Andre Agassi's ex-coach impressed by his 'sweet' hitting in a recent video
Andre Agassi's longtime coach Brad Gilbert was recently impressed by his former charge's hitting ability.
In a recent video, Agassi could be seen engaging in a long rally with a junior player. The 52-year-old hit his trademark powerful, flat forehands and backhands complimented with impeccable footwork.
Gilbert, who coached the eight-time Grand Slam winner from 1994 to 2002, took to Twitter to compliment Agassi on his "sweet" ball striking.
"Sweet swings @AndreAgassi," wrote Gilbert.
twitter.com/tennislegende/…
via YouTube/tennis_with_moSweet swings @AndreAgassi 👊😎👍💪 twitter.com/tennislegende/…
The former World No. 1 is regarded as one of the most gifted athletes of his generation and enjoyed a wildly successful career lasting two decades.
"Loving tennis was not who I was" - Andre Agassi
In an interview with writer Zibby Owens on her podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books in 2018, Andre Agassi revealed that he hated tennis for most of his life and that he found his purpose by helping children through education. The former tennis star added that having children of his own enabled him to "escape" from the public eye.
"Loving tennis was not who I was. I actually hated it for most of my life for a lot of reasons. I would get out there and struggle with my purpose and reason. I found my reason, finally, in giving choice to other children through education. That became my distraction from myself when I was out there," the American said.
"When I had children it actually, in some odd way, made it a lot easier for me because I was able to escape -- it was so real," he continued. "It was so who I was that it was a relief to me to have the responsibility of being a dad and to, quite honestly, feel normal and to feel like tennis just went away."
Andre Agassi went on to say that he never felt "authentic" on the tennis court
"Everybody’s wired differently. I know Roger to a certain degree. He seems like as down-to-earth of a person as you can be," he said. "Certainly, he has respect for all cultures and people. He has a deep knowledge of history and both life and tennis. I would imagine there's some real context that he has off the court."
"Other people in the public eye, they might believe what they read. I don't know. For me, I relished getting away from the hat I felt like I had to wear when I was in the public eye. I never felt really authentic when I was out there. I did come to terms with this being a talent of mine," he added.