Andre Agassi’s Shocking Throwback: ‘I Hated Playing Tennis for Years’ – The World Reacts”

Andre Agassi. The name alone carries weight — power, elegance, and rebel charisma on the court. But what if we told you that the tennis legend spent a huge chunk of his career absolutely hating the sport?

Yep. In one of the most unexpected throwbacks to ever resurface from his memoir Open, Agassi reveals a heartbreaking truth:
“I hated playing tennis for years.”

Let that sink in.

The mullet-wearing, neon-rocking superstar who made crowds roar and rivals sweat… was silently suffering behind the scenes. “It felt like a prison,” he confessed in his book. “I was never given a choice. My dad decided before I could walk that I’d be a tennis player.”

The quote recently went viral again on social media — and fans are reeling. “He played with such passion — how was it all fake?” one commenter asked. Another wrote, “It’s like finding out your favorite actor hates acting. I don’t know how to feel.”

But others were more empathetic. “This makes me admire him more,” one fan posted. “He carried the weight of an entire sport and still gave us greatness.”

The emotional weight of his childhood, dominated by pressure, training, and sacrifice, explains the depth behind Agassi’s raw words. Many athletes train hard — but few train under the kind of control and emotional suffocation Agassi described.

And yet… he still showed up. Still won. Still inspired.

Now, years later, Agassi uses his platform to promote mental health and self-awareness for young athletes. He’s become an advocate for playing with purpose, not pressure — a message that resonates more than ever.

So the next time you rewatch one of his legendary matches, know this: every serve, every win, every drop of sweat came not from love… but from resilience. And that just might make him a hero in more ways than we realized.