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Andre Agassi on Hong Kong, his comeback and learning to live in the present
‘[In 1999, Hong Kong] started me off on a path of winning, and [it] didn’t seem like I stopped for a while,’ the tennis legend says
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If there’s one piece of advice Andre Agassi offers, it’s to dream while awake. “It’s way too easy to dream when you’re sleeping,” says the American tennis legend. “Don’t be scared to dream big because it takes as much effort to dream big as it does small.” He advises choosing your definition of success carefully. Even if you achieve it, it might not feel the way you expected.
Fresh off his run as Laver Cup captain, Agassi was in Hong Kong in October for the Prudential NextGen Aces event, a panel series and exhibition match. It was a return to a city that changed the course of his career. He has fond memories of 1999, when he won the Salem Open against Boris Becker. “Hong Kong was definitely a good-luck charm for me in 1999,” he says. “It started me off on a path of winning, and [it] didn’t seem like I stopped for a while.”
That year marked a defining comeback: from dropping from his No 1 position in 1995 to No 141 in 1997, Agassi clawed his way back to the top. The Hong Kong tournament was the first in a string of victories, including the French Open and US Open.
Falling from the top was a turning point. “It was the moment that required the most resilience in my life, off the court,” he says. The climb back demanded daily discipline and a level of focus he’d never experienced before.
He reflected extensively about navigating these career peaks and lows in Open, his widely praised 2009 autobiography. In it, he famously admitted to hating tennis – not the sport itself but his relationship to it.
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