Just In: Andre Agassi choked up by Emma Raducanu as BBC star sends direct message to Brit
Andre Agassi is happy to hear that Emma Raducanu relates to his 2009 autobiography ‘Open’ after reading it while sidelined with injury. The tennis icon was touched that his experience is still having an impact 17 years later.
The British No.2 says she has been especially intrigued by where he speaks in depth about returning to his peak after overcoming a late 1990s slump.
Agassi, 56, won eight Grand Slam titles but went four years without a major win from the 1995 Australian Open to the 1999 French Open. Raducanu, 23, has now gone five years without replicating her 2021 US Open win, but has reached her first WTA 250 and 500 finals this year.
A stress fracture in her lower right leg stymied that momentum and forced Raducanu to withdraw from Wimbledon on the eve of this summer’s Championships. During her enforced time away from the court, she has spoken about taking inspiration from Agassi after relating to the struggles he went through.
Raducanu told her clothing sponsor Uniqlo: “I was especially intrigued by the passage where he got out of his slump in the late 1990s by creating his own training regimen and finding his way back to the top. It speaks in depth about his early successes and the lows he reached, perhaps as a result of them. A lot of it was so relatable.”
Asked about those comments by the BBC before this year’s Laver Cup, the Team World captain said: “It’s wonderful to hear that anybody can relate.
“It was literally the hope that if one person read it and it gave them hope, some tools to understand that they’re not alone, they can figure it out and get to a healthier place without having to direct their frustrations at the game of tennis, then it was a success for me.
“So, hearing that 17 years later it can still impact somebody, especially in this game, it does make me feel good.”
Agassi also offered Raducanu some advice for the future, saying: “I would encourage her to focus on being the best of herself on a daily basis, but don’t judge that by results or thinking that somehow you have to be 100%. You have to learn to be 100% of whatever per cent you’re at [and] be comfortable in your own identity inside of that – not what people say.
“Back in my day, I could just put down the paper and not read it. Now it seems like it’s harder for these youngsters to avoid.”
