Andre Agassi Quotes & Sayings

First of all, let me say, 1:15 in the morning, for 20,000 people to still be here, I wasn't the winner, tennis was. That's awesome. I don't know if I've ever felt so good here before. — Andre Agassi

I feel old when I see mousse in my opponent's hair. — Andre Agassi

This is why we're here. To fight through the pain and, when possible, to relieve the pain of others. So simple. So hard to see. — Andre Agassi

I think one of the greatest joys I have now in my career and in my profession is to be playing at an age where I can appreciate it more than I used to ... It's a whole different lens you look through the older you get. — Andre Agassi

Our best intentions are often thwarted by external forces - forces that we ourselves set in motion long ago. Decisions, especially bad ones, create their own kind of momentum, and momentum can be a bitch to stop, as every athlete knows. — Andre Agassi

If you're ranked number one in the world it's because you've earned it, and I think the only way to really get there is to have that ability and to have it nurtured in a very competitive environment at an early age. — Andre Agassi

Tennis is at an amazing time when you've got two of the best players ever to play the game. You can argue the two very best playing in the same generation. It's a rivalry I think that we've never seen in our sport. — Andre Agassi

But, I would say when I was four years old and I was at the Alan King Tennis Tournament and I was hitting with all the pros that would come to town. They would get me on the court or take notice and that stayed with me. — Andre Agassi

I had my moments for sure but I wasn't confrontational. And sometimes you get on the court and you'd find yourself very confrontational. It was all a discovery. — Andre Agassi

Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It's your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you're not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back. — Andre Agassi

I envy Pete Sampras's dullness. I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration. — Andre Agassi

You don't have to be the best in the world every time you go out there. You just have to be better than one guy. — Andre Agassi

If Pete's (Sampras) child is a girl, my son will like her; if he's a boy, my son will defeat him. — Andre Agassi

Older people make this mistake all the time with younger people, treating them as a finished product when in fact they are in process. — Andre Agassi

If I've learned nothing else, it's that time and practice equal achievement. — Andre Agassi

How lovely it is to dream while you are awake. — Andre Agassi

I slide to my knees and say, "Please let this be over." Then, I'm not ready for it to be over. — Andre Agassi

I suppose you could never say never, but my experience would tell me that the most successful players in the world are gonna come from an environment that is more competitive at an early age. — Andre Agassi

Even if it's not your ideal life, you can always choose it. No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything. — Andre Agassi

There are many ways of getting strong, sometimes talking is the best way. — Andre Agassi

Hitting the ball has never been my issue, so I can literally not pick up a racquet for two months and hit the ball, really, really nicely. I mean movement's always an issue. — Andre Agassi

You have to have the mentality of executing your game when you don't feel like there's a lot of hope. I think the best feeling is when somebody pushes you to the limit and you dig down a little bit extra. By the same token, you also need a little luck. Sometimes they come together. — Andre Agassi

Feeling depressed after a loss is one thing, but feeling depressed about nothing, about life in general, is another thing altogether.
The minds of the everlasting gods are not changed suddenly — Andre Agassi

My father actually moved out from Chicago just so he could play tennis 365 days a year, so it was - it was a place we played every day. We played before school. We played after school. We woke up. We played tennis. We brushed our teeth in that order. — Andre Agassi

I'm going to have to pick my shots and play great tennis. — Andre Agassi

I'm going to go down swinging ... I'm sure as heck not going to go home and say I had a bad tournament. — Andre Agassi

Tennis is the loneliest sport — Andre Agassi

You don't cheat anybody out of their experience, whatever it is. — Andre Agassi

A ball feels different off every player's racket-there are minute but concrete subtleties of force and spin. Now, hitting with her (Steffi Graf), I feel her subtleties. It's like touching her, though we're forty feet apart. Every forehand is foreplay. — Andre Agassi

Some moments it feels longer, other moments it feels like it's flown by; you can't believe you've done it all that time ... Overall, you have a strong sense for the full spectrum that you've sort of traveled. — Andre Agassi

I'm going to wake up tomorrow and start with not caring how I feel. — Andre Agassi

Tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love - the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. — Andre Agassi

My only good result in 1997 was marrying Brooke Shields. — Andre Agassi

It has meant a lot to me to challenge the best players in the world and to beat them. And it means a lot to me to be out here and fighting for the title and, you know, it hurts not to win it. — Andre Agassi

Soon the pain felt wonderful, almost sweet, because it was the kind that you can tell precedes relief. But maybe all pain is like that. — Andre Agassi

My feelings are Yevgeny Kafelnikov should take his prize money when he is done here and go and buy some perspective. — Andre Agassi

All the good stuff is on the other side of tired. — Andre Agassi

And yet. Our best intentions are often thwarted by external forces - forces that we ourselves set in motion long ago. — Andre Agassi

For me, that's the definition of being rich: it doesn't cross your mind to mention it to your best friend. And money is such a given you don't care how you come by it. — Andre Agassi

