Key themes
- Hating tennis while being the best in the world at it
- Identity without the thing that defines you — who Agassi was off the court
- Addiction, image-management and the performance of self
About this book
A tennis champion's startlingly honest memoir, including how much he hated the game; one of the best sports books ever written.
Published in 2009, Open was ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer and is widely considered one of the finest sports memoirs ever written. It was a number-one bestseller and won considerable critical praise for its honesty about drug use, depression and the contradictions of elite sport.
Discussion questions
- Agassi opens with the extraordinary claim that he has always hated tennis. How does he develop this — and what does it say about talent, compulsion and the difference between what we're good at and what we love?
- Agassi's image was central to his brand — the rebel, the denim-and-dreadlocks outsider. How does he handle the relationship between his public persona and his private experience — and the revelation that his 'image' was largely manufactured?
- The book includes Agassi's admission of crystal meth use. How does he develop this — and what does the combination of drug use, image management and athletic pressure say about professional tennis culture?
- Agassi's relationship with Steffi Graf is the emotional heart of the book's second half. How does he develop their relationship — and what does it represent about what he finally found beyond tennis?
- Open was ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer. What does it mean for an autobiography to be ghostwritten — and does knowing this change how you read the book's voice?
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