 million.
In the documentary, the tennis legend stated that at the beginning of his career, he was worried that he wouldn't succeed at tennis.
"When I broke out in the professional world, there was a liberation that came with it and a freedom that I really hadn't known," Agassi said. "The part that was the most difficult about it was the realization that this is like succeed or fail, this is life or no life, and what am I going to do if I don't succeed at tennis?
"I was borderline stalking her" - Andre Agassi in his old documentary
According to the 2007 documentary — Agassi: Between the Lines — during the early '90s, Andre Agassi, who was known to have a crush on Steffi Graf, had a limited perspective on life and therefore could not appreciate everything about the German icon.
Graf was dating racing car driver Michael Bartels at the time and Agassi revealed that he was stalking her.
"At that time I did not have the full perspective of life that I have now. So, I could only appreciate certain things about her and they had to do much more with the testosterone side of a person as she was beautiful and I would love to get to know her. I was borderline stalking her, that's for sure," Andre Agassi said.