Andre Agassi Quotations

Andre Agassi is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States.

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Everybody here is taking the day out of their lives to come watch me, and I thank you for that.

He was too good. I would suggest to his next opponent that he doesn't look to me for advice.

I got a hundred bucks says my baby beats Pete's baby. I just think genetics are in my favour.

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.

I think I've always had the shots. But in the past, I've suffered too many mental lapses. Now, I'm starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and commitment to the game are much better. I think I'm really taking a good look at the big picture. That's the difference between being around for the final or watching the final from my sofa at home.

I'm going to go down swinging. ... I'm sure as heck not going to go home and say I had a bad tournament.

I've been motivated by overcoming challenge and overcoming the hurdles and obstacles that face me. There still is plenty out there to get motivated by.
- During the 2005 U.S. Open

It has meant a lot to me to challenge the best players in the world and to beat them. And it means a lot to me to be out here and fighting for the title and, you know, it hurts not to win it.

It's shocking how little there is to do with tennis when you're just thinking about nothing except winning every point.

Let's be clear about something. I wasn't the winner, tennis was. I never felt I was going to win that match but somehow it just fell my way.

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.

Some moments it feels longer, other moments it feels like it's flown by; you can't believe you've done it all that time, ... Overall, you have a strong sense for the full spectrum that you've sort of traveled.

Sometimes it's just harder to remind yourself about what you're doing and why you're doing it, ... Other times, you have a great desire for it, but physically you're not responding the way you want. That presents other challenges. Then sometimes it all comes together.

Thanks. The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. Over the last twenty-one years, I have found loyalty: you have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I've found inspiration: you have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I've found generosity: you have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you. Over the last twenty-one years, I have found you and I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life. Thank you.
- Said to his fans on September 3, 2006 after playing his final match to Benjamin Becker in the 2006 U.S. Open's third round

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.

You grow up with a guy, you compete against him for so long, he's such a big part of your career, something that's pretty special, so you do have that sense of personal regret that he's not around any more. You miss having that around.
- About Pete Sampras' retirement

If I had to name the top five or six guys at this point, I would put Sampras, I would put Laver, I'd have to put Borg up there because he won the eleven, I'd put Federer in there now, I'd put Agassi in there...if I could be thrown in the same breath as those guys I'd be happy."
- John McEnroe

Agassi was a reference point in world tennis. He’s someone who, by changing style and image, left his mark on the game.
- Rafael Nadal, quoted in "Most Influential Las Vegas Sports Figures", Las Vegas Sun (2007-02-26)

He has some limitations, like he can’t serve and volley, yet he has won all four Slams. He has a very high energy level, quite like Borg. He is on fifth gear from the very first point. There is some abnormality in his eyes, otherwise he wouldn’t have had such a phenomenal return. He sees the ball like no one else and just guides it wherever he wants to. He’s just played a Grand Slam final at 35, that tells me he wasted the first five years of his career, otherwise he couldn’t have lasted this long. No one has done more to tennis than Agassi and Borg.
- Mats Wilander