Most sports autobiographies are polished victory laps written by athletes protecting their legacy. Open is not that book, and its opening line makes that clear immediately: 'I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and I have hated it for years.' Andre Agassi, one of the most successful tennis players in history, spends the rest of the memoir explaining exactly why, tracing a childhood shaped by a domineering father who built a tennis machine literally named 'the dragon' to fire balls at him for hours, a career he never actually chose for himself, and years of internal conflict, drug use, and identity confusion hidden behind a public image of effortless success. Written with novelist J.R. Moehringer, the book reads with a literary quality unusual for the genre, and its unflinching honesty made it one of the most acclaimed sports memoirs ever published.
A Childhood Engineered for Tennis, Not Chosen for It
Agassi describes a childhood almost entirely shaped by his father's obsessive determination to produce a tennis champion, including grueling daily practice regimens starting from an extremely young age and a homemade ball-launching machine his father modified to be more powerful and unpredictable. Crucially, Agassi is direct that this path was never something he chose - it was imposed, relentlessly, before he was old enough to consent to or resist it, which frames the entire rest of the book's exploration of ambivalence toward the sport that defined his public identity.
The Wig and the Fear of Being Seen as Fake
One of the book's most surprising revelations involves Agassi's early career hairpiece, worn to disguise premature hair loss, and the specific terror he describes of it falling off during a match, a fear that culminated in an infamous moment during a major tournament. This detail, seemingly minor, becomes a recurring symbol throughout the book for a larger theme - Agassi's persistent sense of performing a public identity that didn't match his internal experience, a gap between image and self that runs through nearly every chapter.
Crystal Meth and a Failed Drug Test Covered Up
Agassi discloses using crystal methamphetamine during a low period in his career and personal life, and admits to lying to tennis's governing body about a failed drug test, fabricating an explanation that was accepted at the time. This admission, made years after the fact and with real legal and reputational risk, is treated by Agassi with direct accountability rather than justification, and it became one of the most discussed and controversial revelations upon the book's publication.
The Complicated Relationship With Tennis Itself
Throughout the book, Agassi's relationship with tennis is portrayed as genuinely contradictory rather than simply resentful - moments of real competitive joy and pride coexist with the deeper, persistent resentment established in the opening pages. This nuance is part of what makes the memoir feel psychologically honest rather than simply a hit piece against a sport that made him famous; Agassi resists the temptation to flatten his own complicated feelings into a single simple narrative.
Brooke Shields and a High-Profile Marriage's Collapse
Agassi writes candidly about his marriage to actress Brooke Shields, including the pressures of a highly public relationship, mismatched expectations, and the eventual breakdown that led to divorce. He's notably self-critical in these sections, taking responsibility for his own role in the relationship's difficulties rather than framing the account primarily around his former wife's shortcomings, which contributes to the book's overall tone of accountability.
Meeting and Building a Life With Steffi Graf
In contrast to the earlier marriage, Agassi describes his relationship with fellow tennis legend Steffi Graf, who became his second wife, with a markedly different tone - more grounded, mutually understanding, and stable, shaped in part by both partners' shared understanding of professional tennis's unique pressures. This later section of the book provides a genuine emotional counterweight to the turbulence described in earlier chapters, without becoming saccharine or overly tidy about the difficulty of the years before.
Career Resurgence and the Image Campaign
The book traces Agassi's dramatic career arc, including a period of ranking decline and personal disarray in the mid-1990s followed by a notable resurgence, discussing candidly how his famous 'Image Is Everything' advertising campaign came to feel like a trap, a public persona increasingly disconnected from his private ambivalence and struggle. This tension between manufactured public image and private reality is one of the book's most consistent and effective threads.
Founding a Charter School as a Redemptive Thread
A significant portion of the book's latter chapters focuses on Agassi's philanthropic work, particularly founding a charter school for at-risk children in Las Vegas, which he frames as work that provided him with a sense of purpose and meaning that professional tennis itself, for all its success, never fully delivered. This thread gives the memoir's ending genuine forward momentum and purpose beyond simply concluding his playing career, connecting his complicated relationship with tennis to a more clearly chosen and fulfilling later chapter of his life.
The Craft of Ghostwriting Done Exceptionally Well
Written with novelist J.R. Moehringer, Open is frequently cited as one of the best-written sports memoirs precisely because of its literary craft - vivid scene-setting, careful pacing, and psychologically attentive prose that goes well beyond the more straightforward chronological recitation typical of the genre. Agassi has been open about Moehringer's substantial role in shaping the book's structure and voice, and the collaboration is widely credited with elevating the memoir well above typical athlete autobiography standards.
Why Open Changed Expectations for Sports Memoirs
Upon publication, Open's unusual candor about drug use, resentment toward the sport that made its author famous, and genuine psychological vulnerability set a new bar for what sports memoirs could include, influencing a subsequent wave of athlete autobiographies willing to move beyond simple career highlight reels. Its lasting reputation rests less on Agassi's considerable tennis achievements than on the rare honesty with which he examines the cost of achieving them.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Unusually candid and self-critical for a major sports autobiography
- Exceptional literary craft thanks to ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer's involvement
- Doesn't flatten Agassi's complicated relationship with tennis into a simple narrative
- Takes real accountability for personal failures, including the covered-up drug test
- Ending arc around the charter school gives the memoir genuine forward purpose
Cons:
- Some tennis-specific details may be less engaging for readers unfamiliar with the sport
- The drug test cover-up admission remains controversial among some readers
- Heavy ghostwriter involvement means the literary voice isn't purely Agassi's own
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be a tennis fan to enjoy this book?
No. While tennis provides the backdrop, the book's central themes of identity, imposed expectations, and personal accountability resonate well beyond sports fandom.
Is this book just about tennis matches and career highlights?
No, it's notably more focused on Agassi's internal psychological experience, personal relationships, and struggles than on match-by-match career recounting.
Was this book really written by Agassi himself?
It was written in close collaboration with novelist J.R. Moehringer, who is widely credited with significant involvement in the book's structure and prose style.
Does the book address the failed drug test controversy?
Yes, directly and without excuse-making, Agassi admits to using crystal methamphetamine and lying to tennis authorities about a failed drug test.
Final Verdict
Open earns its reputation as one of the best sports memoirs ever written by refusing the genre's typical victory-lap format in favor of genuine, sometimes uncomfortable honesty. Andre Agassi's willingness to examine his resentment toward the sport that made him famous, alongside real accountability for his personal failures, produces a memoir with far more psychological depth than most athlete autobiographies attempt. Paired with J.R. Moehringer's considerable literary craft, it reads less like a career summary and more like a genuinely searching examination of identity under extraordinary, unchosen pressure.
Rating: 4.8/10