It's no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love, the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it's all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It's our choice. — Andre Agassi

Now that I've won a slam, I know something very few people on earth are permitted to know. A win doesn't feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn't last long as the bad. Not even close. — Andre Agassi

How beautiful to dream. But dreams, I tell Gil, in one of our quiet moments are so damned tiring.
He laughs.
I can't promise you that you won't be tired, he says. But please know this. There's a lot of good waiting for you on the other side of tired. Get yourself tired, Andre. That's where you're going to know yourself. On the other side of tired. — Andre Agassi

Walking to the net, I'm certain that I've lost to the better man, the Everest of the next generation. I pity the young players who will have to contend with him. I feel for the man who is fated to play Agassi to his Sampras. Though I don't mention Pete by name, I have him uppermost in my mind when I tell reporters: It's real simple. Most people have weaknesses. Federer has none. — Andre Agassi

Control what you can control. — Andre Agassi

The great part about tennis is you can't run out the clock ... As long as we were still playing, I had a chance. — Andre Agassi

Great things begin at the end of the comfort zone. It is all about exploring the bleeding edge in your own time or with someone who will not judge you for it being beyond your comfort zone — Andre Agassi

Losing to Pete has caused me enormous pain, but in the long run it's also made me more resilient. If I'd beaten Pete more often, or if he'd come along in a different generation, I'd have a better record, and I might go down as a better player, but I'd be less. — Andre Agassi

Every now and then I will play; I try to focus on charitable work. I might do it because it's an offer I can't refuse, so I rally and try to stay in shape and keep myself active. — Andre Agassi

That's the greatest applause that any person will ever receive in their life when it comes from their peers — Andre Agassi

I tell the players: You'll hear a lot of applause in your life, fellas, but none will mean more to you than that applause-from your peers. I hope each of you hears that at the end. — Andre Agassi

Sex doesn't interfere with your tennis; it's staying out all night trying to find it that affects your tennis. — Andre Agassi

Success doesn't always come in the form of a trophy. Keep striving for success. — Andre Agassi

I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have. — Andre Agassi

I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life — Andre Agassi

Frankie's chief virtue in my book is the way he talks about his kids. — Andre Agassi

The most animated talks we have are about ... things — Andre Agassi

To be inspired - that's the secret. — Andre Agassi

Tennis is a very objective sport in the sense that the scoreboard doesn't lie. — Andre Agassi

Being Number Two Sucks. — Andre Agassi

Hitting a ball dead perfect - the only peace. — Andre Agassi

He thinks it's his day, and when you think it's your day, it usually is. — Andre Agassi

It's easier to live with disappointment than regret. — Andre Agassi

If you don't practice you don't deserve to win. — Andre Agassi

You've got to believe you can win. But I believe respect for the fact that you can lose is what you always have to keep in mind so that nothing suprises you. — Andre Agassi

When you deal with somebody in the heat of battle, you see the best or the worst of them. So when you get through all that there is a great deal of respect. — Andre Agassi

A great coach can lead you to a place where you don't need him any more. — Andre Agassi

My accomplishments do not live up to my tennis game. Most people have to work really hard and win some big matches, and then they get money and popularity. For me it has been the reverse of everybody else. The exact opposite. — Andre Agassi

Remember this. Hold on to this. This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others. This is the only thing we can do that has any lasting meaning. This is why we're here. To make each other feel safe. — Andre Agassi

Big dreams, are so damn tiring. — Andre Agassi

Pride is bad, stress is good. I don't want to feel confident. I want to feel rage. Endless, all consuming rage. — Andre Agassi

You have to understand who you are and figure out a way to communicate it. It might be in a different industry, but it's about what pumps the blood through your veins, what makes you excited, what pushes your buttons. And then discovering the best way to communicate that, no matter how big or small; it's what you stand for, what you believe in, and what reflects who you are. — Andre Agassi

He says nothing. Not because he disagrees, or disapproves, but because he's crying. Faintly I hear my father sniffling and wiping away tears, and I know he's proud, just incapable of expressing it. I can't fault the man for not knowing how to say what's in his heart. It's the family curse. — Andre Agassi

A strong body listens. It obeys. A weak body commands. If your body is weak it tells you what to do. If your body is strong it'll actually listen to you when you tell it to do something. If you build it right you can overcome some of the obstacles of age and recovery. — Andre Agassi

Gil's philosophy in all things is to seek the pain, woo the pain, recognize that pain is life. If you're heartbroken, Gil says, don't hide from it. Wallow in it. We hurt, he says, so let's hurt. — Andre Agassi

Well, I actually tell my son that I don't have any hair because he asked me the same question that I gave it to him when he was born, so he actually still believes that. He's five years old. — Andre Agassi

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose. — Andre Agassi

Well, you know, I've bonded with a lot of people over the years, you know. We played the same tournaments year after year and we go back to the same place and many times the seats have been full and that has meant the world to me for sure. — Andre Agassi

