What A Coincidence
Agassi’s life has been crowded with incredible coincidences. A sampler:
‘I’LL DATE WHO?’: When Andre was just 16 and his latest puppy-love crus
h evaporated, his buddy, Perry Rogers, inexplicably comforted the heartsick kid, saying that someday “the girl giving you problems” would be “the most beautiful woman in the world” — Brooke Shields. Less than a decade later, Andre began his relationship with the actress.
A PICTURE ON THE FRIDGE: Prior to his marriage to Shields, Andre claimed his future bride was sadly oblivious to his inner world. And as Shields was furiously working out before her wedding (so she would dazzle in her wedding dress), she placed an inspirational photo in a heart frame and put it up on her fridge. The picture, wrote Andre, was of the “the perfect woman with the perfect legs — the legs Brooke wants,” the legs of the woman Andre already coveted and, after his marriage to Brooke faltered, would marry: Steffi Graf.
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: The three most influential people in Andre’s life — his father, his advisor Gil Reyes and Steffi — were all non-native English speakers.
20/20 VISION?: Agassi recently made a big splash on 60 Minutes, but it was ABC’s 20/20 that twice played a pivotal role in his life. First, when his dad saw a 20/20 segment on Nick Bollettieri’s academy, he promptly shipped his son (kicking and screaming) off to the Florida factory, a move which kick-started his career. A dozen or so years later, Agassi saw a 20/20 story on charter schools and the show launched his second career as an
educator.
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN IN THE SHADOW LANDS: Andre first bonded with Shields with deep-think exchanges about the movie Shadowlands, the story of British writer C.S. Lewis. Then, when he began the bonding process once again, he and Steffi were stunned they shared a favorite movie — Shadowlands.
AGONY AND ECSTACY AT NOBU: Andre and Steffi first discussed Steffi’s pregnancy at the same L.A. eatery, Nobu Matsuhisa, where his marriage to Shields unraveled. (Coincidentally, London’s Nobu restaurant is the spot where Boris Becker infamously impregnated model Angela Ermakova.)
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU INSPIRE: Just weeks before he would face Andrei Medvedev in the ‘99 French Open final, Agassi convinced the faltering Ukrainian not to quit and gave him detailed advice on how to upgrade his tennis game.
PISS ON IT: On Shields’ 30th birthday, Andre strolls in the Paris moonlight by the Seine and just after he presents his love with a diamond tennis bracelet, a drunk “staggers into view and sends a high looping arc of urine into the Seine, prompting Andre to write, “I just can’t tell if it portends something for [an upcoming disastrous] French Open or my relationship with Brooke.” In ‘96 at the RCA Championships in Indy, Andre says “F— you!” to the ump and is tossed out of the tourney, at which point RCA’s corporate mascot, the dog Spuds MacKenzie, “trots onto the court, [and] dodging seat cushions and water bottles, reaches the middle of the net, lifts his hind leg, and pees.”
POWER COUPLE: Steffi and Andre are the only two players to win all four majors and an Olympic gold.
