Andre Agassi Net Worth, Money And More
Net Worth: $174 million
Career/Profession: Retired professional Tennis player
Age: 44
“I question myself every day. That’s what I still find motivating about this. I don’t have the answers; I don’t pretend that I do just because I won the match. Just keep fighting and maybe something good happens”.
-Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American tennis player who was formerly the world’s number one. He is considered to be the greatest tennis players of all time by his contemporaries and critics. He is an eight time Grand Slam champion and had won gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Agassi was the first male tennis player to win Grand Slams on three different surfaces and also the last American player to win the American Open and French Open. His playing career saw serious troubles when his world ranking fell down to 141 and many believed that his playing days were over. But he shot back to being number one in 1999. He retired from the game in 2996 after having serious health issues.
My origins
Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas to a former Olympic boxer father and a breast cancer survivor mother. Agassi was admitted to Nick Bollettieri’s tennis school in Florida, where his father could afford only three months of the fees. But after watching Agassi at play, Bollettieri decided to train him for free. He claimed that he had never seen such a talented player as Agassi before.
Climbing the ladder of success
Andre Agassi played his first professional match when he was just sixteen at La Quinta in California. There he won the first match, but lost the second one. After winning his debut top level singles title at the Sul American Open, he ended up being world number 25 straight from the world number 91 rank. By the end of that year he had won six tournaments and became the fastest person in history to surpass the US$1 million prize money in just 43 tournaments. That year he also set a record for the maximum number of consecutive victories in tennis matches by any male teenager, which stood strong for almost two decades. He ended that year at the third position and was named The Most Improved Player of the Year in 1988.
Being a teenager he was regarded as the next big thing on the block when he reached the semi finals of both the French Open and US Open in the same year. But the beginning of the next decade, 1990 that is, saw more misses than hits. In 1990, he reached his first Grand Slam finals at the French open where he lost the match. He reached the second Grand Slam finals and again lost it to Pete Sampras. In 1991, Agassi again reached the Grand Slam finals but lost the match. It was then that he decided to play at the Wimbledon. His breakthrough match was the one where he defeated Goran Ivanisevic. For the next ten years, no other player could defeat Andre Agassi at Wimbledon. He was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992.
N 1994, with a new coach, Brad Gilbert, Agassi began improving in his game and resurged at the tournaments that year. Though there were a few initial misses at the French Open and Wimbledon, he re emerged later and won the Canadian Open and then in the US Open.
In 1995, Agassi, for the first time, was placed at world number one ranking, which he held for 30 weeks. That year, Andre Agassi won 73 matches and lost only 9. That year for the third time in row, Agassi won the Davis Cup for the US.
1996 was a tough year for Agassi as he failed to make his mark and did not reach any Grand Slam final even, let alone winning any title. But the only saving grace that year was the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. 1997 saw the downfall of Andre Agassi, when his injury resurfaced and he played very few matches that year. He did not pass the ATP drug test and was warned by ATP. He also had a troubled marriage and his world ranking suffered a hard blow when it fell down to 141. Everybody thought Agassi’s sports career was over.
In 1998, Agassi got back his sportsman spirit and after a lot of hard work and practice, he sprang up to world number 6 in just a single year. Later that year he got back his position as the world number one, after winning five titles that year. In 1999 Agassi became a part of the history to win all the four Grand slam titles on three different types of surfaces. Andre Agassi became the first male player to win the Career Golden Slam. He ended the year as world number one. His ranking in 2001 dropped down slightly and he ended the year as world number 3.
Andre Agassi finally retired from the game in 2006, after a series of wins, and received a standing ovation from the crown after his final match.
Charitable Work
Agassi has been regarded as one of the most charitable tennis players who has been involved in charity. He founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association and was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his undying efforts to help the underprivileged youth. He also has a Boys & Girls Club helps around 2,000 children a year to inspire the sportsmanship in them. In 2001, he opened a tuition free charity school for children in the areas prone to natural calamities. He also supports the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation which looks after abused children and provides residential facilities to them.
Truly, he is a humble man and we all love him, even years after he has retired. Don’t we?