The day after I turn pro, Philly gets a call from Nike. They want to meet with me about an endorsement deal. Philly and I meet the Nike man in Newport beach, at a restaurant called the Rusty Pelican. His name is Ian Hamilton.
I call him Mr. Hamilton, but he says I should call him Ian. He smiles in a way that makes me trust him instantly. Philly, however, remains wary.
Boys, Ian says, I think Andre has a very bright future.
Thank you.
I'd like Nike to be a part of that future, to be a partner in that future.
Thank you.
I'd like to offer you a two-year contract.
Thank you.
During which time Nike will provide all your gear, and pay you $20,ooo.
For both years?
For eacvh year.
Ah.
Philly jumps in. What would Andre have to do in exchange for this money?
Ian looks confused. Well, he says, Andre would have to do what Andre has been doing, son. Keep being Andre. And wear Nike stuff. — Andre Agassi

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it. — Andre Agassi

It's shocking how little there is to do with tennis when you're just thinking about nothing except winning every point. — Andre Agassi

We must all care for one another - this is our task in life. But also we must care for ourselves, which means we must be careful in our decisions, careful in our relationships, careful in our statements. We must manage our lives carefully, in order to avoid becoming victims. — Andre Agassi

I stand and feel an overpowering urge to forgive, because I realize that my father can't help himself, that he never could help himself, any more than he could understand himself. — Andre Agassi

We talk about things. We talk about nothing. — Andre Agassi

The finish line at the end of a career is no different from the finish line at the end of a
match. The objective is to get within reach of that finish line, because then it gives off a magnetic force. When you're close, you can feel that force pulling you, and you can use that force to get across. But just before you come within range, or just after, you feel another force, equally strong, pushing you away. It's inexplicable, mystical, these twin forces, these contradictory energies, but they both exist. I know, because I've spent much of my life seeking the one, fighting the other, and sometimes I've been stuck, suspended, bounced like a tennis ball between the two. — Andre Agassi

I got a hundred bucks says my baby beats Pete's baby. I just think genetics are in my favour. — Andre Agassi

What you feel doesn't matter in the end; it's what you do that makes you brave. — Andre Agassi

Freed from the thoughts of winning, I instantly play better. I stop thinking, start feeling. My shots become a half-second quicker, my decisions become the product of instinct rather than logic. — Andre Agassi

It never seizes to amaze me how much I enjoy playing here and how much you fans have meant to me over the years. — Andre Agassi

I had moments of my actions and words not reflecting who it is I am - if that defines a punk, then yes, absolutely. — Andre Agassi

We start the year on the other side of the world, at the Australian Open, and then just chase the sun. — Andre Agassi

Given all that lies beyond my
control, I obsess about the few things I can control — Andre Agassi

This sport has given me so much that my hope would be to give back as much as I can for as long as I can. — Andre Agassi

Standing at the bathroom mirror, toweling off, I stare at my face. Red eyes, gray stubble - a face totally different from the one with which I started. But also different from the one I saw last year in this same mirror. Whoever I might be, I'm not the boy who started this odyssey, and I'm not even the man who announced three months ago that the odyssey was coming to an end. I'm like a tennis racket on which I've replaced the grip four times and the strings seven times - is it accurate to call it the same racket? — Andre Agassi

When you chase perfection, when you make perfection the ultimate goal, do you know what you're doing? You're chasing something that doesn't exist. You're making everyone around you miserable.
You're making yourself miserable. Perfection? There's about five times a year you wake up perfect, when you can't lose to anybody, but it's not those five times a year that make a tennis player. Or a human being, for that matter. It's the other times. It's all about your head, man.
-Brad Gilbert — Andre Agassi

I go to New York City, the Tournament of Champions, a significant milestone because it's a clash of the top players in the world. Once more I square off against Chang, who's developed a bad habit since we last met. Every time he beats someone, he points to the sky. He thanks God - credits God - for the win, which offends me. That God should take sides in a tennis match, that God should side against me, that God should be in Chang's box, feels ludicrous and insulting. I beat Chang and savor every blasphemous stroke. — Andre Agassi

My father says that if I hit 2,500 balls each day, I'll hit 17,500 balls each week, and at the end of one year I'll have hit nearly one million balls. He believes in math. Numbers, he says, don't lie. A child who hits one million balls each year will be unbeatable. — Andre Agassi

The best predictor of future events is probably past events. — Andre Agassi

This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others. — Andre Agassi

I can live with losing, I can't live without taking my chance. — Andre Agassi

I find it surreal, then perfectly normal. I'm struck by how fast the surreal becomes the norm. I marvel at how unexciting it is to be famous, how mundane famous people are. They're confused, uncertain, insecure, and often hate what they do. It's something we always hear - like that old adage that money can't buy happiness-but we never believe it until we see it ourselves. Seeing it in 1992 brings me a new measure of confidence. — Andre Agassi