49 Fun Facts About Andre Agassi

Where did Agassi win four of his eight Grand Slam singles titles?

Melbourne was a late discovery: he did not enter the Australian Open until 1995, won it at the first attempt and finished with a 48-5 record there.

Agassi's catchphrase "Image is everything" came from his TV adverts for which camera brand?

Canon's line stuck to him for years: with his neon kit and no major title until 1992, critics used it to ask whether there was any substance behind the flash.

In which city was Agassi born?

Las Vegas gave him his start: his father took a casino job at the Tropicana and tended its tennis courts in exchange for court time, and by two Andre could serve on a full court.

Agassi's father Mike had been an Olympic boxer for which country?

Iran sent him to the 1948 and 1952 Games, where he lost in the first round both times; he then emigrated to America and pinned his hopes on tennis instead.

Agassi's middle name Kirk honours which businessman?

Kerkorian, the casino billionaire, was a fellow Armenian who struck up a lasting friendship with Agassi's father when the future tennis dad was waiting tables at the Tropicana.

Agassi's sister Rita married which former world No. 1?

Pancho Gonzales had been Rita's coach: she rebelled against her father's relentless drills and ran off with the much older champion, a man her father could not stand.

At 13, Agassi was sent to which coach's academy in Florida?

Nick Bollettieri watched him hit for half an hour, then rang his father: "Take your check back. He's here for free." A planned three-month stay became years.

Agassi won the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships by beating which defending champion in the final?

Stefan Edberg took the first set, but Agassi won the next three in Frankfurt for the biggest title of his career until Wimbledon two years later.

The ghostwriter of Agassi's 2009 autobiography later worked on whose 2023 memoir?

Prince Harry's Spare was shaped by J. R. Moehringer, whom Agassi had sought out after reading his memoir The Tender Bar; he also ghostwrote Nike founder Phil Knight's Shoe Dog.

Agassi skipped Wimbledon from 1988 to 1990 over objections to what?

Its dress code, with the rule on predominantly white clothing, clashed with his neon wardrobe; he came back in 1991 and a year later won the title dressed in white.

Agassi attributed his 1990 French Open final loss to worrying about what?

His wig falling off was a real risk: the hairpiece had come apart in the shower the night before, his brother helped patch it up, and he lost to Andrés Gómez in four sets.

Agassi helped the United States win which team competition in 1990, 1992 and 1995?

The Davis Cup first came his way in 1990, when he helped the United States end an eight-year wait for the trophy; he won 30 of his 36 singles matches for his country.

Agassi lost the 1991 French Open final to which American, his former academy roommate?

Jim Courier trailed by two sets to one, then took the last two 6-1, 6-4 to win a major title a full year before Agassi managed it.

Whom did Agassi beat in the 1992 Wimbledon final for his first major?

Goran Ivanišević, the big-serving Croatian left-hander, took him to five sets; the winner was a baseliner who had refused to play Wimbledon at all from 1988 to 1990.

Agassi wore Oakley sunglasses in a famous 1992 magazine cover photo to hide what, per his memoir?

A hangover, he wrote: the wraparound shades hid his bloodshot eyes, and he claimed Oakley's founder sent him a Dodge Viper to say thanks for the publicity.

Which coach, hired in 1994, pushed Agassi toward a more tactical baseline game?

Brad Gilbert, the author of Winning Ugly, got him to stop chasing winners and grind opponents down instead; six of Agassi's eight major titles came under him.

Agassi won the 1994 US Open as the first man in the Open era to do what?

Win it unseeded: he had tumbled down the rankings, so he started without a seeding and beat five seeded players on the way to the title.

What did Agassi do to his appearance in 1995, breaking with his "image is everything" era?

Shaved his head: the famous mane had been thinning for years, and the new look arrived in the season he won his third major and first reached world No. 1.

Agassi won his Olympic singles gold medal in which host city?

Atlanta gave the family the medal his father never won: Mike Agassi had boxed at two Olympics and lost in the first round both times.

Whom did Agassi beat in the final to win his Olympic gold medal?

Sergi Bruguera, a two-time French Open champion, was a clay-court specialist out of his element on a hard court, and won only six games: 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Agassi's last career win, a five-set thriller at the 2006 US Open, came against which eighth seed?

Marcos Baghdatis was 21 and Agassi 36, with a back that needed injections after every match, yet it was the younger man who seized up with cramp in the fifth set.

Which drug did Agassi later admit using in 1997?

Crystal methamphetamine showed up in a drug test; he wrote to the ATP that a friend had spiked his drink, the case was dropped, and twelve years later he admitted the letter was a lie.

Which actress was Agassi married to from 1997 to 1999?

Brooke Shields and Agassi split in April 1999, and his tennis took off at once: within five months he had won the French Open and the US Open and was back at No. 1.

After sinking to No. 141, Agassi rebuilt his ranking by playing which lower-tier events?

Challengers are the tour's minor league, a long way from Centre Court; the former world No. 1 swallowed his pride, played them, and ended the following season ranked No. 6.

