9101260526
DETROIT FREE PRESS
910702
Tuesday, July 02, 1991
METRO FINAL
1D
Photo
:
Andre Agassi
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1991, Detroit Free Press
GIVE ANDRE A HAND - OR THE BACK OF ONE
WIMBLEDON, England -- Don't worry. I will not gloat. Just because
exactly one year ago I predicted that Ivan Lendl, no matter how fit he was,
would never win Wimbledon -- not unless he had a brain transplant -- and lo
and behold, on Monday, in the third round, plop! Down he goes.
Hasta la vista, Ivan.
But never fear. I will not pick on him. Not this morning. This morning, we
have a bigger issue before us: What should we think about America's most
brazen young tennis star, Andre Agassi?
It is a question that requires two hands:
On the one hand, Andre's cute.
On the other hand, Andre's obnoxious.
On the one hand, he's just a kid.
On the other hand, he earns $9 million a year.
On the one hand, he claims he's shy, private, sensitive, misunderstood.
On the other hand, he dyes his hair like Farrah Fawcett.
On the one hand, he says things like "it's what you are inside that
counts."
On the other hand, he has seven cars.
On the one hand, Andre claims "I have accepted Christ into my life. I only
want to be a positive role model for kids."
On the other hand, he has seven cars.
On the one hand, he coos "how excited I am to be at Wimbledon, I can't
describe my excitement."
One the other hand, he skipped this tournament three years in a row.
On the one hand, Andre finally did conform to the dress code here,
foregoing his usual lime green and purple outfit for the traditional
Wimbledon white.
On the other hand, he kept the earring.
Even Ivan doesn't wear an earring.
Oops. I promised I wouldn't mention Ivan.
Shirt designed for navel maneuvers On the one hand, you have to admire
Andre's tennis. He plays a wicked hard game, smacking the ball so fiercely
that his shirt often flies up, revealing his naked waist.
On the other hand, he has his shirts especially cut that way, because his
marketing people think it's good for his sex appeal.
On the one hand, Andre loves the teenagers that scream when he plays.
"They're great," he says. "Really great."
On the other hand, he gets furious if he isn't provided with bodyguards.
On the one hand, Andre has opened up recently to several sports writers,
inviting them to drive around with him for a day, get to know him. They come
away very impressed. On the other hand, would you believe anything said to you
in a Ferrari?
On the one hand, Andre's biggest problem is his coach, Nick Bolletierri,
an egotistical, sun-worshipping tennis guru from Florida, who, having failed
with Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein, is now obsessed with Andre becoming a
champion. Bolletierri travels with Andre, dinners with Andre, and, critics
say, may be the reason Andre behaves in the sometimes obnoxious and phony way
he does.
On the other hand, Andre hasn't dumped the guy yet, has he?
On the one hand, you have to feel sympathy. Andre's father hung a tennis
ball over his son's crib, and as soon as Andre could walk, made him carry a
sawed-down Ping-Pong paddle.
On the other hand, Andre has seven cars.
Did I say that already?
I wonder how many cars Ivan has.
He'll throw the shirt off his back Back to Andre. Perhaps we're being too
hard on the lad. On the one hand, he has spit at umpires, cursed like a
sailor, and been accused of -- and all but admitted -- tanking matches when
he didn't feel like playing.
On the other hand, sometimes even the President doesn't feel like going to
work.
On the one hand, Andre throws kisses to the crowd, shirts to the crowd,
sometimes even throws his shorts.
On the other hand, at least he's generous.
On the one hand, Andre seems contrived in most everything he says, as if
advisers told him exactly the "right" words. His slogan, after all, is "Image
is everything."
On the other hand, don't politicians do the same?
The point is this: when we decide about Andre Agassi, we are deciding some
basic truths about developing American tennis stars these days. Underneath it
all, Andre is the by-product of 1) an obsessive parent, 2) an egotistical
coach, 3) obscene paychecks, 4) screaming fans, and 5) a management group that
designs an "image" around the player that will make a lot of companies spend
a ton of money, whether the image is real or not.
Deep down, Andre may be a decent kid. But with all the props around him,
we may never know.
On the other hand, he has been in three Grand Slam finals so far and
hasn't won any; until he does, his glitter will be hollow. And I can tell you
right now, Andre Agassi will not win Wimbledon. Not this year. And I have a
pretty good track record here.
Just ask Ivan.
Oops.