"I used to get that feeling a lot, if I just fell over and broke my ankle" - When Andre Agassi spoke about wishing injury on himself to end his career
Although Andre Agassi is considered to be a legend in tennis, it isn't something that he chose to do for a living when he was young.
In his 2009-released autobiography, Open, the American revealed that it was his father who forced him to take up the sport at a young age and prepared him for the highest level, while he hated playing tennis. It was only a few years after he established himself as a top player that he truly embraced the sport.
Another shocking revelation in the book was Agassi's consumption of an illegal drug called 'crystal methamphetamine' in 1997 and lying to the ATP to avoid a ban. He was married to actress Brooke Shields at the time and was neither happy with the marriage, nor his career.
Speaking on The Today Show in 2009, he stated that when someone offered him the drug, he took it to escape his reality.
"Well, I was depressed, that's really the big reason," Agassi said. "I found myself in a life I didn't want to be in. I was doing something that I hated, that I hadn't chosen for myself. I was in a marriage I didn't want to be in and you know, I was depressed. No energy, pulling out of tournaments, and here's something that comes along and offers me an escape, and I took it."
He further stated that after thinking about quitting tennis multiple times, he hoped that the drug would help end his career. Agassi was even willing to injure himself to stop playing tennis.
"I thought of quitting many times and it was just hard for me. I never quite had the strength to quit, I wanted to continue in some way. I had this conflict and I just knew that maybe this will just remove the choice for me. It's like wishing yourself an injury on the court. I used to get that feeling a lot too, if I just fell over and broke my ankle," he said.
"Losing my hair was something I struggled with" - Andre Agassi used a wig at the 1990 French Open
Andre Agassi reached his first-ever Grand Slam final at the 1990 French Open but lost in four sets to Ecuador's Andres Gomez. In his book, the American revealed that he was wearing a wig during the title match and feared that it might fall off in front of the world.
In the same interview with The Today Show, he stated that the night before the final, he lost 80% of his hair, forcing him to use pins to tie his wig. Agassi considered his hair to be a part of his image.
"The night before the finals of the French Open, I used the wrong conditioner and my hair started to pull out and it was about 80% off," Andre Agassi said. "I watched my brother lose his hair. It was very emotional for him and that left an impression on me, plus it was so connected to my image. Losing my hair was something I struggled with."