From what deficit did Agassi come back to win the 1999 French Open final?

Two sets to love down after winning just three games, he beat Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 at the tournament where he had already lost two finals.

Agassi's 1999 French Open title made him the fifth man to complete which feat?

The career Grand Slam, all four majors at least once, fell into place at the tournament that had haunted him, and he was the first man to do it on three different surfaces.

Whom did Agassi beat in the 1999 US Open final?

Todd Martin won two tiebreaks to lead by two sets to one, but Agassi ran away with the last two sets 6-3, 6-2 for his second major title of the year.

Agassi ended 1999 as No. 1, snapping whose record six straight year-end No. 1 finishes?

Pete Sampras won 20 of their 34 meetings, and the rivalry gave him his exit: he beat Agassi in the 2002 US Open final and never played another match.

At which Masters event did Agassi win six titles between 1990 and 2003?

Miami, 1996: his opponent in the final woke with a stiff neck and retired trailing 3-0, handing Agassi the third of the six titles he won there.

Agassi lost five-set Wimbledon semi-finals in both 2000 and 2001 to which serve-and-volleyer?

Pat Rafter beat him both times, the second by 8-6 in the fifth set, and then lost the final each year, retiring without the Wimbledon title.

Who beat Agassi in the 2000 Tennis Masters Cup final to claim year-end No. 1?

Gustavo Kuerten lost to Agassi in the group stage in Lisbon, then beat him in straight sets in the final to overtake Marat Safin and become the first South American to end a year on top.

Whom did Agassi beat in the 2001 Australian Open final?

Arnaud Clément won only eight games in the final, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; the real test had come in the semi-final, where Agassi outlasted a cramping home favourite over five sets.

Whom did Agassi beat in the 2003 Australian Open final for his eighth and last major?

Rainer Schüttler won just five games in the final, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; three months later the champion was back at No. 1, the oldest man the rankings had yet seen there.

At 33 in 2003, Agassi became the oldest No. 1 since rankings began; who took that record in 2018?

Roger Federer took it at 36, returning to No. 1 in February 2018 more than five years after he had last held the top spot.

Agassi's 17th Masters title, a record at the time, came in 2004 at which event?

Cincinnati, at 34: he beat the defending champion, Andy Roddick, and then Lleyton Hewitt, both former world No. 1s more than ten years his junior, for the last Masters title of his career.

Agassi's 2005 US Open run included a comeback from two sets down against which American?

James Blake led by two sets and a break, but Agassi, 35, won in a fifth-set tiebreak, the second of three straight five-setters that carried him to the final.

Which German qualifier beat Agassi in his final match at the 2006 US Open?

Benjamin Becker, ranked 112th and no relation to Boris, won in four sets; Agassi then fought back tears through a long standing ovation and said goodbye to the crowd.

What nickname did Agassi earn for his return of serve?

The Punisher earned the name by taking serves early, on the rise, and sending the ball back harder than it had arrived.

Which tennis champion did Agassi marry in October 2001?

Steffi Graf, who won 22 major singles titles to his eight, married him in a ceremony at home with only the couple's two mothers as witnesses.

Agassi's son Jaden pursued which sport at USC?

Baseball: the son of two tennis greats became a starting pitcher at USC, and his parents say they never pushed their children toward their own sport.

What is the title of Agassi's 2009 autobiography?

Open lived up to its title: it begins with the eight-time major champion confessing that he hated tennis "with a dark and secret passion" and always had.

What did Agassi set up in 2001 for at-risk children?

A charter school, tuition-free from kindergarten to twelfth grade, in one of his home city's most at-risk neighbourhoods; its founder had left school himself in the ninth grade.

Which player did Agassi coach from May 2017 to March 2018?

Novak Djokovic and he lasted ten months; Agassi ended it with the verdict, "We far too often found ourselves agreeing to disagree."

What did Agassi call the most important part of his 2005 switch from Nike to Adidas?

Support for his foundation was written into the deal: Adidas pledged products and money to his children's charity, and one of its marketing directors called the partnership a way of using tennis to help children.

Which racket maker gave Agassi a lifetime deal in 2003?

Head won him from Donnay, the Belgian maker that had signed him for $7 million; he switched in 1993 and played the rest of his career with its rackets.

In 2025 Agassi made his professional debut in which fast-growing racket sport?

Pickleball got a famous recruit: he teamed with Anna Leigh Waters, the 18-year-old women's world No. 1, at the US Open championships in Florida and won his first professional match.

Which 2017 documentary examined Agassi's troubled relationship with his coach?

Love Means Zero became a different film when Agassi refused to be interviewed for it: its director said the coach and his star pupil were still hurt, twenty years after parting.

Agassi says he read Boris Becker's serve by watching which body part?

Tongue: Becker poked it out in the direction he was about to serve, and Agassi won 10 of their last 11 matches before telling him over a beer.

Agassi's restaurant chain with Gretzky, Montana and O'Neal was called what?

Official All Star Café was the sports spin-off of Planet Hollywood, which recruited athletes such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Monica Seles to invest in it.